The Federal Government has announced plans to establish a national data bank aimed at enhancing efficiency and decision-making in Nigeria’s transportation sector.
Dr. Segun Obayendo, Chairman of the Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration (CIOTA), shared this development during a press conference ahead of the 6th National Transport Conference in Abuja themed “Sustainable Transportation in a Disruptive Era: The Challenges of Developing Economies”, scheduled to take place from November 12 to 13, 2024.
Dr. Obayendo highlighted that Nigeria’s roads and highways are crucial to the country’s transport network, handling an impressive 90% of all passenger and freight traffic.
He explained that the new data bank would serve as a centralized platform for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of transport-related data, ultimately supporting the formulation of informed policies and more effective decision-making across the sector.
“This data bank will serve as a hub for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating transport-related data to support informed decision-making and policy formulation in the transport sector.
The objectives include monitoring transport and logistics activities in Nigeria and providing transport intelligence to stakeholders, including the Federal Ministry of Transport and its agencies.
Other are to offer data analytic services to support evidence-based planning and policy decisions,” Dr. Obayendo stated.
Focus on sustainability
Prof. Samuel Odewumi, Chairman of the Planning Committee for the upcoming conference, stated that the event would serve as a platform to discuss the state of transportation in developing economies.
“The stakeholders will also deepen efforts to propel the transportation sector into a new era of efficiency, sustainability and inclusiveness,” he said.
He highlighted that the conference would focus on the integration of disruptive technologies, human and cultural issues in transport, and governance strategies to propel the sector into a new era of sustainability and inclusiveness.
What you should know
As part of ongoing efforts to improve safety, reliability, and efficiency in the transport sector, the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation launched an initiative to modernize interstate travel.
- This program focuses on accrediting interstate parks and digitizing passenger manifests, to streamline operations and provide passengers with safer, more reliable travel options.
- The first phase of the project involves accrediting all interstate parks in Lagos State. Parks that meet specific safety and service standards will be officially certified, ensuring passengers are using trusted, regulated facilities. Those that do not meet these standards, particularly unregulated roadside “mushroom” parks, will be required to undergo improvements as part of the overall safety initiative.
- The program also seeks to modernize the passenger manifest system by moving it from a paper-based process to a fully digital platform.
- To integrate over 100 unregulated parks into the new system. Currently, Lagos has 30 regulated parks, and efforts to bring more into compliance are continuing.