The Minister of Marine and the Blue Economy – Adegboyega Oyetola
Senator Adedayo Adeyeye, an astute Journalist and a Lawyer – former Minister of State for the Ministry of Works, under President Goodluck Ebere Jonathan, was appointed the Chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority [NPA]’s Board, on July 12, 2024, by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Senator picked his letter of appointment, with thanksgiving to God in his heart, and walked away with a particular joy and swagger.
There was one issue that did not coordinate in the subconsciousness of the man, who started arranging things for Bola Tinubu, about one and half years before the Jagaban himself went to declare his lifetime ambition’s intent – as he called it then, to President Muhammadu Buhari in the Villa, on January 10, 2022.
For the records, Senator Adeyeye was and remains the Convener of SWAGA – or something like that, which coordinated total reconciliation of the South-West for Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He worked assiduously on this project, visiting all the First-Class Traditional Rulers in the South-West and succeeded in reconciling them to the thought of accepting Bola Tinubu as their candidate. This he did over a year before Tinubu threw his hat into the ring. That self-assigned responsibility stood him taller among his pears as Mobilizer of distinction.
The Senator from Emure-Ekiti; the Headquarters of Emure Local Government in Ekiti State, however pushed that issue agitating his heart aside [after collecting his appointment instrument as Board Chairman of the NPA], then, concluding that first things must come first.
That issue that worried his thought was the time for the Board – over which he was appointed Chairman, would commence operation, since functionality of any Board cannot commence without inauguration.
He probably would have taken solace on the fact that by the laws governing the appointment and inauguration of the Nigerian Ports Authority’s Board, a simple majority of Five would form a Quorum. And as of that July 12, 2024, when he was appointed Board Chairman by the President, there were Three Executive Directors – in addition to a Managing Director, at the NPA. His conclusion then, wouldn’t have anticipated any hinderance on the immediate inauguration of the Board.
If that was his conclusion then, he would have gotten it wrong as the political classroom’s tutorial later proved to him. He endured and survived the very long wait, for period of Eleven months and Thirteen days, for the Board inauguration to come.
The NPA Board, which was eventually inaugurated this week, Monday, June 29, 2025, included Senator Adedayo Adeyeye (Chairman), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho (Managing Director), Hon. Olabanji Olawale Olateju (Member), Hon. Amirudin Tukur Idris (Member), Barr. Kelechi Igwe (Member), Ekpebide Ebi-Erin Daniel (Member) and Dr. Mercy Ilori (member), who represents the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. Others are Engr. Ibrahim Abba Umar (Executive Director, Engineering and Technical Services), Engr. Olalekan Badmus (Executive Director, Marine and Operations) and Ms. Vivian C. Richard Edet (Executive Director, Finance and Administration).
The question would always be on why the wait game almost lasted forever, which raises the following questions: Why did the President appoint a Board Chairman that was to remain in waiting for almost a whole year before appointing Board members that would work with him? Was the long wait the handwork of the President or the function of the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy? Was there any role function of the Managing Director; Dr Abubakar Dantsoho and the three Executive Directors [Engr Ibrahim Abba Umar, Engr Olalekan Badmus and Ms Vivian C Richard Edet] in the unnecessary delay in making the Board comatose for that long? What was the gain of such malfeasance to whosever was responsible?
We can only guess at probable reasons, based on inside knowledge of events why the wait lasted that long.
One, the Minister of the Marine and Blue Economy – Adegboyega Oyetola, is a blood relation of President Bola Tinubu and was a former Governor of Osun State, in South-West Nigeria.
He was the Governor until the People Democratic Party [PDP]’s candidate – Ademola Nurudeen Jackson Adeleke, defeated him in the last off-season
election. There is a cogent and strong indication that he wants to go back, in contesting for the governorship of the State in 2027. Of course, it is expected that he must be loaded with logistic to enable fulfilment of that expectation. Ipso facto, any allowance created for delay in inaugurating a Board for the NPA would be a welcome relief for the minister, as he would be able to supervise the NPA directly, on matters of contract awards, without any Board interference.
And there are evidences of malfunctions, in contract awards, selective payments for contracts, non-compliance with contract awards rules and regulations, outrageously overblown contracts – both in Nigeria and the NPA London office [at Number 11 Temple Road, Cricklewood], and many other fraudulent malfunctions, that allegedly said to have been in the region of billion of Naira, which we might be dealing with in another day and time.
The Nigerian Ports Authority’s MD and his three Executive Directors interest in causing such lacuna of delay in constituting the Board, if such thing really was, would be almost akin to the interest of the Minister, as mentioned above. Dealing with one layer of supervision is likely to be more prosperous – profit-wise, than having two layers of supervision to deal with.
However, the Board has been constituted. What are the banana peels that the Chairman and his Board Members should be watching against, or where are the areas of better care that they must be careful with?
Giving some advice here remains a most difficult situation, and for some cogent reasons too.
- Yes, the Chairman and just a few members of the Board might be described as strangers in Jerusalem, as the Managing Director and the three Executive Directors are already sons and daughter of the soil long before the nomination of the Chairman and others. For that reason, status quo ante – as a policy of take-away would have been fully established before their arriving.
- If above is true, it means that learning from the laid down antecedents would be the cardinal principle of wisdom that is profitable to direct.
- One paramount thing about all these appointments is the fact that, they are political, meant ab initio, to take care of the boys, and the girls, as well. This makes building of a club of angels from most of the appointee impossible, because in the classroom of politics, angels are never students.
Yet, a cue can be taken from that astute British Author – Jeffery Ancher, who shrewdly captioned one of his books as “Honour among thieves”. Discretionary precaution is therefore advised, please.
The Guru welcomes Senator Adedayo Adeyeye and his Group of wise men/women to the Nigerian Ports Authority, where there is plenty of food, and banana peels too – wishing them a successful tenure.
Godwin Etakibuebu; a Veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.
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