The Courier and Logistics Management Institute (CLMI) has urged federal government to look into the courier and logistics sector, saying that it is a critical sector for the development of the economy with the capacity of producing three million jobs every year.
Prof. Simon Emeje, executive chairman, Courier and Logistics Management Institute (CLMI) stated this on Monday during its 2019 International Investiture & book presentation/panel discussion conference, in Lagos.
Prof. Emeje said that the courier and logistics sector have the capacity to produce over three million jobs every year if enabling environment is created by government to make it investment friendly.
He added that the sector is big and critical for government to ignore, noting that if the sector collapses, the country will collapse too.
According to him, “the essence of this conference is to make statement to government that they should look at this sector, because it is a very big and critical sector.
“If the sector collapses, the country collapses because we are talking about communication here and communication embraces courier, logistics, transport and management put together.
“We have said it severally and repeatedly that these four pillars govern every human being on earth, it’s just that human beings don't know that these are the things they do every day.
“So our statement is that we want to let government and the society know that this sector is a critical sector that should not be ignored.”
He revealed that the courier sector is currently worth over N1 trillion in assets, with the logistics practice alone adding about 3.5% to the GDP of the country.
“The asset worth of courier as an industry in Nigeria is on average of N1 trillion. That's a big industry.
“You talk of logistics, for instance, logistics practice alone adds about 3.5% to the GDP of Nigeria.
“And I tell you, we are trying to sound this noise to cause awareness, because even the courier companies and logistics companies we have, the transport companies we have they are not enough to serve the economy and if we promote this area very well, I tell you they will add a lot to the GDP of Nigeria”.
On what they are doing as an institute to empower Nigerian youths to actively participate in the sector and become gainful employed Prof. Emeje said that they are collaborating with various universities to train over one million people every year.
He decried the theoretical nature of our universities, stating that it will not produce skilled manpower needed to take the jobs in the sector.
“The educational system in Nigeria is too theoretical that is why many graduates come out of the university and are looking for jobs.
“Our target as an institute is to train about 1 million people every year. We have set the platforms for this, we are in collaboration with foreign and Nigerian universities and the essence of this is to train people, if we are able to achieve one million people being train as entrepreneurs in these areas under one year, you know what that means, multiply it by three because an average entrepreneur will work with about three people, so you are talking about producing three million jobs under one year, that is a lot to the government of Nigeria and that is one of the objectives of Courier and Logistics Management Institute and we believe we can add great value to Nigeria,” he stated.
Barr. Adebayo Shittu, former, Minister of Communications, speaking at the event urged the Federal Government to give the Courier and Logistics Management Institute recognition so as to solve its immense economic issues and provide employment opportunities.
He also enjoined the countries of the world to adopt the Institute in order to address its transportation, courier and logistics issues.
According to him, “This is one Institute I feel Nigeria should appreciate and give recognition so that it can help its economy and ensure that more jobs are created for people all over the country.
“I enjoin other parts of the world to start imitating CLMI is doing so that it can assist in the issue of transportation, logistics and courier.
“You need courier, transportation and logistics in your industries.
“This is the first institute in the whole world which combines courier, transportation and management. There is no similar institution anywhere and for me, this is one thing Nigeria is donating to the world” Adebayo said.
Shittu who acted as the chairman of the event was conferred with the Life Grand Patron of the institute.
