Dr. Pius Ukeyima Akutah MON, a seasoned lawyer and an astute administrator, has since mounting the saddle as the Executive Secretary/CEO, of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council in November, 2023, championed effective port economic regulation, which drives port efficiency, boosts revenue generation. Specifically, under his transformative leadership, the role of the Council as the nation’s Port Economic Regulator has contributed substantially to restoring order, improving operational standards and overall stability within Nigeria’s maritime industry. Francis Ezem, reports.

Executive Secretary/CEO, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Dr. Pius Akutah.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu appointed Dr. Pius Ukeyime Akutah MON, as the Executive Secretary/CEO of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council NSC, on October 25, 2023, while he officially assumed duty on November 1, 2023. Before his appointment, Dr. Akutah, a lawyer by profession, worked as a legal expert in the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation AGF, and Minister of Justice. President Tinubu was very clear and unequivocal on Akutah’s mandate as the helms man at the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, which plays the dual role of protecting the interest of Nigerian shippers (importers and exporters) and also as the Economic Regulator for the Port industry, which focused on maritime sector reforms, digitalisation, and facilitating legitimate trade.

Two years down the line, Dr. Akutah has brought his huge wealth of experience and expertise to bear on these crucial roles the Council plays in the industry. It is therefore an incontrovertible fact that the role of the Council as the nation’s Port Economic Regulator has not only contributed substantially to restoring order and improving operational standards, it has also enhanced an overall stability within Nigeria’s maritime industry devoid of industrial unrest and shutdowns, which would have been at a huge cost to the country’s economy.

As an astute administrator and a team player, on assumption of duty, he made efforts and succeeded in bringing the management team and the entire staffers of the Council on the same page with his vision, which is also in tandem with the Presidential mandate so as to ensure unity of purpose across all the workforce cadre in executing the reform initiatives contained in the Presidential Mandate for the Council.

To this effect, he organised a three-day management retreat, where he briefed the top echelon of the Council on the reforms to be carried, who were equally mandated to pass the message to the last cadre of staff, insisting that all hands must be on deck. At the end of the three-day strategic meeting, the top management was turbo-charged for the work ahead. He also did not spare any efforts in communicating the vision and mission to the larger maritime stakeholders through series of sensitisation and engagements.

Akutah during one of his several stakeholders’ engagement initiatives.

During one of such engagements, he assured that the Council under his watch will continue to prioritise stakeholders’ engagement in actualising the Council’s mandate as the nation’s Port Economic Regulator.

“The Council is always conscious of the fact that stakeholders’ engagement is crucial to its regulatory mandate and so, it is always ready and willing to partner them to drive the maritime sector forward. The Council under my watch would therefore listen to any issues brought to its attention and work collaboratively to address them.

“The Council is also open to specific partnerships with stakeholders, and we have recorded successes in engaging with stakeholders, particularly the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding MoU, with the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria MWUN, on minimum standard for workers’ wages”, he had assured.

Still in line with his robust stakeholders’ engagement initiative, few months after assumption of duty, precisely in April 2024, he also commenced a process that culminated in building a comprehensive data base that contains all the names and specific vital information of service providers and operators under its regulatory purview. To this effect, the Council began the registration of all operators and service providers under its regulatory purview, threatening to sanction unregistered operators. This was also in tandem with an earlier request by the National Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy for a comprehensive data covering all port users and service providers. He had decried a situation whereby only 185 operators and service providers were then registered with the Council.

It was gathered that one of the benefits of the registration is to eradicate importation of unwholesome goods into the country. The argument was that it would eliminate the issue of faceless importers.

Additionally, it would address the challenges faced by shipping lines and their agencies in recovering their empty containers after shipments, as it would curb cases of stolen empty containers by Customs agents.

In one of the sensitisation engagements with the stakeholders on the need to build a robust data base, Dr. Akutah said: “This has been an ongoing service, and this sensitisation has taken us to Calabar, Port Harcourt, and Warri. This is the first one we are doing in Lagos. This particular sensitisation is for terminal operators, shipping companies, off-dock terminal operators and Stevedoring companies.

