2022 National Conference: Logistics, Transport Institute to introduce practice innovations

National President, CILT, Mrs Mfon Usoro

The 2022 National Conference and Annual General Meeting of the Nigeria chapter of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) has been organised with innovation in mind, according to the Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee, Prof. Kayode Oyesiku.

He told newsmen on Thursday in Lagos that the conference would hold on 11 and 12 October at the Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos under the theme: Sustainable Innovations in Global Logistics and Transport.

Oyesiku said that, for the first time, the conference would accommodate research papers in the areas of logistics and transport, and allied segments. “This is a global component which we are happy to embrace as part of our agenda to position the Nigeria chapter positively in the comity of nations”, he stated.

According to him, the research component of the conference would involve scores of experts, including members of the academia and the industry, who would be constituted into a coordinated editorial board. They will discuss contemporary ideas on logistics and transport.

The technical sessions, the committee chairman explained, would be led by subject-matter experts who would generate conversations “primarily aimed at interrogating the future of logistics and transport operations in Nigeria, especially within the context of a rapidly changing service environment, technological innovations and extensive planning dynamics that characterise logistics, transport and supply chain at the present time”.

Oyesiku said that CILT (Nigeria chapter) is determined to improve the standing of the country in the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) of nations, which is presently not encouraging. LPI, he stated, is the yardstick for measuring a country’s economic resilience and competitiveness.

He added: “Wherever the LPIs are weak, the economy is vulnerable and susceptible to uncertainty and high business risks. they are categorised as having poor education and health care systems as well as poor social welfare and security framework.

“Therefore, giving the observed socioeconomic phenomena in Nigeria from recent past to the present, the conference, through the combined cognitive interaction of professionals, practitoners and the academics, anticipates the adaptive measures that policy makers, thought developers and operators are required to embrace for sustainability and competitiveness, internally and amongst the league of allied nations”.

In all, there will be eight major sessions at the conference, which will also attract the active participation of CITL global President, Paul Sainthouse; the President-elect, Ghana’s Chief Teete Owusu-Nortey; industry groups and leaders, as well as governmental institutions.

The conference participants will also have the benefit of a technical guided tour of places Oyesiku described as “of interest to national transport development”, in order to promote “outdoor tutelage and learning for participants”. The “on-hands observation of the building, operations and management” will take the delegates to the Lekki Deep Seaport and Eko Atlantic City. The tour, he explained, would allow the members to “share in their development stories, their strategies for present success levels and future plans”.

“Most of the cities being planned in the world have at their forefront CILT members for their internal running. We don’t want to be left behind”, Oyesiku said.

The committee chairman also said that the conference would devote time to discuss issues around the green environment, particularly the blue economy. “We have therefore come up with several sub-themes that will enable us achieve the objectives of sustainable innovation in logistics and transport. We are determined to ensure that we do not concentrate our sea port operations to one or two ports in Lagos. The operation has to be diversified”, he further said.

The Institute of Transport was founded in London in 1919 with the primary objectives of improving transport efficiency, enabling transport integration and encouraging talent development in the transport industry. It became the Chartered Institute of Transport in 1971. And by 2001, CITL was born with the fusion of two leading professional bodies.