Stakeholders laud emergence of NIMASA Director as CIoTA President …As Prof. Utomi calls for functional transport system

Stakeholders laud emergence of NIMASA Director as CIoTA President

.As Prof. Utomi calls for functional transport system

By Udeme Clement

Stakeholders in the maritime time sector have said that emergence of the Executive Director, Finance & Administration, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Yusuf Jamoh, as the new President, Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIoTA), will bring greater growth to the transport sector in the country.

They expressed this optimism during the investiture of Dr. Jamoh, as the new President of CIoTA, at Rock-view, Lagos, yesterday,  describing him as a seasoned administrator, whose wealth of experience will be brought to bear, in repositioning the Institute for greater growth, thereby impacting positively on the transport sector of the economy.

In his welcome address, the Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Institute, HRM Oba Rafiu Babatunde Balogun said, “There is no doubt in my mind and indeed in the minds of my colleagues on the Board that the new National Executive Council, under the leadership of Dr. Jamoh, an Executive Director in NIMASA, one of the key agencies in the transport industry, shall bring the Institute to the next level with great acceleration”.

He went on, “I am using this opportunity to once again congratulate our President and his Council for emerging successfully in the last election”.

“I am particularly happy that the result of the election is in consonance with the strategic plan of the Board of Trustees,  aims at ensuring that the position of  National President rotates between members from the academia and the industry. This is to guarantee continuous growth of membership from all spheres of the profession”, said Oba Balogun.

His words, “The opportunity to contribute to the growth and development of the Institute beckons once again. We must all seize the gauntlet in turning the Institute around. This, to me, will be a commitment to boost the transport sector of our economy for greater productivity”.

In his lecture, with the theme, ‘Ensuring Competitiveness and Attractiveness in the Nigerian Transportation Sector- The Role of Professional Bodies’, by the Founder, Centre for Values in Leadership, Prof. Pat Utomi, stressed the importance of the sector to economic growth.

According to him, Nigeria needs vibrant and productive transport sector to enhance economic prosperity.

He frowned at the traffic gridlock on Apapa road, describing it a major impediment to  economic growth, especially in the port industry.

He called on government to revamp the rail system and provide effective transportation vital for tangible economic growth now and in the long-run.