31 October 2014, Lagos – More vessels laden with several petroleum products are in Nigerian territorial waters heading to Nigerian ports. The 10 vessels arrived the nation’s seaports in Lagos and are awaiting berthing instructions from the management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Data on the movements of vessels in Nigeria (Shipping Position) collated by NPA and obtained by THISDAY indicated that five of the ships are laden with petrol, four others with kerosene and one with bulk gas.
In the same vein, four other vessels laden with commodities such as rice, bulk wheat and containers are also waiting to berth at the ports.
According to the data, these are besides 41 other ships expected to berth in Nigerian ports from this week to November 27, 2014. The 41 ships are with containers while 12 others would sail in with various types of food items such as frozen fish, bulk sugar, bulk salt, bulk wheat, rice and crude palm oil.
The Shipping Position also indicated that seven ships were expected to bring general cargoes into the ports, while three other ships would bring in vehicles, including trucks and tractors.
According to it, the remaining three ships were expected to sail in with petroleum products, including petrol and base oil. The ships are expected to sail into the New Oil Jetty, the Atlas Cove Jetty and the Fishery Wharf.
Meanwhile, NPA has concluded plans to retire some top officials of the authority. The exercise is to affect about 10 general managers and others who have attained the retirement age of 60 years or spent 35 years in service.
Already, some of the affected general managers, who have not gone on leave for several years, have been asked to proceed on compulsory leave.
THISDAY checks revealed that those in this category may not return to their positions as they are likely to be served retirement letters before the end of their leave.
It was gathered that one of the general managers currently serving in Lagos may not come back to her seat after taking her accumulated leave.
A source at NPA House, Lagos, who confirmed the development, said that if the general manager was to spend all accumulated leave, she might be served retirement letter before the expiration of the leave.
Apart from the general managers, there are also other assistant general managers, managers, among others who may also be affected in the retirement exercise.
The retirement exercise is seen as the only way to create the chance to promote others to new positions. This is expected to lead to recruitment of new staff in the authority, an exercise that is not known to have been carried out in the organisation for a very long time now.
– This Day
