CIOTA: Gowon Urges Transport Stakeholders to Create Innovative Strategies to Advance Sector

The Former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, has urged stakeholders, policy makers and technical experts in the transport sector to create innovative strategies to advance the transport system in the country.

Gowon who is also the Chairman of 2020 summit of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIOTA) made this known in Abuja on Tuesday.
The theme of the summit is “Building Sustainable Transport Infrastructure in Nigeria :Opportunities, Innovation and Technologies.

Gowon said “We must embark upon an intensive campaign to make more public and private sectors accountable and performance oriented, with a view to provide the citizenry with proficient transport system.

“We should also inculcate code of ethical conduct, transparency and accountability into the whole transportation system for national development.

“The task of advancing the transport system cannot be left to government alone. It requires partnership between the public, private sector participation, civil society and the general public.

“Confidence and support are paramount in this campaign of building a virile transport system in our country.

“It is worthy to note that the summit is designed to provide a platform for critical examination and participation on the way forward of the concept of the economy that affects all other sectors for national development, he said”.

Gowon reiterated the need to be involved in finding ways to improve the transportation sector and not to destroy what is already on ground.

Particularly, he condemned the destruction of properties that happened in Lagos recently during the #EndSARs crisis when over 150 Lagos buses were destroyed.

He said the country should embark on realistic and honest assessment of the National Transport system in the country and repositioning the sector.

Gowon however, said unfortunately, the nation had come under the burden of economic challenge of Covid-19 pandemic and the dwindling oil fortunes.

According to him, this has marred critical impact and we ought to have made in order to revitalise our transportation system in the country.

Also speaking, the President of CIOTA, Dr Bashir Jamoh, said that the summit was organised to brainstorm on how to improve infrastructure in transport sector for seamless carriages of goods and services be it sea, road or by rail.

Jamoh said that there were specific curriculum that members of the CIOTA would covered and understand before moving from a stage to another after getting degree in the transport management.

He reiterated the need for members to engage in continuous development education to enable them practice in line with global best practices in the transportation sectors.

Jamoh said that there was need for collaboration in the area of getting at least major certification of diploma degrees in the Nigeria Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) before getting members of the institution

Also speaking, the Executive Secretory, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr Hassan Bello, has attributed lack of coordination and modernisation to the challenges facing the transport sector in the country.

Bello said multi modernism was not a challenge in Nigeria but inter-modernism, which means that all the means of transportation must come together.

“What happen at the sea ports must have relevance on the inter-lands why we lack interconnectivity in mojst of our ports.

“Off course we have port in Calabar and once the goods is out in Calabar ports, you need high sense of inter-connectivity and modern transport to enable the good to move to other parts of the county.

“Talking about seamless transport system, there is carriage of goods by only or partly by sea, the United Nations Convention, while most convention stop at sea ports.

“In the modern Convention, because of Commerce, modern commerce dictate what infrastructure you are going to get such as door to door delivery of cargo electronically,” Bello said.

He said transport must be infuse with technology that would drive the sector adding that there was need for professional Coordinators in transport sector for effective management.