“In 2015, the Council was appointed Port Economic Regulator and the mandate given to the Council was to develop a regulatory framework/regime for the control of tariff rates, charges and other economic activities. In doing this, one of its roles is to register all service providers in the sector.

“If you are a regulator, you are supposed to know your customers, it is in this spirit that we are carrying out this exercise.

“When we started, it was a manual process, but we have now automated the registration process. Within minutes, even from the comfort of your homes, you can go through the registration process, make payments and equally print your certificate by yourself.

“The registration is compulsory, we have gone through the list of those registered with the Council and we have realised that many organisations have yet to register with us.

“Shippers’ Council believes in persuasion and not coercion, but when we discover that the level of compliance is low, we might be forced to uphold the law, because there are certain provisions that prescribes punishment for non-registration.

“One of the benefits of registration is passing of information. Also in the past, people bring in offensive goods at the port and upon investigation, they will say they were imported by faceless Shippers. But after this registration, the issue of faceless Shippers will become a thing of the past”.

As part of measures to ensure cargo safety and engender investor-confidence, the Council is currently working on the implementation of the International Cargo Tracking Note ICTN. He had emphasised that the implementation of the ICTN would enhance revenue generation and operational oversight within the maritime sector.

Dr. Akutah has also consistently sensitised the NSC workforce on the gradual transformation into the country’s Port Economic Regulatory Agency NPERA, which enabling Act is undergoing enactment at the National Assembly.

Speaking at the 2025-2029 strategic management retreat with the theme: “The Future – Transition from Nigerian Shippers’ Council to Nigeria Port Economic Regulatory Agency NPERA’, which also marked its launch of a strategic plan for 2025–2029 aimed at advancing the maritime sector, Barr Akutah outlined the Council’s major achievements in the last two years, which include signing the Minimum Standards of Conditions of Service for Workers in the Shipping Industry, launch of operational manuals for Inland Dry Ports IDPs and the introduction  the Online Registration Portal and E-Regulatory Process Portal ERPP, for operators.

Others are recovering several billions of naira through robust complaints handling mechanisms on imported cargo, hosting the 17th International Maritime Seminar for Judges and initiating a Leadership Development Programme to enhance institutional capacity, not only for the Council but also for the industry at large.

The Council under Akutah’s watch has consistently remained one of the frontline agencies for the implementation of Nigeria’s National Single Window NSW, platform, which many port experts believe is a game -changer in enhancing port efficiency and cost reduction. Only recently, the NSC-boss fully participated in a meeting organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Shipping Services and Related Matters, chaired by Hon. Abdussamad Dasuki, where the NSW was the main subject of discussion where he expressed confidence that Nigeria’s National Single Window NSW, once operational, will significantly improve transparency within Nigeria’s port system.

He said: “The NSW initiative would address longstanding operational challenges in Nigeria’s port system arising from the fragmented activities of multiple government agencies currently working in silos.

“The NSW will therefore foster synergy and coordinated collaboration by streamlining port processes into a unified digital system.”

As a lawyer, Dr. Akutah understands the importance of putting in place a solid legal framework, especially towards the gradual emergence of the Council as Nigeria Port Economic Regulatory Agency NPERA. To this effect, he has played a major role towards the passage of the NPERA Bill, which is currently at the Senate, having been passed by the House of Representatives.

It was in a bid to build capacity for the middle level management staffers of the Council that Dr. Akutah and his team organised a three-day training retreat for the officers from grade level 12-14 to adequately equip them for the task ahead under the new dispensation.

While speaking during the programme, Akutah enjoined the senior officers and indeed every member of staff of the Council to gear up for the huge task ahead. The CEO, who also assured the workers that everything was being done to ensure the passage of the bill at the Senate, told them that the port industry and indeed the nation at large expects a lot from them when the Council fully metamorphoses into the NPERA.

