Without transportation, no economic development-Osinbajo
By Peter Usman://
The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has said that there will be economic development without transportation as the roles play by the sector in the economic advancement of any nation is enormous.
Osinbajo also asserted that any economy without affordable transport services is far from being developed; saying that “services must be readily available, the equipment for transport services must also be safe and the operating environment must be secure.”
The Vice President, made this assertion on Monday in Abuja at the 3rd National Transport Summit of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria, CIoTA.
Osinbajo, considering the importance of CIoTA to the Nigeria economy, noted that the institute is mandated to train and certifying Transport professionals, regulate and control the practice of professional transport management and administration, adding that the roles of the institute cannot be underestimated.
“So 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 innovations.
“Whether these institutions are government institutions, quasigovernment or private sector institutions, they are all agents of development where their objectives are positively pursued and attained. One of such institutions is the Chartered institute of Transport Administration, Nigeria, which establishment Act was enacted in 2019.
“The theme and the sub-themes of the summit are in tune with government thinking and actions, as can be seen in the massive transport infrastructure developments in the rail, road, maritime and air subsectors as an indication of the seriousness with which this government takes Transportation as sector for driving our economic agenda, we enunciated some creative policy initiatives for funding critical projects in the sector.
“These include Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, Bonds, involvement of international development Partners such as World Bank, Africa Development Bank, ADB, IMF, Foreign Direct investment, FDI, Highway Development and Management Initiative, HDMI and National Tolling Policy. These are yielding tremendous results” he said.
According to him, “The statistics are available to corroborate this assertion but this is not a suitable place for statistical analytics to prove this. However the 186 kilometer Abuja —Kaduna Railway project commissioned in 2016 by the present Government with over 5000 employment opportunities, the 157 kilometer Lagos -ibadan Railway project started by this Administration in 2017 completed and put to use in 2021, the Kano-Maradi railway project, the Port Harcourt — Maiduguri Railway Project, Itapke-Warri to mention a few.”
Speaking on maritime transport, the Vice President said that the enactment of the Suppression of Piracy and other Maritime Offences Act 2019 is a deliberate action aimed at sustainable development in the maritime transport sub-sector in Nigeria, stressing that the Act is aimed at punishing piracy and other offences in the nation’s maritime domain.
He said with the recent election of Nigeria as the Secretary General of the Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa, MOWCA, Nigeria has opportunity to utilize the investments the country is making in the transport sector as building blocks to attain hub status, and play big especially as Africa regional trade expands with the coming of Africa Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA initiative with a market size of over 1.2 billion people and an estimated combined GDP of over 3 Trillion US Dollar.
The Vice President applauded the Minister of Transportation Rt. Hon. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, the Minister of State Senator Rukayat Gbemisola Saraki and all the parastatals under the Ministry of Transportation for their efforts in repositioning the sector.