The Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority is a creation of Act 63 of 1992, with the mandate to license, regulate and monitor free zones in Nigeria. From inception up to a few years ago, the organization leaved up to this mandate and the scheme expanded under successive management.
The objective of the scheme include but not limited to:
Diversification of the economy through manufacturing for domestic market and export.
Generation of employment, technology transfer and skill acquisition. Generation of revenue to the Federal Government. Attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through aggressive marketing etc.
Unfortunately, since the appointment of Mr. Gbenga Kuye as Managing Director of NEPZA, the organization and the entire scheme has suffered so much set back occasioned by gross incompetence of the Chief Executive.
The NEPZA had always been the cynosure at any fora organized by the supervising ministry (Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment) for Departments and Agencies under the Ministry.
In the past, rich contributions from NEPZA at such fora were valued and appreciated and would always and necessarily form major parts of the communique at the end of each forum. And so, NEPZA was highly revered amnogst the Departments and Agencies under the Ministry of Trade.
Today the story is completely different. NEPZA is hardly heard or seen. What NEPZA is good at now is granting pre-arranged interviews where the Managing Director makes bogus claims of his achievements. Mr. Kuye hardly attends work. Infact in a whole month he may be sighted for just 2 to 3 days at work. During such prolonged absence no member of the Executive Management Team is allowed to sit in for him. Everything remains unattended to until he resumes from his frequent unofficial leave.
The incompetence of Mr. Kuye as Managing Director has adversely affected the growth of the zones.
Inflow of FDI to the zones has drastically dwindled. The administration had been very hostile to investors to the extent that new policies are introduced without stakeholders' participation and when investors complain about such tendencies, they are rudely informed that the policy has come to stay and that they could take their investment out if they are not comfortable with the policy.
Staff live in constant fear of Emperor Kuye. At the slightest misrepresentation of any staff, such a staff is transferred to far away non-operational zone where he or she is expected to languish and rot away.
The only dependable allies of Emperor Kuye in the entire organization are the union members whom through financial inducement and other unmerited favour have been turned to his puppets. The union members are frequently sponsored on foreign and local trips just to retain support for the incompetence leadership.
Everything has continued to deteriorate in NEPZA. Staff morale is at its lowest ebb, under a grossly incompetent leadership by Emperor Gbenga Kuye.
Ones heart bleeds for NEPZA