Founder of the Centre for Values in Leadership, renowned Prof Pat Utomi has said that petroleum products and tank farm construction is the bane of Nigerian economy and dilapidated port infrastructures.
Utomi stated this yesterday at the Investiture Ceremony of Mr. Bashir Jamoh, Executive Director Finance and Administration at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) as the new president of Chattered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria (CIOTA) in Apapa, Lagos.
Prof Utomi in his keynote address and lecture noted that the emergence of petroleum tank farms has destroyed modes of transportation like the roads and the rail.
According to him, the economy has underperformed and this is why government has not been effective in developing the transport sector.
He charged the CIOTA under the leadership of Bashir Jamoh to come up with solutions to tackling the traffic menace in Apapa.
He said: "Petroleum products is the bane of our country, part of the reason you cannot enter Apapa is because the tank farms are all in Apapa is because it is near the sea.
Today, we have destroyed the roads that were built with tankers running from Lagos to every corner of our country making transportation ineffective"
"I want to challenge this institute with Apapa traffic, no area more represents transport in Nigeria than Apapa, the area was a very unique and civilised area, I actually lived right here on Bishop Oluwole in the 80s, it was the most pleasant area to live in, but today, property values have collapsed in Apapa, it is a nightmare to come to, if the CITOA cannot prescribe a solution to the government, then it has not succeeded in its brief"
"Many years ago, there were inland terminals, when I worked at the Volkswagen of Nigeria when the ports were congested, when ships lined up for miles into the sea to come into Apapa, we used to have helicopters going deep into the Atlantic to pick containers and bring them straight to Volkswagen".
Utomi charged the maritime and transport stakeholders gathered at the event to come up with ideas on how to salvage Apapa traffic situation, saying that if in those days of 'Cement Armada' people could come up with creative ways of overcoming the ship congestion, it would be a tragedy if stakeholders allow Apapa, a prime property area of Nigeria to collapse.
He lamented that "If these trailers can disappear so that the political rallies can take place, there is no reason why they should reappear two days after the rally"
"How do we ensure we build that kind of culture where rails and barges are working, by building institutions that would enable a regulatory framework in ensuring competition within that space, and yet ensuring that the users are not taken advantage of", he said.
In his acceptance speech, the new CIOTA President, Bashir Jamoh assured that the Institute is equal to the task of bringing back the glory of transportation system in the country. He assured that with the support of the board of trustees of the institute led by Oba Rafiu Ishola Balogun, the Elejirin of Ejirinland, the new executive would perform well.
Jamoh however said the institute cannot move forward without funding, assuring that under his stewardship, efforts would be intensified in this direction to ensure that all members pay their dues.
He said the membership strength of CIOTA currently stands at 22,000, he promised to double the figure before the end of his tenure.
"This institute has been laid back for a long time, this time around, we would engage government on optional policies, we are coming with short, medium and long term plans, in the short term, we are coming up with volunteer services, in the medium term we are coming up with position papers to the Federal government on the Apapa traffic" he said.
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