Institute tasks Buhari on National Transport Policy

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) on Friday urged the President-elect, retired Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that a robust national transport policy is put in place in the country.

Retired Maj.-Gen. Umar Usman, the National President of CILT, Nigeria made this plea during the institute’s Fellows and Corporate Members’ Forum in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Usman said that a robust transport policy would promote growth in the industry and enhance economic development.

“We have a problem; in a situation where a country has no national transport policy, this is a challenge.

“We urge the incoming administration to ensure that first and foremost, Nigeria has a robust national transport policy.

“The moment the nation has a transport policy, all the problems associated with transport infrastructure will be addressed.

“Unfortunately, today in the country, roads are carrying far beyond their capacity and that is why we have dilapidated roads all over.

“The rail that is supposed to carry the weight off the roads is still epileptic because what we have is a narrow gauge.

“What this country needs today is a wide gauge that can be able to carry more and travel a longer distance.

“And of course issues that have to do with integration should be looked into. We do not have an integrated system. We need an integrated transport system,’’ he said.

Usman urged the new government to have right people in the right places to perform maximally.

Prof. Kayode Oyesiku, the Deputy National President of CILT, in an interview with newsmen, rated the nation below 25 per cent in logistics and transport system.

“If we are to rate our transport and logistics on a scale of 100, we are somewhere between 20 and 25 and the reason for this is very obvious.

“First is the state of our infrastructure, particularly the lack of inter-modality of movement of goods and services.

“Nigeria is still absolutely dominated by road, which should not be and across the world it has not always been.

“The second problem is the extent of professionalism.

“There is no council of registration of those who can practice transport in Nigeria, there is no bill that has actually been approved that can foster the growth and development of the profession,’’ Oyesiku said.

He said that the 7th National Assembly had not passed the bill that was sponsored by the institute.

Earlier in his address, the Chairman of the occasion, Mr Dunoma Saleh, the Managing Director of Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) said that effective transport system had the capacity to move the economy of any country.

“ In Nigeria, and as could be seen in other countries, the place of logistics and transport in the economy of any country is always at the centre-point of the economic template of that country.

“This goes to suggest, therefore, that ethics and knowledge in the administration and running of logistics and transport operations in all its forms should be given prime attention.

“In an emerging economy like our own, we need to do more on traffic planning of our cities and city centres, as the issues of urbanisation and conurbation are fast overwhelming us,’’ he said.

The guest speaker, Sir Mike Jukwe, who delivered a lecture on “The role of freight forwarding in the supply chain and National Economy,’’ said that effective and efficient freight forwarding was critical to economic development.

“ We expect that freight forwarding in Nigeria will soon be adequately positioned to deliver its quota in the competitiveness agenda.

“Adequate funding is required to train practitioners to acquire the requisite knowledge to ensure best practices and high quality services that will facilitate trade and increase revenue earnings,’’ he said.