By Anne Ejuka
The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has said the federal government can rely on Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIOTA) for direction in formulating transport policy and administration.
Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Monday in Abuja at the opening of the Third National Transport Summit organised by CIOTA, with the theme, “Regulating The Transport Sector In Nigeria: The State of the Art and The Years Ahead".
The Vice President, who was represented at the summit by Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, said the federal government would adopt the recommendations of the conference as a critical document for future planning in the transport sector saying "given the quality of professionals in CIOTA, the Federal Government trusted the institute as a worthy partner in its economic recovery drive".
“You have a role to produce transport professionals who will drive the economy from the point of view of transport and logistics; " therefore, government would look up to your Institute for guidance in policy formulation and implementation,” he added.
Osinbajo went further to tell CIOTA, “Your role in the transportation sector of the economy is enormous. It is a lead role. As the Institute carries out its statutory mandate of training and certifying transport professionals, as you exercise your statutory powers to regulate and control the practice of professional transport management and administration, your training curriculum and the quality of your graduates are very significant, as the global supply chain goes digital and the world of transport and transportation management thrives on ever-evolving technology and innovation".
Earlier in his welcome address, National President of CIOTA, who is also the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh advocated for the inventory of the country’s transport assets to aid economic planning.
He stated that the theme of this year’s summit was a renewed call for the country to take stock of its transportation assets to facilitate development planning.
The CIOTA president said, “This theme is a call to a renewed scrutiny, supervision and stocktaking within the transportation sector.
“Critical regulatory obligations such as transportation safety, quality control, documentation and licensing, information sharing and data mining, professional education and public enlightenment; enforcement of the rules and standardization of procedures for seamless collaboration amongst statutory institutions with mandates are imperatives for the making of a sustainable and economically viable transport sector in Nigeria.”
He added, “It is also time to take stock nationally of all the transportation assets of Nigeria. CIOTA pledges to play a supportive role in this regard. We are officially assuring the government at federal and state levels that the institute’s professional base is ready and at your disposal.
“We believe that proper inventory of our national transportation assets will address the following important concerns: what is our exact national requirement in terms of transportation assets in order to avoid duplication, underproduction or under investment? We must first ascertain what we need to enable us fill in the gaps".
The summit was well attended by experts and stakeholders in the transport sector, including heads of departments and federal government agencies, parastatals and private sector operators