The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has a new Managing Director in the person of Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho.
Dantsoho’s appointment was announced on Friday in a statement signed by President Bola Tinubu’s spokesman, Chief Ajuri Ngelale. The announcement also revealed the appointment of Senator Adedayo Adeyeye as Chairman of the NPA Board.
With an extensive background in port management and maritime technology, Dr. Dantsoho is expected to bring innovation and improved efficiency to the NPA. Here’s a quick glimpse into his background:
- Early Life and Education:
Abubakar Dantsoho was born in Jalingo, Taraba State. He served his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) in 1992, marking the beginning of his long association with the organization.
- Professional Experience:
With over 25 years in Maritime Technology, International Transport, and Port Management, Dantsoho is known for his analytical, data-driven approach and versatility as a team player.
- Academic Background:
Dantsoho holds a Ph.D. in Maritime Technology from Liverpool John Moores University, UK (2015), an MSc in International Transport from Cardiff University, UK (1999), and a BSc (Hons) from the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria (1992). His NPA career began in 1993.
- Professional Memberships:
He is a member of numerous professional bodies including the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, the Chartered Institute of Transport, and the Nautical Institute, UK. Dantsoho is also a member of the Ikoyi Club 1938.
- Career Milestones:
Dantsoho has served in various key roles including Chief of Staff to the Minister of Transport, Assistant General Manager at NPA, Technical Assistant to the Managing Director, Port Manager at Onne Port, and Principal Manager of Tariff & Billing.
- Awards and Recognitions:
He received the NPA 25-year long service merit award in 2019 and a letter of commendation for successfully berthing the EGINA FPSO Ship in Nigerian territorial waters in 2018.
- Consultancy Projects:
Dantsoho has been involved in significant consultancy studies including a 25-year Ports Development Masterplan by Crown Agent, UK, and World Bank projects on port concession assessment and private sector participation in Lagos’ integrated transport system.
- International Delegations:
He represented Nigeria at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London in 2010 and attended the World Ports Conference of the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH) in Busan, South Korea in 2011.
- Technical Expertise:
Dantsoho has extensive technical expertise in various MS Office applications, operating systems, programming languages, and data management tools. His proficiency includes using Mercury Quality Center 9, JIRA, Selenium IDE, Selenium RC, Selenium WebDriver, BDD Cucumber, Maven system methodologies, Waterfall, Agile, and Scrum.
- Personal Interests:
Outside of his professional life, Dantsoho enjoys reading, traveling, and jogging.
