NTC: Shippers Council Will not Dabble into Technical Regulation, Says Bello
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) Mr. Hassan Bello, has given an insight on its roles when the National Transport Commission (NTC) Bill is assented by the President.
Bello said the Council will not just transmute into the NTC as some would expect.
Speaking to newsmen on the occasion of the Stakeholders Night of Appreciation held last weekend, the NSC chief executive explained the Council would first build capacity in all areas of air, rail and land transport and inland waterways, among others under the role of multi sectoral regulator.
Bellos explained: “It is not going to dabble into any technical regulation that is left to agencies to carry out. It will not have the issue of safety except may be for oversight. It is going to be an independent regulator and the Presidency will have a lot to do about the regulation and the beauty of it is that it is going to see the interconnectivity of modes of transport so that transition from one mode to the other is more like intermodalism because multi-modalism is already there.
“Transport drives the economy, we need to have modern transport infrastructure. The whole thing about the NTC is to bring in the private sector. The kernel of transformation in transportation lies on Ports and Harbour Bill, it lies on Nigerian Railway Bill, it lies on NIWA Bill. These Bills, all are speaking to NTC, so, it is a whole gamut, it is not just one.
“One has to be very careful. This is economic transformation, so the transmutation is from the public sector control of the transportation to private (sector control). So, it is not the Shippers’ Council that will be transmuted but the Shippers’ Council will have a say in that because of their experience especially in maritime regulation”.
The Secretary to the Federal Government, Mr Boss Mustapha, had on the occasion assured that the NTC Bill which was passed this year by the National Assembly is being studied by the President before it is assented into law.
Boss said the federal government is sorting out some technicalities and use of language, that would bother on overlap of functions with other agencies and needs to be clearly delineated.
“As soon as that is sorted, we should have a befitting law for the good of the whole. I can assure you however that on its part, the Executive is committed to playing its role in the passage of the bill into law”, he said.
He said for Nigeria’s economy to be propelled at the desired speed, there is the need to establish or delineate a body, to regulate the sector and provide technical oversight for the provision of transport services, monitor compliance of government agencies and service providers, with relevant legislation for efficient operations through consolidation, removal of duplicity and regulatory functions of public agencies”.
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