NSC’s Initiative to Create 15,000 Jobs
Not less than 15,000 job opportunities will be created following the maturity of an initiative put in place by the management of Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), which presently has Hassan Bello as its Executive Secretary.
NSC is presently the port economic regulator. It is facilitating the development of the TTPs to boost local and international trade in the country.
According to an independent commissioned survey report, the initiative, Truck Transit Parks (TTPs) sited in eight locations across eight states of the federation is expected to kick off soon.
TTP is a modern transport infrastructure developed by the Federal Government to facilitate trade in the country and ensure safety of lives on the highways. The facility has in-built business incubation centres to boost the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as well as other recreational facilities.
Eight locations were identified as economically viable for the construction of the TTPs. They are Port Novo Creek, Lagos State; Ogere, Ogun State; Onitsha, Anambra State; Jebba, Kwara State; Lokoja, Kogi State; Ore, Ondo State; and Obollo-Afor, Enugu State.
Already, Kogi State Government has allocated about 45 hectares of land at Ohono village along Lokoja-Abuja highway for the TTP project, while Enugu State Government has allocated about 50 acres of land at Obollo-Afor in Udenu Local Government Area.
Kaduna State Government is developing TTP projects at Mararaban Jos, Tafa and Buruku for heavy duty trucks, as two locations have been procured while the third one is expected soon.
Bello in a paper titled: “Economic Regulation and Effective Trucking in Nigeria”, presented at the just concluded Enugu International Trade Fair said: “A Truck Transit Park is a public rest area located off the road, designed to provide temporary rest location for truck drivers. It is primarily intended for short-term safety breaks and also longer-term parking services in high-use transport corridors”
Some of the facilities in a TTP include fuel stations, restaurants, mechanic workshops, and health clinics.
Others are hotels, motels, shopping and recreation centres, training and cargo tracking centres.
The NSC helmsman represented by the Deputy Director, Public Private Partnership (PPP), Mr. Glory Onojedo observed that “Transport is a critical determinant in the conduct of international trade and impacts on national economies. The availability, quality, cost and efficiency of transport services influence the trading environment and the competitiveness of export goods on the international market as well as the cost of imported goods. In this regard, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council serves as an agent for economic development through interventions in the cost moderation and cargo transport issues resulting in positive impact on inflationary trend in the country”
He explained that as part of its ports economic regulatory duties, NSC is to liaise with the host state governments of the TTPs to ensure the provision of the infrastructure and other facilities on the project sites.
The NSC helmsman revealed that the TTP projects will be delivered through PPP which entails mobilizing private sector resources for national development, adding that the “TTP project is one of the strategies to fast-track the bridging of infrastructure deficit particularly in the transport sector”.
Bello noted that the position of Transaction Adviser (TA) for the TTP has been tendered for and the selection process was on-going.
According to him, the responsibility of the host state governments to identify and allocate suitable land free of all encumbrances; provide basic infrastructure such as electricity, water, access road and security.
While it is the responsibility of the private sector investor to provide funding, management and maintenance during the PPP contract period for the success of the facility, the Federal Government is to commission Outline Business Case (OBC), obtain all regulatory certificates and provide the private investor.