BY ONYEKA AJUMOBI ONOCHIE
The Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex A. Okoh, at the weekend, received “Class 33” of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) who were on a study tour of the Bureau to get more insights into BPE’s activities in reforming sectoral national policies. The NIPSS delegation is tasked with examining policy formulation processes, implementation strategies, operational/institutional frameworks as well as the evaluation, impact and gaps. The focus of the Class 33 inquiry is transport sector policies.
The Director, Infrastructure and Public Private Partnership Department of the Bureau, Mallam Sanusi Sule, who received the delegation on behalf of the Director General, welcomed them to BPE and conveyed the apology of the Director General who was out of Abuja on official duty. He informed the team that BPE is open to learning at all times.
The Head, Strategy and Planning Unit of the Bureau, Dr. Terhemen Andzenge, who presented a paper on The Reforms in the Transport Sector informed the participants that the Bureau had, in the last 15 years, been working on a number of Bills that would culminate into providing efficient and effective transport system in the country. He listed the Bills as the Railway Bill; the Federal Roads Authority Bill; National Roads Bill, the National Transport Commission Bill, the Inland Waterways Bill and the Ports and Harbor Bill.
He added that a good transport system would facilitate trade and economic growth through transparent and streamlined administrative procedures, based on modern management and information technologies. Okoh also said it would encourage the private sector in the financing and operation of transport-related services, promote efficiency and safety through robust technical and economic regulation, among others.
Leader of the delegation and Managing Consultant of NIPSS, Mr. Asipita Umar, said the aim of the study tour was to get an insight into the transport policy of the country and to get a feedback from the Bureau’s previous participants at the Institute.
He thanked the Bureau for the synergy with NIPSS in the past years during which it sponsored some of its top executives to the institution to broaden their managerial skills.
Pix: BPE DG, Mr. Alex Okoh