CITL Wants Nigeria to adopt Best Practices in Transport

The Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics (CITL) has stressed the need for Nigeria to adopt best practices in all sectors of the economy, especially in the transport industry.

The institute hinged its advice on the fact that Nigeria is an emerging economy, and the transport industry is also emerging.

Deputy Director, Finance and Administration, CITL, Mr. Paul Ndibe, who stated this in a chat with journalists in Lagos, said that in trying to follow best practice, Nigeria must also try to install what “institutional and legal framework” to able the country to deal with issues relating to logistics and transport.

Ndibe maintained that Nigeria, as a developing nation, needs infrastructure base to be in a position that it will take the transportation system function smoothly.

On ways to develop the transport industry, Ndibe said the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration should continue on what was left on the ground by the previous administration. According to him, the administration needs to do its own evaluation and draw up pattern of development they need to pursue. There are a lot of works to be done both in the maritime, aviation and road. And it is expected that they will do a thorough work, and employ good hands and good professionals.

On whether Buhari’s administration is merging ministries in a bid to save cost, Ndibe said: “It depends on the prospective of the government and if government is not getting a good result in the separate ministries. They thought that they might merge them for better results. There is no problem because the critical thing is not the merging of the ministries but the output from these ministries. If you have a desk and the desk is manned by a professional, they are more likely to have result. We should first and foremost, in terms of government, look at if there is a national transport policy in place by government and if there is national transport policy, how robust is the policy. Then it is the guide government will use either to invest or to reinvest or seek for partners to develop infrastructure. The bad news is that there is huge deficit of infrastructure in the transport sector in Nigeria. There is no regulation. There is no enforcement”.

On the promotion of a national carrier, the CILT deputy director said: “At a point in time, we had a national carrier in the aviation industry called Nigeria Airways, also in the maritime, Nigerian National Shipping Line. But something went wrong and it is expected that government will look into what went wrong in order to draw experience from what went wrong.

“If we are routing for a national carrier, what is the content of the private sector. Kenya Airways has over 100 planes and do you know the worth, which airport in Nigeria will carry such planes and government can develop standard airports through private partnership. Will government be able to make the required huge investment in the envisaged airline?

“Government must look into that before inviting private investors who are ready to partner with the government. But, like I said early, you cannot do all that without the useful hand of professionals and without a national transport policy. There must be a national be a national transport policy and institutional frame work to which the government and the private sector will apply themselves”.

He described logistic as a profession that is wide open, even as he expressed dismay on the poor regulation of the sector.