The Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology is a leading Transport, Research and Development Institute in the transport and logistics industry in Nigeria and West African sub-region.
Dr. Bayero Salih Farah assumed duty as the Director-General and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology NITT Zaria in an acting capacity on the 6th of May, 2019 following the retirement of the former Acting Director-General/Chief Executive, Dr Abimbola Odumosu.
On assumption of office, the state of affairs in the Institute was very daunting in view of the huge challenges of lack of adequate funds, low staff morale and inadequate basic working tools for staff to carry out their respective duties.
However, one of the first steps Dr. Bayero took was to go round the various departments and units to have on the spot assessment of the problems with a view to addressing them accordingly.
During the visit, Dr Bayero had assured the staff that he will run an open door policy where all staff will be given the opportunity to contribute their quota to the growth and development of the Institute.
He also assured the staff that his administration will continue to promote staff welfare including on the job training and retraining, the desired attention to enable them to improve their skills and knowledge.
This was followed with a strategic and all-round plan for the repositioning of the Institute to achieve the desired results and to take the Institute to the next level.
Accordingly, a committee was constituted and inaugurated to map out strategies for the actualizations of his dreams.
It took the committee four months to put up comprehensive documents which will guide the operations of the institute now and in the future.
This led to the conveyance of a retreat in Kaduna, where the management team, Governing Council members and indeed some selected stakeholders brainstormed on the documents prepared by the Committee on the Repositioning of the Institute.
In attendance was the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Right Honourable Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi, some directors of the Ministry and some stakeholders.
Issues considered at the retreat include the amendment of the Institute’s Enabling ACT, Conditions and Schemes of Service, Programmes, Collaborations and Partnerships and a host of others.
These were considered in line with the current realities of the industry and the Institute.
The retreat was the first time where the majority of the staff were given an opportunity to contribute their quota on issues that affect them directly, which is in line with his promise to carry everybody along in the course of running the affairs of the Institute.
These documents and others prepared by the Institute were forwarded to the Governing Council for consideration.
Realizing the importance of these policies the Governing Council granted approval to some of them such as the staff training and development policy and the Research policy, New Enabling Act, New Scheme and Conditions of Service, while others are being considered for further necessary action.
The staff training and development policy provide for specific training to all categories of staff to gain adequate skills, knowledge and competencies that will adequately match the expected level of service that is desired by the institute.
In the areas of training, the institute has under the current leadership of Dr Bayero trained a total of two thousand one hundred and sixty-nine participants from the different modes of transportation under the short term training programmes.
The Institute has equally graduated a total of One Hundred and Twenty Five participants for the Maters, Postgraduate Diploma, Diploma and Certificate programme all in Transport and Logistics.
On driver training and certification a total of four hundred and fourteen drivers have been trained by the Institute during the period under review, while three participants were trained on Crane operations, two of which are from neighbouring countries.
The institute has equally participated in the Federal Government N-Power programme by training thirty-five youths under the Automobile training programme.
On staff training, the Institute under the leadership of Dr Bayero Farah has provided one form of training or the other to all the Four Hundred and fifteen staff on the payroll of the Institute to improve the skills and knowledge in their areas of specializations.
Various committees have also been constituted to address one problem or the other.
The Institute is also pursuing the introduction of M.Phil/PhD with Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and the Introduction of HND programmes by National Board for Technical Education.
A lot of programmes and policies are being pursued vigorously such as the development of the Outreach Learning Centres in Abuja, PortHarcourt, Lagos, Ebonyi, Kano, Gombe, Ado Ekiti and Kankara to meet the training needs of the Industry.
