The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Aviation, Mr. Hadi Sirika, Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemi Saraki, will be leading the pack of guests of honours at the 2019 National Transport Summit scheduled to hold in Abuja between December 3rd – 5th.
Others are 36 State Commissioners of Transport and other strategic stakeholders.
In a statement at the weekend, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, President of the Charted Institute Of Transport Administration (CIOTA) explained that the event form part of efforts designed to advance the transportation system in Nigeria.
CIoTA hopes to utilize the conference to bring the Federal and State Governments and other major stakeholders together, to push for the required policies to enable seamless integration of the modes of transportation in the country, to ease the challenges at hand and move the nation’s economy forward.
While stating the aim of the upcoming conference Dr. Jamoh called for synergy among relevant bodies, saying collaboration is the only way the country’s transportation system can be effectively developed. He also assured that the body will constantly offer professional advice to government on issues relating to transportation and its development, towards building a better economy for the country.
The Chairman, Presidential Economic Council, Dr. Doyin Salami would lead a rich delegation of speakers at the event, ranging from transport operators, regulators and the academia at the event to be held at the Musa Yar’adua Conference Centre in Central Area Abuja, on the Theme; “Unlocking The Potentials of Transportation for Sustainable Development”.
The summit, would further seek to address the numerous transport sector woes in the country via innovation and global best practices.
Speaking further on the event, the President of CIoTA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, who is also Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), added that the summit would equally create an avenue to address the silo nature of the modes of transportation in the country, which have not been beneficial to trade and supply chain.
He said, “During the summit, CIoTA will be addressing a key issue of how best we can get the needed value in the supply chain, because trade is only complete when goods can get to their final destination in efficient manner.
“We can see that the challenge has been the non-integrated approach of the various transportation modes, making it difficult for movement of goods from the ports to various locations. We shall be looking at solutions that would integrate the road, rail, air, and water transport systems. We are looking to push for policies to uphold seamless integration of the transport modes to support trade, in terms of easy movement of cargo across locations.”
Speaking further, Jamoh said, “One good way to go in seeking solution to the perennial gridlock in the port city of Apapa, Lagos, is to turn to the railway and barges for the movement of containers, rather than remain stuck with road transportation alone. The issue of using rail tracks to move cargo from the ports will be paramount in terms of policy, advisory, human capacity, and skill acquisition for our own members, who are in different agencies in the maritime industry.”
The CIoTA President emphasised the need for the expansion of the ports, saying the present Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports have lost spaces, where containers would have been, to concessionaires, who are in charge of the terminals.
The summit would also feature technical sessions, and panel discussions to cover a wide range of topics on the nation’s transport challenges and possible solutions.
Other speakers expected at the summit include Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside; Founder, Centre for Value in Leadership, Professor Pat Utomi; Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala-Usman; the Executive Secretary Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Barr. Hassan Bello, as well as retired Merchant Navy Captain, Emmanuel Iheanacho, the Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Engr. Fidet Okhiria, Prof. Innocent Ogwude and Chris Asoluka, Chairman Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone.
