The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said it generated a total revenue of N172.3 billion from its operations in the first half of 2022 and remitted N78.5 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federation during the period.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, Mr Mohammed Bello-Koko, made this known in the half-year 2022 operational reports of the Authority. He said ‘‘the breakdown of the figure indicates that N50.3 billion represents cash remittances, the compulsory deduction of 25% of revenue generated and other sundry payments for the absolute period of January-June 2022.” He added that the remaining sum of N28.2 billion relates to the remittance with respect to other periods.
The NPA managing director described the half-year operational statistics as encouraging in the face of the global economic and inflation crises, among other negative factors. Said Bello-Koko: “Global economic and inflation crises, global reduction in household incomes and purchasing power and scarcity of foreign exchange all of which has negatively affected business environment, affected government revenue and constrained expenditure.
“The development in the port industry cannot be severed from the macro-economic environment with galloping inflation that has grossly reduced the disposable income of the households, the depreciating exchange rates that stifle business environment and the dwindling government revenue that constrains expenditure.
“In the face of these harsh macro-economic indices, the Nigerian Ports Authority has forged on to deliver port and harbour services to the teeming operators in the export and import businesses across the country.”
Agreeably, the development in the port industry cannot be severed from the macro-economic environment of the country. As Koko stated, the economic environment is riddled with galloping inflation, depreciating exchange rates and depleted government revenue. All these have grossly reduced disposable household incomes, stifled businesses and severely constrained expenditure, that is, expenditure on operational equipment, technology and investments that would have enhanced operational performance.
But these are not the real reasons why the government agency could not do better. Giving these as reasons for not performing up to expectation without telling exactly the situation of things in the country amounts to not calling a spade a spade. It is telling the truth in half. However, as a government agency, NPA with its managing director is not expected to tell the truth about the economy and the real reasons for its near-collapse, especially under the present government in the country. That is left to observers and Nigerians who have been bearing the brunt of the gross mismanagement of the economy.
It is common knowledge that the operational conditions of businesses in Nigeria are truly nothing to write home about. Everything is in a mess. Businesses whether public or private are only clinging on life’s age, as the situation worsens on daily basis. Every sector of the economy –aviation, maritime, oil and gas, manufacturing, education etc. are in very dire straits.
The sorry state of businesses and the Nigerian economy in general cannot be ascribed to “global economic and inflation crises”. After all, how many countries are really in economic crises –the kind Nigeria is enmeshed in? Are oil producing countries in deep economic mess like Nigeria? Are they not reaping from increased oil prices, the fall-out of Ukraine-Russian war?
Nigeria’s economic crises is more or less self-inflicted. Wrong fiscal and monetary policies that are being implemented with impunity despite warnings by local and international experts and institutions, unprecedented corruption, lethargy, incompetence, insecurity leading to divestments, clannishness and mediocrity, and reckless borrowings and debts servicing are what have combined to undo the Nigerian economy. These are the actual cause of the poor operational environment of businesses in Nigeria.
Crude oil export has for long been the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy. But mismanagement, importation of refined petroleum products, corruption as embodied in opaque subsidy and bridging gaps payments, oil theft and divestment have severely reduced government revenue from the sector. While other OPEC and oil producing nations are reaping from increased oil prices, Nigeria’s revenue continues to dwindle.
Heads of government departments and agencies should embrace and tell the government, the policy and decision makers the truth for things to get better. Hiding under “global economic crises” while the economy goes to ruin will not be in the country’s best interest. NPA and other agencies in maritime could have done better. And so the aviation sector and other sectors that are currently grappling with survival.
