By Frank Kintum
A former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and an expert in Logistics and Transportation in developing countries, Boboye Oyeyemi Ph.D., has called on governments and corporate bodies to invest more in Logistics and Transportation infrastructure, especially in the academia, in order to “produce excellent graduates who will be able to solve the challenges facing logistics and transportation industry.”
Oyeyemi who also called for the encouragement of students “by providing them with grant and scholarship that will motivate them”, made these remarks on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at the University of Lagos, where he delivered a lecture with the theme- Logistics And Transportation Academics: Fulcrum For Sustainable Development Of Industry And Society.
The former Corps Marshal who is the author of many books on Logistics and Transportation, added that “Considering the fact that L&T (Logistics and Transport) are dependent on each other, the need to invest on the L&T infrastructure among which is academics cannot be overemphasized.”
He spoke at the launch of Academics in Logistics and Transport (ACALOT) event, and also recommended that there should be innovation within the infrastructure development cycle of logistics and transportation.
According to him, Nigeria requires a national logistics strategy focused on the following areas: Transportation and distribution industry, Transport and distribution workforce, Road infrastructure and Road congestion.
Other areas of interest, he added, that should come under the radar in the advocated national logistics strategy include Road conditions, Interstate highway access, Vehicle taxes and fees, Railroad access, Water port access, and Air cargo access.
Justifying the need to invest heavily on L&T, he stated that “A survey conducted by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) indicates that the Nigerian economy lost an estimated annual revenue of 3.46 trillion naira ($8.4 billion) due to poor infrastructure, poor implementation, and corruption at the ports, of which 2.5 trillion naira ($6 billion) are corporate earnings losses across the various sectors of the economy.”
ACALOT interim Executive members were also unveiled during the event.
The major institutions offering Logistics and Transportation studies in Nigeria include Nigeria Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Zaria, Kaduna State; Nigeria Army College of Logistics Management (NACOLM), Lagos; and Centre for Logistics and Transport Studies (CELTRAS), University of Port Harcourt.
Others are Lagos State University, Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), Imo State; Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Ondo State; and Federal University of Technology Minna (FUT-Minna), Adamawa state.
