Nigeria’s Ministry of Transportation has inaugurated a Project Implementation Committee to oversee the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project for the establishment of the Smart National Transport Databank (SNTDB), a digital platform intended to create a centralised, interoperable and real-time transport data system for the country.

The initiative is being spearheaded by the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) following the Federal Executive Council’s recent approval of the project.

The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Funsho Adebiyi, inaugurated the committee on Tuesday at the Ministry’s Conference Room in Abuja.

At the committee’s inaugural meeting, Adebiyi said the SNTDB project was designed to tackle persistent challenges surrounding the collection, coordination and accessibility of transport data, while promoting evidence-based planning and investment across the sector.

Adebiyi recalled that the Smart National Transport Databank received approval at the 12th National Council on Transportation in 2012, with NITT assigned responsibility for establishing the databank under the supervision of the Ministry.

He further disclosed that the Federal Executive Council had approved the project for implementation through a 20-year Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) PPP concession awarded to Asia-Arab Investment Nigeria Limited.

The newly established committee is chaired by the Permanent Secretary and includes representatives of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, NITT, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Federal Ministry of Works, Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the concessionaire, among others.

The committee is tasked with supervising project execution in accordance with the Concession Agreement, the approved Full Business Case and relevant laws.

Its responsibilities also cover tracking project milestones and performance, coordinating the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) involved in the project, addressing implementation challenges and risks, maintaining financial and governance accountability, and providing periodic progress reports.

During a project briefing, the Director General/Chief Executive of NITT, Dr. Bayero Salih Farah, FCILT, described the SNTDB as a national transport intelligence infrastructure that would support transport planning, regulation, safety, security, infrastructure development and evidence-based decision-making.

Farah said the project would feature at least 250 solar-powered intelligent gantries fitted with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technologies.

The planned infrastructure will also include Traffic Management Centres in each of Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, alongside a Main Data Centre, an Electronic Tagging (E-Tag) ecosystem, database integration, real-time analytics and cybersecurity systems.

According to Farah, implementation of these components will take place in phases as part of the broader effort to establish an integrated national transport intelligence system.

The Ministry reaffirmed that it would provide the policy and institutional leadership necessary for the project’s successful delivery, while NITT would be responsible for contract management and protecting the interests of the Federal Government.

The Federal Ministry of Transportation also reiterated its commitment to delivering a functional, secure and nationally integrated transport intelligence system capable of providing measurable value to the government, transport operators and the Nigerian public.

Source: Von