Contrary to expectations of stakeholders, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Barr. Hassan Bello has said that the Council will not transmute to National Transport Commission (NTC) as it is impossible to do so.
Bello who stated this while fielding questions from newsmen on the sideline of the stakeholders’ Appreciation Night organized by the Council in Lagos recently however said that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council would be the nucleus of the NTC meaning that it had to build capacity in rail, air, inland waterways and in other modes of transportation acting as a multi sectoral economic regulator.
“It is not going to dabble into any technical regulation that is left to agencies to carry out. It will not have the issue of safety except may be for oversight. It is going to be an independent regulator and the Presidency will have a lot to do about the regulation and the beauty of it is that it is going to see the interconnectivity of modes of transport so that transition from one mode to the other is more like intermodalism because multi-modalism is already there.
“Transport drives the economy, we need to have modern transport infrastructure. The whole thing about the NTC is to bring in the private sector. The kernel of transformation in transportation lies on Ports and Harbour Bill, it lies on Nigerian Railway Bill, it lies on NIWA Bill. These Bills, all are speaking to NTC, so, it is a whole gamut, it is not just one.
“One has to be very careful. This is economic transformation, so the transmutation is from the public sector control of the transportation to private (sector control). So, it is not the Shippers’ Council that will be transmuted but the Shippers’ Council will have a say in that because of their experience especially in maritime regulation”, he stated.
Send your news, press releases/articles to augustinenwadinamuo@yahoo.com. Also, follow us on Twitter @ptreporters and on Facebook on facebook.com/primetimereporters or call the editor on 07030661526, 08053908817.
