- Institute adds 40 Fellows, 84 Members, 57 Associates
The Minister of Transportation, Alhaji Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, Corps Marshal of the Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC), Dauda Adamu Biu have been inducted as Fellows of the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration (CIOTA) Nigeria.
Lagos and Abia State Commissioners of Transportation; Dr. Frederic Oladehinde and Hon. Nwanoruo God’swill Uche were also inducted fellows at the 2023 first quarter Induction and Investiture Ceremony of CIOTA Nigeria, in Lagos, yesterday.
At the ceremony, forty (40) new fellows were inducted, even as it also featured the induction of 84 new members, 57 Associate Members and 7 graduate members.
Speaking at the ceremony, the President of CIOTA Nigeria, Prince Segun Obayendo expressed delight at the high profile fellows and members even as he informed that hundreds of members are getting set for induction in April in Rivers State and other parts of the nation.
Obayendo admonished the newly inducted fellows and members to be an exemplary representation of the Institute across their respective fields and urged them to avail themselves for retraining programmes, pay their membership dues and be actively involved in other activities of the Institute.
He noted that his administration remains focused on massively increasing the membership base of the Institute, announcing that a goal of 20,000 members is attainable under his tenure.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the occasion and Executive Director, Center for Sustainable Mobility and Access Development (CensMAD), Dr. Kayode Opeifa emphasized that transport professionals must play a lead role in the development of roads, rails and bridges across the nation.
His words: “Engineers for road construction need to be professional transportants to understand certain issues. If the Ministry of Works must be involved in construction of roads and bridges, they shouldn’t proceed without clearance from the Transport Ministry and a professional body like CIOTA who can spell out safety issues and standards”
“We have wrong letterings on some roads because the contracts were given to people who don’t understand the sector. Now that we have CIOTA and it is Chartered, we should be able to collect our entitlements and insist on the use of professionals for such contracts.”
In his goodwill remarks, the Minister of State for Transportation, Ademola Adegoroye commended the Institute for the massive strides it has made in the industry within few years.
Adegoroye, who was represented by his Senior Special Assistant, Mr. Fola Aiyegusi, expressed optimism that the Institute will continue to make significant contributions to the advancement of the nation’s transport sector.
On his part, the Lagos State Commissioner of Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladehinde said that as a proud member of CIOTA, he appreciated the efforts being put in by the Institution in providing requisite training, membership and certification of transport professionals.
According to him, these trainings will indeed play a major role in sanitizing the transport industry and ensure that it is devoid of quack activities.
“In Lagos, Traffic Management and Transportation is the first pillar of the development agenda of the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led administration. Realizing the key role transportation plays, the current administration in Lagos decided to leverage the transport sector as the backbone to industrialize and improve the economy. The administration is dedicated to reviving the transportation sector in its entirety through intermodal transport system encompassing rail, road and water.”
“The completion of infrastructure for the first phase of the 27km Lagos Blue Line rail, (Marina-Mile 2), as well as the commencement of work on the second phase (Mile 2–Okokomaiko) and the recent assurance by this administration that the 31km Red Line Rail project which will traverse (Agbado –Oyingbo) will be completed before May 29, is a confirmation of Mr. Governor’s expounded vision for public transportation,” the Lagos Commissioner said.
He identified some key efforts to decongest Lagos roads to include; deployment of Bus Rapid Transits (BRT), enhanced water transport modes, reform of the bus sector, promotion of Non-Motorized Transport, intelligent Transport System to aid integration and the eto truck call-up system.
While delivering the vote of thanks, CIOTA National Publicity Secretary, Mrs Chinwe Uwaegbute opined that the success of the first quarter Induction and Investiture Ceremony was a result of the commitment, and resilience of members.
“Thank you for your display of confidence in the National Executive Committee, thank you for the support to successfully execute this induction, and thank you for advocating institutional excellence and professionalism within the transportation sector,” she said.