“The Council’s role as Port Economic Regulators will be more than doubled, and once we have the law in place, it will give us the capacity to not only bark but bite, I believe that the sector will be better for it. And we are counting on all of you here, as the engine room of this Council.

“I want to enjoin you all to take this training as one of the avenues that we try to build capacity for the new roles that the Council has assumed. This training is tagged training for middle management grade level 12- 14. As middle management officers, I want you to start preparing yourselves for top management roles.

“I want you to know that in any organisation, middle management is the engine room that drives policy implementation.

“I bring you greetings from the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy H.E. Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola, who has been very supportive to us as a Council. The Minister is driving the Blue Economy Ministry, writing up the policies for this sector, and he is keen to see that it kicks off to achieve the desire of Mr. President that this sector contributes significantly to the national Gross Domestic Product GDP.

“You should know that the Nigerian Shippers Council is not just a factor in that regard, but a key factor in moving the economy of this country forward through this sector.”

It was in the light of this that the purposeful and result –driven leadership of the Council under Dr. Akutah has worked assiduously towards the passage of the new NPERA Bill.

Addressing stakeholders during a public hearing on the bill, Akutah said the reason the NSC desires the passage of the bill is that it will equip it towards improving efficiency of the nation’s seaports.

“The Bill is in the overall interest of the shipping community in Nigeria, as it is designed not to torment stakeholders but to improve on ways of doing business at the nation’s seaports. The new legislation when fully operational, will further give the NSC a better enabling environment under which it can perform its statutory obligations within the ambits of the law.

“The new Act will strengthen the regulations of the NSC as an Economic Regulator, as it will bring about other enablers that would aid the Council in discharging its mandate as an Economic Regulator of the Ports.

“In terms of funding, currently the Council receives two per cent of the Port Development Levy as its funding, which is grossly inadequate, considering the enormous statutory obligations of the Council but the new bill provides for better funding of the Council to enable it carry out these huge regulatory functions.

“Mind you the NSC plans to promote 24- hour cargo clearance at the ports for now, so that gradually, the nation’s seaports would attain global standards in terms of cargo clearance. We’re also planning to implement electronic traffic management system in the ports which is ongoing. This is with a view to improving on ports’ efficiency. Aside this, there are so many initiatives we intend to introduce to ensure that the ports attain global standards for trade facilitation”, Akutah assured.

Only recently, the Council through its purposeful leadership averted an incident that would have caused a major industrial unrest in the industry by directing shipping lines and terminal operators not to implementing their proposed tariff hike, which was scheduled to take effect December 1, 2025.

In reaction to this, Licensed Customs Agents operating in the country mobilised to shut down the seaports, thus prompting the intervention of the Council, suspending the tariff adjustment, which it had approved earlier. The Council immediately directed parties to commence consultation with a view to reaching an amicable solution.

The Council in a statement announcing the suspension of the proposed tariff hike said: “The Council wishes to clarify that the recent adjustment was approved strictly in accordance with its statutory mandate as the Port Economic Regulator. The Council affirms that all tariff reviews were conducted in a transparent, structured, and well-defined regulatory process. These processes included detailed technical and consultative engagement with affected service providers, aimed at examining the cost drivers, operational realities, investment obligations, and regulatory compliance.

“The engagements did not constitute automatic approvals; rather, they informed a broader evaluative process. Final determinations were reached only after rigorous internal, technical, and financial assessments guided by empirical evidence, regulatory benchmarks, and prevailing economic conditions.   

“Notwithstanding, Shipping companies/agents are hereby directed to suspend any intended review of charges until they have duly consulted and engaged their stakeholders. As the Port Economic Regulator, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council will wield the big stick against any port service providers disrupting port operations.

““The Council emphasises that transparency, fairness, and stakeholder participation are fundamental principles underpinning port economic regulation in Nigeria.”

Undoubtedly, the NSC under Dr. Akutah has done so well in the two years since he mounted the saddle. It behooves the stakeholders-shippers (importers and exporters), shipping lines and their agents, terminal operators etc, to give their optimum support in the overall interest of the industry and Nigeria’s economy.