Transportation Correspondents Association of Nigeria (TCAN) has challenged the new Minister of Transportation, Senator Sa’idu Alkali, to transform the sector and leave indelible footprints like his predecessors.
While congratulating the new minister, the association, comprising representatives of various print, electronic and online media organisations covering the transportation sector, urged him to target the low hanging fruits first to lift the sector which is critical to the economy.
In a statement issued recently and signed by its chairman, Adeyinka Aderibigbe and secretary, Fidelis Ugbomeh, the group expressed happiness that the mantle of leadership fell on Alkali at this time, when the eyes of all Nigerians are on President Bola Tinubu to provide palliatives that would bring the needed relief, especially in the area of transportation.
It said that the minister would, among other things, coordinate all transportation interventions proposed by the Federal Government and interface with the state governments such as coordinating the mass transit buses which the government promised to distribute among the states and bus operators, and the takeoff of the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and electric vehicle alternative that the government proposes to replace dependence on fossil fuel on which subsidy has been removed.
But beyond the palliative assignment which TCAN in the statement said may define the trajectory of Alkali’s tenure, it argued that the minister must ensure that transportation contributes more to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
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