The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Barrister Hassan Bello has called for the adoption of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement to drive the transport sector development in Nigeria.
Bello who made this call while delivering a paper with the tittle, “Nigerian Transport Policy: Maritime Dimensions”, at the 2nd Maritime Technical Summit organized by the Association of Marine Engineers and Surveyors (AMES) in Lagos yesterday stated that the public sector must see itself as a servant to the private sector even as he said that the private sector must lead in investment in transportation.
He added that the government has the responsibility to enable the private sector to thrive saying that the government as an enabler should create a conducive atmosphere for private sector to do well.
In his word,” Transportation is a thing that drives this economy and we have to get it right. What we are talking about is multimodal transportation, we are talking about integration of all transport infrastructure. I know we have huge deficit but I also see that there is an opportunity; the way forward is public private partnership so that the risks can be apportioned and shared.
“If you look at the Lekki Deep Sea Port for example, it is a very good example of public private partnership, we hope to also have it in other areas. Like the dry ports that we have, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council is promoting Truck Transit Park, modern infrastructure driven by technology. This will mean that we have efficiency in transportation because if we have transportation that is not efficient, it will cripple the economy. We must have inclusiveness, employment content of our infrastructure, more people will be employed and there will be export and Nigeria will diversify her economic growth.
“We have to have linkage with the hinterland and that is the beauty of it, goods supposed to go to and from the hinterland before they go to the people and there are many ways of doing that; inland waterways for example, the road transport, the rail transport and you know that Nigeria is embarking on revolutionary rail transportation, this will have profound impact on the economy”.
Earlier in his welcome address, the President of AMES, Engr. Charles Uwadia said that the maritime industry is standing on a tripod namely; the political i.e the policy, the technical dimension and thirdly, the funding adding that without any of these in the right measure, the industry will falter.
While thanking the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi for his presence at the last summit held in 2016 and for his audacious steps in reforming the maritime sector through committees set up after the last summit, Uwadia hinted that it was obvious that the event recorded a huge success.
He mentioned the committees set up after the first edition of the summit in 2016 to include the committee on national fleet, the rejigging of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, revamping of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron saying that an interim Management Committee was set up to look at revamping the Academy.
“Also presently, there is a committee in place to look into the ship registry to bring the standard of the registry to the international best practice and we know that you will all agree with me that this will attract shipping investors from other parts of the world when these things are implemented”, he said.
The AMES President noted that the association had been encouraged by Minister’s unusual enthusiasm and candour to turn the industry around for the better even as he assured the Minister that members of AMES would continue to work with the government and her agencies as they aspire to make full use of their vast experience and resources in making the sector attain its full potentials.
Send your news, press releases/articles to augustinenwadinamuo@yahoo.com. Also, follow us on Twitter @reportersinfo and on Facebook on facebook.com/primetimereporters or call the editor on 07030661526, 08053908817.
