The federal government has taken a major step towards transforming Nigeria’s transport sector with the inauguration of a project implementation committee for the Smart National Transport Databank (SNTDB) Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project.
The SNTDB, spearheaded by the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), is designed to establish a centralised, interoperable and real-time transport intelligence system capable of providing reliable data for planning, regulation, safety, security and infrastructure development.
Inaugurating the committee by the permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Engr. Funsho Adebiyi, he said the initiative would address longstanding challenges associated with transport data collection, coordination and accessibility, while strengthening evidence-based planning and investment across the sector.
He recalled that the SNTDB was approved at the 12th National Council on Transportation in 2012, with NITT mandated to establish the databank under the supervision of the Ministry.
According to him, the Federal Executive Council has now approved implementation of the project under a 20-year Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (DBFOT) concession to Asia-Arab Investment Nigeria Limited.
The newly inaugurated committee, chaired by the permanent secretary, comprises representatives of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, NITT, Federal Road Safety Corps, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Federal Ministry of Works, Office of the National Security Adviser and the concessionaire, among others.
The committee is expected to oversee implementation in line with the concession agreement, approved Full Business Case and relevant laws.
It will also monitor project milestones and performance, coordinate participating Ministries, Departments and Agencies, manage implementation risks and challenges, ensure financial and governance accountability, and submit periodic progress reports.
Giving a briefing on the project, NITT director-general/chief executive, Dr. Bayero Salih Farah described the SNTDB as a national transport intelligence infrastructure that would support smarter planning, effective regulation, improved safety and security, infrastructure development and data-driven decision-making.
He disclosed that the project would feature at least 250 solar-powered intelligent gantries fitted with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) technologies.
Other components include traffic management centres across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, a Main Data Centre, an Electronic Tagging (E-Tag) ecosystem, database integration, real-time analytics and cybersecurity systems.
