The President of the Institute of Safety Professionals of Nigeria (ISPON), Dr. Stephen Udeze, has called for deeper collaboration with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to enhance safety standards, professional training, and regulatory compliance across the nation’s ports.
During a courtesy visit to the Managing Director of NPA, Dr. Udeze commended the authority for notable progress in areas such as environmental protection, fire control, and power systems, while noting that there is room to further embed global best practices through structured professional development and integrated safety systems.
He emphasized that ISPON, the statutory body regulating safety practice in Nigeria since 1980, is committed to supporting NPA in training, audits, and inspections to align operations with internationally recognized benchmarks.
Stressing the importance of proactive engagement over reactive compliance, the ISPON president, proposed joint capacity-building initiatives, sector-specific workshops, and knowledge-sharing programmes aimed at strengthening recruitment standards, operational oversight, and risk management across ports.
Beyond institutional collaboration, he urged NPA to support nationwide safety advocacy and public awareness campaigns, assuring that ISPON is ready to deploy experts to bolster training, inspection, and compliance monitoring efforts.
Responding, the Executive Director, Marine and Operations, Mr. Olalekan Badmus, reaffirmed that safety is central to NPA’s mandate, highlighting the need to balance efficient vessel movement with the protection of workers, assets, and the environment.
He welcomed partnerships that enhance capacity building and knowledge sharing, assuring that meaningful collaboration with ISPON and other stakeholders would strengthen safety governance and operational sustainability across Nigeria’s maritime sector.
The meeting ended with ISPON honouring senior NPA officials as ISPON fellows, including the Executive Director of Marine and Operations, highlighting the growing synergy between regulatory professionalism and operational leadership.
Reporting By Nosa Aituamen