The Federal Government has declared that Nigeria has entered a new phase of digital governance with the launch of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council’s Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS).
Particularly, the Nigerian government described it as a model for modernizing public administration across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, CON, made the declaration while unveiling the platform in Abuja on Tuesday.
Senator Akume said the initiative marks more than an institutional milestone for the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC); it signals the government’s firm commitment to eliminating outdated manual processes and replacing them with efficient, technology-driven systems that support accountability and transparency.
According to him, the ECMS represents the kind of structural reform needed to strengthen governance and enhance service delivery nationwide.
The SGF stressed that the ECMS is not a public-facing platform, but an advanced internal tool designed to tackle longstanding problems associated with paper-based administration.
He identified inefficiencies, delays, missing files, and opaque approval systems as systemic obstacles the government is determined to dismantle through enterprise digital tools.
Akume explained that the newly deployed system will significantly improve internal coordination within the Shippers’ Council by ensuring documentation integrity, faster workflow management, and better communication between departments. With these improvements, he added, the Council will be able to provide regulatory services to maritime stakeholders with greater speed, accuracy, and professionalism.
According to him, the platform’s features, including audit trails, automated approvals, and a centralized digital repository, reflect global standards adopted by high-performing regulatory institutions. These capabilities, he said, ensure that no document can be altered without trace, thereby reducing discretion-based delays and improving institutional credibility.
He emphasized that such automation is essential at a time when Nigeria’s maritime sector faces increasing pressure to align with international compliance frameworks and respond swiftly to industry challenges. A modern administrative backbone, he noted, enables agencies to adapt more quickly to disruptions and policy demands.
Akume also commended the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Dr. Pius Akutah, for driving one of the earliest and clearest examples of compliance with President Bola Tinubu’s directive on digital records management across the public service. He said the Council has demonstrated exemplary leadership that other MDAs should emulate.
The SGF linked the initiative directly to the Federal Government’s Ease of Doing Business agenda, noting that efficient internal processes in regulatory agencies translate to faster approvals, clearer communication, and reduced transaction costs for businesses operating in the Nigerian economy.
He encouraged other government agencies to take lessons from the Shippers’ Council’s implementation journey and begin deploying similar enterprise systems that will strengthen their internal capacity. According to him, widespread adoption of digital records management is central to building a smarter, transparent, and future-ready federal bureaucracy.
He said: “Today’s occasion represents more than an institutional achievement; it ts a bold statement of the Federal Government’s determination to modemize public administration through integrated digital govemance.
“Let me emphasize an important point: the ECMS is not an external facing service platform. Rather, it is a sophisticated internal tool designed to eliminate the inefficiencies, delays, and opacity that offen accompany paper-based processes and manual workflows.
“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”.
