The federal government has deepened its commitment to implementing the Smart National Transport Databank Project, with top government officials visiting Egypt to strengthen ties in this regard.

Among the officials are the corps marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Shehu Mohammed, who joined the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudden, on the official visit to Cairo, Egypt.

FRSC’s spokesman, Osondu Ohaeri, in a statement on Tuesday, said the visit would iron out grey areas regarding the implementation of the project. According to Mr Ohaeri, the visit was another significant step towards realising a safer, smarter, and digitally driven transport system in Nigeria through the project.

“The strategic visit followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT) and Asia Arab Investment (AAI), in Abuja on June 15.

“It marked a critical transition from partnership to implementation, while also demonstrating the commitment of the Federal Government and its strategic institutions to building an integrated, technology-driven transport management system.

“The technology-driven management system will be capable of transforming mobility, road safety administration and national development,” he said.

According to him, the Tajudden-led delegation also had the director-general of NITT, Bayero Salih Farah, the permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Olufunso Olusesan Adebiyi, among others.

He said that the smart project, for the FRSC, represented a landmark intervention that aligned squarely with the corps’ strategic vision of deploying technology and intelligence to save lives on Nigerian roads.

He added that the project was designed to establish a comprehensive national transport database to generate reliable, real-time information for transport planning.

He said that it would also ease  infrastructure development, regulatory oversight, operations, crash analysis and evidence-based policy formulation.

Mr Ohaeri said that a major highlight of the visit was the unveiling of the proposed Driver Training and Development Centres to be established across Nigeria by ARCORP Egypt.

According to him, the centres will be run in partnership with FRSC and NITT under a public-private partnership arrangement.

He added that the centres were expected to raise the standard of driver education, promote professionalism among drivers, strengthen capacity development and contribute significantly to reducing road traffic crashes nationwide.

Mr Ohaeri said that beyond the signing of agreements, the Cairo engagement reinforced Nigeria’s resolve to embrace innovation, strengthen international partnerships and deploy cutting-edge technologies to modernise the transport sector.

He also said that it provided an equal platform for stakeholders to reaffirm their collective commitment to delivering the Smart National Transport Databank Project as envisioned.

(NAN)