The federal government on Tuesday appealed to all relevant agencies within the Transport sector to cooperate with Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) by regularly supplying necessary data for storage, processing and dissemination.
This, it said, will enable the Smart National Transport Data Bank project to become a success.
The Minister of Transportation, Senator Said Ahmed Alkali, who said this at the one-day stakeholders’ engagement forum on Smart National Transport Databank, organised by the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) Zaria in Abuja, added that since he assumed office as Minister, he made the project a top priority and it is “my desire to give my maximum support to its success”.
Also, the Director General/Chief Executive of NITT, Dr Bayero Salih Farah assured that the project will bring the country enormous and the return on investment (ROI) that can be very substantial, considering the high demand for transportation services in the country.
He noted that the Smart Transport Databank infrastructure is capital intensive and requires state-of-the arts technologies.
The theme of the event is: The Strategic Importance of Smart National Transport Databank in Socio-economic Development of Nigeria.
Farah said the public sector alone cannot cope with the required capital outlay to achieve the project for the whole nation in view of competing demands of resources from other sectors of the national economy.
According to him, this therefore calls for collaboration and cross pollination of ideas and material resources. It was this that motivated the institutes to look for investors through a Public Private Partnership (PPP), as enshrined in relevant laws of the federation.
“Indeed, this project is one of the core mandates of the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) as enshrined in the legal instrument establishing the Institute – Decree No. 6 of 1986 now, CAP 116, LFN, 2004,” he said.
Transport Databank: FG urges transport agencies to cooperate with NITT
