Abubakar Dantsoho: Meet new managing director of Nigerian Ports Authority

President Bola Tinubu has appointed Abubakar Dantsoho as the new managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

Until his appointment on Friday, Dantsoho was the Chief of Staff to the Minister of Transport, a position he assumed in 2022.

Before his appointment, he had served in various roles in the Nigerian Ports Authority where he spent close to 30 years of his professional life including as an assistant general manager; technical assistant to the Managing Director; port manager at Onne Port; and principal manager of Tariff and Billing.

Dantsoho joined the NPA in 1992 as a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member. He was later hired as a Marketing Officer 11 and grew to become an assistant general manager in 2022 before joining the Federal Ministry of Transportation as the Chief of Staff to the Minister.

Dantsoho holds a doctorate in Maritime Technology from Liverpool John Moores University, United Kingdom, and a Master’s degree in International Transport from Cardiff University of Wales, United Kingdom.

Here are 10 things to know about Dantsoho:

Early life and education:

Born in Jalingo, Taraba State, Dantsoho served his National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) 1992.

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:

He holds a PhD 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). He started his stint at the NPA in 1993.

Professional memberships:

Dantsoho is a member of numerous professional bodies including the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, the Chartered Institute of Transport, the Institute of Logistics and Transport of Nigeria, the Nigerian Institute of Shipping, the Nigerian Institute of Management, and the Nautical Institute, UK.

He is also a member of the Ikoyi Club 1938.

Career milestones:

He has served as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Transport, Assistant General Manager at NPA, and Technical Assistant to the Managing Director.

His roles included Port Manager at Onne Port and Principal Manager of Tariff & Billing.

Awards and recognitions:

Dantsoho 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:

He 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:

Dantsoho represented Nigeria at the International Maritime Organisation (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:

He 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:

Dantsoho enjoys reading, travelling, and jogging outside of his professional life.

Meanwhile, Dantsoho is expected to take the nation’s port to a greater height by riding on the legacies of his predecessors.

He is also expected to take up the challenges of finalising the deployment of the Port Community System in line with the IMO deadline of ensuring that seaports globally are automated by 2025.

Among other tasks ahead of him, he is also responsible for overseeing the rehabilitation of Nigeria’s old seaports including Apapa, Tin-Can, Onne, Rivers, Calabar, and Warri Ports.