The Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has called on staff of the Ministry and its agencies to fast-track the delivery of the Ministry’s mandate by developing implementable strategies and initiatives that are technologically driven. This was contained in a statement signed by the Director Press. Mr. Eric Ojiekwe and made available to Transport Day in Abuja.
The Minister who made the call in Oron, Akwa Ibom State, at a three-day Ministerial Retreat organized by the Ministry for its management staff and top functionaries of its agencies, reiterated the need to achieve the current administration’s commitment to fill the infrastructural deficit in the country.
The Minister recalled “…that at the last Retreat various resolutions were arrived at with different Committees constituted to propel the actualisation of those resolutions with a view to ascertaining the level of implementation”.
While acknowledging the fact that a lot still needs to be done to meet the vision of the current administration, the Ministry was able to make remarkable achievements in the following critical areas:
- i) Establishment of Wagon Assembly Plant in Kajola, Ogun State.
- ii) Establishment of University of Transportation, Daura (construction ongoing)
iii) Commissioning of Warri-Itakpe railway lines
- iv) Commencement of the commercial test run of the Lagos-Ibadan rail lines
- v) Appreciable work on the Deep Blue project to combat insecurity challenges in the Gulf of Guinea,
- vi) Groundbreaking ceremony of Kano-Maradi rail line
Still speaking, the Minister observed “i am aware, that our Meduim-Term National Development Plan (MTDNP 2021-2025) high level goal is to ‘Build an Effective, Efficient, Intermodal, Safe, Reliable, Affordable and Sustainable Transportation System contributing positively to the growth of the Nigerian Economy’ and our Ministerial mandate 2019-2023 are our collective responsibility to ensure that the sector contributes its quota to National Development”.
Earlier, the Honourable Minister of State for Transportation, Sen. Gbemisola Saraki who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, enjoined the participants to leverage on the platform of the “retreat to brainstorm, design and develop new strategies and initiatives and collectively align with the vision of President Muhammad Buhari to change the course of the transportation sector to become more productive, competitive in line with the current global trend.”
She further charged participants “to engender realistic strategies to enable our vision for a safe, efficient, affordable and seamless transportation become a reality.”
In her address, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, said that the retreat is a veritable platform for top management of the Ministry and its agencies to cross-fertilize ideas on how to galvanise the Transportation sector to meet the set goals and objectives of the Ministry.
According to her, transportation has proven to be one of the critical factors of economic development and prosperity and Nigeria can leverage on that based on its geographical position, its large domestic market and industrial capacity to become the transportation hub for Africa.
She equally assured that the Ministry and its Agencies will continue to provide the necessary support towards achieving all the deliverables assigned to the Minister and the Ministry and even surpass the targets set for it by the current administration as it relates to the Nigeria Agenda 2050 plan currently being developed to replace the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and Vision 20:2020.
Also, the Minister was called upon by the Rector, Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Commodore Emmanuel Effedua to commission the Simulation Centre (simulation control room, simulation multifunctional classroom, simulation engine room). The centre is for training of cadets in real life experiences using the simulation room.
Those in attendance at the 2nd day of the Retreat were: the Rector, Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Commodore Emmanuel Effedua, the Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Engr. Fidet Okhiria, the Board Chairman, NRC, Engr. Ibrahim Alhassan, Director General, NIWA, Dr. George Moghalu among others.
