By Kate Obande
Abuja – Dr Edet Amana, former President Academy of Engineering of Nigeria has called for the establishment of rules, regulations and guidelines for effective management of the transportation sector.
Amana, who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja, said that the rules if instituted would regulate the activities of the sector.
He said the sector needed to be regulated because of the involvement of private sector in the system, adding that it would enable all stakeholders to know their responsibility in moving the sector forward.
“We need to have in place the framework for effective regulation of the activities required to manage a robust transportation sector.
“In the transport sector, there is private sector involvement and when doing that, there must be a very robust rule to ensure that every stakeholder is clearly aware of its obligation.
“When you have fund in the budget, you decide what to do, but when the Private Public Partnership (PPP) is involved there must be rules to protect everybody’s interest.’’
Amana also called for synergy in the sector, adding that in planning a transportation event, all modes should be taken into consideration to ensure effectiveness.
According to him, the different modes of transportation ranging from railways, waterways, airways and road should be put together under one commission.
He, however, called for the passage of a bill to establish the National Transport Commission which would oversee the activities of all the modes of transportation.
“When an airport is being planned, it should be planned in such a way that there will be easy access to the airport by road and by rail, in fact some airports are very close to the seaports.
“When transportation event is being planned all modes should be taken into consideration to ensure effectiveness
“The way to achieve this in Nigeria as it is being done in other climes is to have one agency which oversees all these modes and apportion funding.
“That is why we are calling for the quick passage of the National Transport Commission bill lying in the National Assembly.’’
He also urged stakeholders in the sector to focus more on conducting research and innovation to ensure sustainability, adding that as we live today, we must look ahead and plan for tomorrow.