By Dada Ahmed
The Management Retreat of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), has opened in Zuba, outskirts of the Federal Capital Territory FCT) with the Managing Director, Prof. Adesoji Adesugba urging the management team to build sustainable mentorship program for all cadres of staff for stronger team work and professionalism.
Martins Odeh,Head, Corporate Communications, NEPZA in a statement in Zuba on Saturday, qouted the Managing Director who is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority,as having made the remark in his address of welcome dinner on Friday at the Zuma Rock Resort, venue of the retreat.
The NEPZA boss explained that the obvious gaps in service delivery in most establishments in the country largely hinged on of the inability of the top management to build virile succession plans.
According to him, the only antidote to forestall external sourcing for the directorate cadre is by deliberately engaging on transfer of requisite knowledge to younger ones.
“I am a team player and I also enjoy impacting on my staff. This is the right attitude of professionalism that can help sustain the gains we are making.
“We must henceforth open up more to those working under us with the view to transferring knowledge of the free trade zone operations at that rung of the ladder. Let us endeavour to build succession plans for the Authority’’, Adesugba said.
He further urged participants to take advantage of the retreat to also relax and regenerate.
The retreat with the theme: “Ideas of Change Executive Retreat 2021’’ runs between Friday and Sunday.
The conversation topics are: Strategic Planning and Budgeting (SPB); Problem Solving Techniques; Developing and Tracking of Annual Goals: Monitoring and Evaluation; Communication Models; Team building; Corporate Governance; and NEPZA Executive Session respectively.
Other activities are group workouts and old school industry night.
In another development, the Authority has won the Award of Industrial Development Excellence from the Organised Private Sector represented by the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).
The award conferred at the inauguration of the new ACCI President in Abuja was to recognise the tremendous contributions of NEPZA to industrial and economic development.
These feats, ACCI noted, manifested in the growing contributions of the Authority to tax revenues, the widening of national industrial base, the increasing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the free zones, and the development of new free zones on medical, agriculture and cotton among others.
The ACCI also observed, with deep interest, the systematic reforms of the free zone sector which were reflected in the ongoing huge investment the Federal Government was making in the Kano and Calabar free zones respectively.
The ACCI management, led by Dr Al-Mujtaba Abubakar, noted that within the context of AfCFTA, NEPZA should be further supported in its vision to expand the country’s industrial production capacity to effectively compete on the continent.
Adesugba, however, said the award was for President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Trade and Investment, Otumba Adeniyi Adebayo, who he said provided leadership and direction for whatever accomplishments NEPZA had recorded thus far.
