The Commander and Chief Executive Officer, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, TRACE, ‘Seni Ogunyemi and other stakeholders in the transportation and logistics business have identified lack of professionalism and lack of regulations as twin challenges mostly bedevilling transport business in the country.
They all spoke at the Southwest Zonal Conference organised by the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria,CIOTA, Lagos branch.
The theme of the conference was ‘The role of transport and logistics in sustainable development.’
Speaking in an exclusive interview with NOTM online on the sidelines of the programme, Commander ‘Seni Ogunyemi said there is the need for professionalism and proper regulations of the transport sector in order to bring sanity and order to the chaotic nature of what obtains currently in the sector.
The TRACE boss who represented the Ogun State Commissioner for Transport, Engr. Olugbenga Dairo, and also doubles the Southwest Zonal Coordinator of CIOTA, noted that it was an abnormality to just come into the transportation business without any form of training or certifications by any institutions or professional body like CIOTA.
He said,”It is not that Nigeria does not have transportation policy, it is the implementation that is lacking. There is no any form of professionalism or regulations in the sector.
“If someone has money, he or she can come into the transportation sector by buying buses or cars and putting those vehicles on the road for commercial purposes, without any prior training or certifications of any form either for the drivers and other staff in the organisation.
“There is the need to professionalise the nation’s transport sector and it should also be properly regulated to ensure safety, efficiency and sustainability.”
Commander ‘Seni Ogunyemi was however excited that there are instructions currently offering courses in transportation and logistics, stating that “these are from where we will get human capacity to ensure professionalism and sustainability in the transport sector.”
On his part, the President/Chairman of Council, CIOTA, Prince(Dr.) Segun Obayendo noted that there was the need to safeguard the transport sector by stakeholders not seeing it as “all comers affair.”
He said it should not be in the mould of what we have now -free entry,free exit affair, thus calling for official and professional regulation.
The Keynote speaker at the event, Prof. Iyiola Oni in his own presentation touched on the issue of the environment, arguing that emissions from vehicles, and sludges from used engine oil posed a great danger to the environment, leading to air pollution and water surface pollution.
Making his own presentation, Group Captain Oladipo Ojikutu(retd)which centred more on civil aviation, maintained the sector “is bogged down by institutional corruption.”
He also noted that many private airlines had come and gone under due to lack of sustainable business plans and lack of maintenance culture.
Other speakers at the event equally highlighted the need for concerted efforts to being sanity into the nation’s transport sector giving it a pride of place to drive other levers of development.
Other highlights at the event included the oath taking and induction of new members, and fellows into CIOTA and presentation of award plaques to deserving personalities for their contributions to the organisation.
