Some 55 years ago, in a remote village in Benue State, a Pius was born to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Akutah. Like the dream of every parent, they had hoped that young Pius would grow up to be very successful and prominent in Benue land and beyond. Pius was the first of 18 children and spent his early life in Kaduna State where his father served in the Nigerian Army.
His early education was in Kaduna before being enrolled back home at the popular Comprehensive High School, Gboko. This seperation from the watchful eyes of his dad almost marred his educational career ,as his love for soccer blossomed.
Notwithstanding, his first career choice was to be an accountant , but this was not to be. As a destiny child, Pius Akutah, after several false starts and, against all odds, saw himself at the University of Jos where he bagged a diploma in Law, before proceeding to obtain his first degree in Law at the University of Abuja.
At some point he wasn’t even going to school. His life is a testimony to the power of God .How God can transform someone to what He wants him to be.His story is also one that could encourage so many other young people that it doesn’t matter how many times you have gotten it wrong, you can get it right even at the 20th attempt.
Since his appointment as Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer at the Nigerian Shippers Council by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in November 2023,Dr Pius Akutah, who was a State Counsel at the Federal Ministry of Justice as head of the Central Authority Unit, has left no one in doubt that he means business. His emergence has instilled a renewed hope on the morale of staffers at the Council.
Dr Akutah recently scored a significant milestone in the annals of the history of the Council when with the collaboration of the Hon Minister of Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Chief Adegboyega Oyetola, he and other industry stakeholders, secured the passage of the Shipping and Ports Economic Regulatory Bill in the House of Representatives. It is expected that the Senate will give its affirmation to the bill very soon. Once this happens, the Nigerian Shippers Council would now be statutorily empowered to play its regulatory functions, backed by an Act of Parliament.
Determined to make the Council a key player in the maritime industry, Dr Pius Akutah has continued to engage a cross section of critical stakeholders. Recently, the Council entered into an MoU with the Nigerian Railway Corporation on the need for seamless evacuation of cargo by rail from the ports to the Inland Dry Ports.
Another low hanging fruit Dr Akutah aims to harvest is the contentious cargo tracking note. The Shippers Council helmsman believes that an introduction of a cargo tracking note regime will not only curb corruption at the ports but will instil more transparency in the clearance of goods, thus blocking leakages in revenue generation and other forms of malfeasance in our ports corridor.
Only recently, Dr Pius AKUTAH took the campaign for a seamless operations in Nigerian ports to Geneva where he held frank and useful discussions with the Director General of the World Trade Organization, Dr Ngozi Okonji Iweala. Dr Pius AKUTAH, the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers Council , the most influential and impactful CEO in Team Adegboyega Oyetola’s MV MARINE AND BLUE ECONOMY, will be inducted on Tuesday, April 15, 2025 as MARITIME MAN OF THE YEAR. 2024.