By Adeyinka Aderibigbe
The growth of the transportation sector may remain stunted and operators continue to work in the dark, if the Federal Government refuse to come up with the transport policy to guide the operationalization of the sector, the President of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIOTA), Prince Segun Obayendo, has said.
He queried why the Federal Government has continued to delay the unveiling of the important document, despite having a draft in place.
Speaking during the maiden inter-modal transportation summit which held in Lagos with the theme, “Intermodal Transport: Prospects and Challenges,” Obayendo said the policy is expected to guide public transportation operations in the country and provide a legal framework for the operation of all operators across all the modes of transportation.
Without the guide, Obayendo lamented that operators have been operating “blindly,” adding that every agency in the transport space has been working in silos.
Though the informal sector has remained dominant in the transport space, yet the lack of appropriate regulation is making regulating the sector a challenge.
He said the only glimmer of hope was Lagos State which despite all odds has come up with a transportation policy to regulate every aspect of transportation in the state.
“We need to give it to Lagos State for being the first state to have come up with a transport policy. At the federal level, we are still struggling. Though the federal government came close by coming up with a draft copy, yet this document has not been signed into law and unveiled as the national transportation policy,” Obayendo said.
“Of course, we know that any sector without a policy is a blind sector. For us in the transportation sector, having not been able to have a transport policy that all of us could relate to, we have been working blindly.
“It is this blind nature of our actions that has led to so many issues that have been brought to the fore here. We would continue to have issues on the roads, just as we presently have on waterways operation and in the aviation sector.
Lamenting that the lack of policy affected infrastructural inadequacy across all the three major modes of transportation, Obayendo said while the population is growing at a geometric rate, infrastructure has been growing at an arithmetic rate.
“All these modes are dominated by informal actors or operators who are just trying to make ends meet but what stops us from ensuring that they are well regulated. What stops us from ensuring that these operators are licensed?
“What stops us from ensuring that they are well trained? What stops us from ensuring that they have the requisite certificate to operate? All the modes will continue to be open to all comers and be home to all sharp practices because there is no policy regulating their practice.
He said the only sector that has remained heavily regulated remained the aviation sector, which is as a result of the global practice under which it operates.
“There is no room for quackery in the aviation sector, because the sector is heavily regulated. If we have a semblance of that on our waterways and on our roads, we would begin to see a saner transport space and all operators would operate within the ambits of the law. This is what the policy will help enshrine. It would ensure that only professionals maned all the modes. If we don’t have enough professionals in this sector, we are still wasting our time.”