Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has expressed satisfaction with the facilities at the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Zaria. The Hon. Minister stated this during an unscheduled familiarization cum inspection tour of the Institute.
NITT Council Chairman, Olorogun John Onojaharho and the acting Director General and Chief Executive of NITT, Dr. Bayero Salih Farah, led the management and other council members to take the Minister around.
The facilities inspected included the new DG/CE’s office block, Main Auditorium and the state-of-the-art facilities at the Transport Technology Centre (TTC).
At the Biodiesel Laboratory, the Hon. Minister urged the Institute to expand the project by establishing a feedstock farm for renewable energy. He suggested that NITT could factor into the 2021 budget the acquisition of about “200 hectres of land” to start the project; and in subsequent budgets, personnel and other logistics for effective operation of the feedstock farm. According to the Hon. Minister, this could even attract private investors. Interacting with NITT N-Power Automobile participants, the Hon. Minister admonished them to be “disciplined in everything they do”. Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi also assured them of Federal Government’s commitment towards the success of the N-POWER scheme, stressing that “President Buhari’s administration is interested in lifting people out of poverty”. He told the N-POWER participants that as “potential entrepreneurs, you can create jobs through training a number of people in your workshop”. He therefore enjoined them to utilize the skills acquired through the scheme. Speaking on behalf of the NITT N-Power participants, Mr. Abdulazzez Owoseni Salihu appreciated the social investment programme of Mr. President especially, the N-POWER scheme which he noted had empowered so many youths. He also thanked the Hon. Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, for “the good work you have have been doing right from the start”.
Mr. Salihu, however, appealed to the Federal Government to kindly provide N-POWER graduates with “contemporary machines to enable them go into the field to practice the skills they have acquired”. Apparently fascinated by the standard equipment in NITT, the Hon. Minister said: “you have all it takes to design a car”. Continuing he asserted that if NITT could convince the Federal Government that it has what it takes to design a made in Nigeria car — from design to engine to body”, then funding would not be an issue. In his words, “we can create patency for NITT”.
Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi further advised NITT to seek accreditation from National Universities Commission to run certain diploma programmes, and from there metamorphose into a full fledged university of transport and logistics. He therefore pledged the Ministry’s support to help in the creation of faculties in the Institute. The Hon. Minister, however, called for a holistic perusal of the Institute’s enabling law to know the scope of it’s mandate.
Fielding questions from journalists at the end of the facility tour, the Hon. Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, said: “I am satisfied with the facilities, all they need is just governance. In terms of equipment, they’re doing well, but as professionals, they must put the equipment to use”.
He continued, “what the Federal Government has done is to ensure that areas where you have infrastructures, they’re properly funded”. But “they need to show that they’re not only able to transfer knowledge, but also to supervise the trainees so that we can create employment”.
Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of NITT Governing Council, Olorogun John Onojaharho, noted that “change” from unproductive system was the main reason for the repositioning retreat. He thanked the Hon. Minister for visiting the institute. In his remarks, the Ag. DG/CE, NITT, Dr. Bayero Salih Farah, explained that the Institute was accredited by the National Board for Technical Education to run Diploma and Advanced Diploma programmes as well as entered into affiliation with Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, to run Postgraduate and Master’s degree programmes.
The Ag. DG/CE thanked the Hon. Minister for not only personally attending the repositioning retreat, but also finding time to visit the Institute’s Headquarters in Zaria.
