The National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has described as unfortunate the comments credited to the President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transports (CILT) Nigeria, Mr. Ibrahim Jibril to the effect that touts are managing trucking business in the country.
It will be recalled the this medium reported Mr. Jibril as saying in an interview with journalists during the just concluded National Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Institute in Lagos that truck owners were not breaking even in the business because touts were the ones managing their trucks for them thereby harping on the need for professionals to be engaged by the truck owners to man the industry so as to get result.
Reacting to the comments, the Lagos State Vice Chairman, Dry Cargo section of NARTO, Alhaji Abudullahi Inuwa Mohammed regretted that such a caliber of person should categorize truck owners and their managers as touts even as he described it as a pity.
Mohammed observed that the CILT boss should have first of all appreciate those who were still managing those trucks up to this time saying that a look at the circumstances surrounding trucking operation in Nigeria, he should at least appreciate those who were operating their own trucks.
He said,” It is a pity for him to use that type of language on truck owners; he is a leader in the country, why can’t he invite the organizations and organize a seminar for them and get to know some of our challenges? I have read the interview, there were lots of multinationals that came but they had to pack up because they cannot compete with the prevailing conditions of the roads. Moreover, so many of us were born into transport business up till now, even the so called professionals, some of them went and lent money from the bank and they started but they did not operate up to two years and they packed up.
“I think he has to appreciate those who are still in the business today despite all the odds. I can tell you that some of our members especially those lifting wet cargoes, you see that apart from professionalism, they still have time to attend some seminars where they are being taught some safety tips, then you see somebody who invested over N30 million and you are talking about touts managing touts knowing that transport sector accounts to about 70% of the country’s economy and next to government in terms of employment generation.
“But I advise him, if he has any good motive on how to use his institute to even help the country, it is for him to approach all the transport unions so that he can get the full operational details of who he can meet so that they can talk not for him to just come and speak in the manner that he did. He has forgotten the inefficiencies of some of these regulatory agencies within the port environment, if not now when the present MD of the Nigerian Ports Authority came and pushed to see that this Wharf road is repaired, how many have come as MDs and abandoned it if not for her”.
On planned consolidation of trucking companies, the NARTO Vice Chairman posited that if the people who were proposing consolidation come with good intention, it could be of help even as he wondered how that would be possible in a country like Nigeria where truckers had no form of assistance from any government agency.
“In other countries, their government are giving them support, there is Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry, where is the Bank of Transportation for any assistance? Go to any bank now and say that you want to take loan, the moment you mention haulage, that is how the whole matter will end but when you find somebody trying to survive, you are now referring to his business as one and half. They should try and pump as much money as they can so that we can procure more vehicles and it will be a welcome idea. I will appreciate if I can get such assistance, may be they have such plan”, he said.
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