Call him the adopted first son of Adegboyega Oyetola, Nigeria’s Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, and you won’t be wrong. When after his graduation from the University of Maiduguri with a degree in Public Administration in 1992, Abubakar Dantsoho got posted to the Nigerian Ports Authority to answer his one year call to national service, little did he realise that his bread was being buttered by God.
Dantsoho career trajectory in Nigerian Ports Authority dates back to 1992 where he started as NYSC trainee and subsequently as a marketing officer . As some one who took his career seriously, he moved progressively from one unit to the other and in the process, equipping himself with the rudiments of Port Administration. He had held sway as Port Manager, Onne Port ,and at a point, a personal assistant to Hadiza Bala Usman, the first female Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority. Appointed as Managing Director in September 2024. Abubakar Dantsoho has not let his adopted father, Adegboyega Oyetola down. And as a proud ” first son”, Dantsoho has continued to demonstrate sterling leadership qualities that has been lacking at Nigeria Ports in recent years.
Dantsoho on his assumption of office was faced with an embarrassingly decaying Port infrastructure in the Western and Eastern Ports. With the support of his boss and adoted father, he moved swiftly to secure a $1b facility in an unprecedented move to turn around the nation’s decaying ports infrastructure. Hopefully, in the next 48 months, Nigerian seaports will witness an upgrade as we prepare to take our rightful position as the regional hub. Under his watch , cargo throughput has shown significant increases in 2024 by as high as 45.1 per cent to 103,333, 863 metric tons from 71,213,192 metric tons recorded in the preceding year. The growth is driven by higher imports and exports, propelled by improved work ethics and staff motivation,port modernisation with Lekki Port showing the largest growth at 2.16 per cent , followed by Onne and Tin Can Island ports. Dantsoho has brought Nigeria unprecedented local and international recognition. After becoming Chair of the Port Management Association of West Africa earlier in the year ,he was recently elected and sworn in as Vice President of the International Association of Ports and Harbours, IAPH.
Against the backdrop of his inauguration as Vice President (Africa) of the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH), the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, has outlined his key priorities for advancing port development across the continent.
Speaking after his inauguration at the recently concluded World Ports Conference, themed “Reinvention and Prosperity in Turbulent Times”, held in Kobe City, Japan, Dantsoho said his focus will be on effective policy implementation, enhanced collaboration, strengthened cooperation, and improved trade facilitation within Africa’s port sector.
It could be recalled that African ports play a critical role in global trade but face challenges such as infrastructure deficits, policy inconsistency, and limited technological adoption.
However, the NPA MD said unified action among African port authorities and stakeholders to address challenges facing African ports would be central to his leadership agenda at the IAPH.
According to him, his administration, through the deployment of port innovativeness will capture tangible, sustainable investment returns in high-risk environments.
“This responsibility has fired up my resolve more than ever before to be the vanguard of galvanising national and regional policy action steps geared towards institutionalising ports’ eco-friendliness in line with the dictates of IAPH’s World Ports Sustainability Program.
“Reinvention and prosperity in turbulent times through the deployment of port innovativeness to capture tangible, sustainable investment returns in high-risk environments is a global exigency that the world can most efficiently surmount if IAPH members speak with one voice through renewed collaboration and cooperation.”
The NPA boss further stated that he will champion full automation of African ports to eliminate trade barriers.
“I intend to deploy my current role as President of the Pan-African Association for Port Cooperation (PAPC) to more intentionally promote collaboration and cooperation.
“Cognisant of the catalytic role of automation as the linchpin of ports’ efficiency and sustainability, I intend to infuse greater action behind the necessity of full automation of African Ports as the most veritable tool for elimination of barriers to trade”, he concluded.