THE Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) has expressed commitment to support the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistic Base (LADOL) in its Maritime, Health, Agriculture and Logistics operations in Nigeria.
Executive Director Marine and Operations, Onari Brown, who stated this during his familiarisation tour to the LADOL Zone, said he was impressed with the infrastructure development in LADOL, adding that the company’s heavy lift capacity makes a destination of choice.
Brown was in company of Port Manager of Lagos Port Complex (LPC) Apapa, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Olotu.
“I am really impressed with what I have seen today, and I think I will be more supportive…Now that I have seen, I think we will engaged more, we will talk more,” Brown said.
Commenting on LADOL’s agriculture initiative, he said, “Talking about agriculture, I am so impressed because in every country, the major thing that can cause the highest crisis is food insufficiency. Somebody that has eaten well could wait for better times to come but when somebody is on lockdown and does not have food in his house, he will leave that house and go out to look for food.”
“In this time of COVID era, Nigerians have come to realise that you cannot rely on crude oil and we need to grow our maritime sector. Throughout the period of the COVID, across the world, when they said airports were closing down etc, no country thought about shutting down their seaports. The ports were all operating and that was what sustained the fight against COVID.”
Brown maintained that Nigeria’s seaports couldn’t be joked with noting that NPA will always be supportive to operators and all its partners to make Nigeria’s maritime sector develop further.
AGM Operations, Ayodele Durowaiy, said “This is my first time to LADOL and I can see physically that a lot is going on and going into Agro-business now will help and I am happy that your vision has expanded from looking at the West African Sub Region to looking at the whole African content.”
“In terms of stakeholder engagement, management at the highest level will continue to drive this process and we are happy of the leadership role that LADOL is playing particularly in Lagos district.”
Commenting on LADOL’s corporate social responsibility, the Managing Director of LADOL, Dr. Amy Jadesimi, said since inception, the company has engaged with local communities to create an understanding and work with them on a meritocratic basis.
“What that means is that you get the job if you are qualified for the job. But a lot of Nigerians have not had the experience for the specialised jobs we do. So, we are not looking for somebody who necessarily has 10 years’ experience in a field.
“We are looking for young people who are hardworking, honest, and ready to jump in with both feet. With that mantra, many of our staff have been with us for over a decade and many of them come from the local community. LADOL provides a lot of employment and training.
“I also want to thank all the staff and management of LADOL who worked so hard and came together as a strong team which continues to see us through the COVID pandemic. I have to say across Nigeria, we saw many examples of how this crisis has brought Nigerians together and renewed our focus for self-sufficiency” she said.
On LADOL’s Isolation Centre, Amy said the company would make it available to other terminal operators who need it.
