Nigeria has entered what the Federal Government describes as a “new era of digital governance” following the launch of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council’s Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS).
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, made the declaration in Abuja on Tuesday while officially unveiling the platform. He said the new system represents a model for modernising public administration across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
According to Akume, the deployment of the ECMS marks more than an institutional milestone for the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC). It reflects the government’s commitment to ending outdated manual processes and embracing efficient, technology-driven systems that boost accountability and transparency.
He described the platform, according to a statement Yomi Odunuga, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, as the kind of structural reform needed to strengthen governance and improve service delivery nationwide.
The SGF explained that the ECMS is not a public-facing platform but an advanced internal solution meant to address longstanding challenges associated with paper-based administration. These challenges include inefficiencies, delays, missing files, and opaque approval procedures—issues the government aims to eliminate through enterprise-level digital tools.
Akume noted that the system will enhance coordination within the Shippers’ Council by improving documentation integrity, expediting workflow management, and strengthening communication between departments. These gains, he said, will enable the Council to deliver regulatory services to maritime stakeholders with increased speed, accuracy, and professionalism.
He highlighted features such as audit trails, automated approvals, and a centralised digital repository as examples of global best practices integrated into the platform. Such capabilities ensure documents cannot be altered without trace, thereby minimising discretion-based delays and enhancing institutional credibility.
The SGF emphasised that automation is critical as Nigeria’s maritime sector faces mounting pressure to align with international compliance standards and respond quickly to industry challenges. A modern administrative backbone, he said, helps regulatory agencies respond swiftly to policy demands and sector disruptions.
Akume also commended the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Dr. Pius Akutah, for championing one of the earliest examples of compliance with President Bola Tinubu’s directive on digital records management across the public service.
He noted that the Council has shown leadership that other MDAs should emulate.
Linking the initiative to the Federal Government’s broader Ease of Doing Business agenda, the SGF said efficient internal processes in regulatory agencies ultimately benefit the business community. Faster approvals, clearer communication, and reduced transaction costs, he stated, are direct outcomes of streamlined administrative systems.
Akume called on other government agencies to learn from the Shippers’ Council’s implementation journey and adopt similar enterprise systems to boost internal efficiency. He stressed that widespread digital records management is essential to building a smarter, transparent, and future-ready federal bureaucracy.
“Today’s occasion represents more than an institutional achievement; it is a bold statement of the Federal Government’s determination to modernise public administration through integrated digital governance,” he said.
“By strengthening internal coordination, documentation integrity, and operational transparency, the system will greatly enhance the Council’s overall regulatory effectiveness and the quality of service ultimately delivered to stakeholders.”
