Institute Of Transport And Management Technology Sets For Inauguration Of Alumni

LAGOS MARCH 20^TH (NEWSRANGERS)-After 36 years of existence, the   Institute of Transport And Mangement Technology  is set for the  inauguration of  its alumni.

The inauguration will hold  on Saturday  March 21^st , 2020 at the premises of the Institute located at km 43 MTN Badagry express road, Agbo Malu Bus stop, Lagos. The event will  indeed be an historical one  for the current students, school management and the Alumni members.

The Chairman Board of Trustees, Dr Fred Ehinmetan who is the coordinator of the inauguration while addressing our correspondent said, “The purpose of an Alumni association is to foster a spirit of loyalty and to promote the general welfare of an Institution. Alumni associations exist to support the parent organization’s goals, and to strengthen the ties between alumni, the community, and the parent organization.”

He explained that  there are two basic requirements to start or re-activate an alumni association which are  the enthusiasm and willingness of several individuals who are willing to take on the organizational initiative and sustain it and the interest of a reasonable nucleus of alumni and friends of the organization to participate in the association’s activities.

“Alumni Associations like University of Lagos has come a long way and have done so well for themselves having governors, ministers, ambassadors and technocrats of all manner etc as members. There is no level such an Alumni cannot attain. Ours cannot be an exception” he asserted

Talking about the expectation on Saturday, Dr Fred who graduated from the Institute in 2008 said that the day will start with in-house activities like accreditation of members and subsequent elections which will institute the first official executives of the Institute’s Alumni. “Then by 12noon, when the guests must have arrived, we will follow the programme from the way it was arranged in the inauguration brochure,” he stated.

Talking on what prompted the Alumni inauguration at this time, the environmental consultant said it was triggered by the initiative of the Rector of the Institute since October last year.

“And since then we have been on it without leaving any stone unturned. And to God be the glory, here we are. I want to use this opportunity to appreciate all who has contributed one way or the other to the success we have recorded so far,” he revealed.

Reacting to the question on why it took so much time for this inauguration in an exclusive chat with our editor, the dynamic Rector, Institute of Transport and Management Technology Dr Lilian C. Chibor said that it is better late than never.

According to him, “Pulling people together under one formal ideology after such a long time is normally a herculean task and ours was not an exception. We started by pulling all the old students’ contacts at our disposal into a whatsapp group and little by little we continued to pursue the Alumni agenda.  Infact, I will say this is the right time because the interest now is quite overwhelming”.

In view of the expectation for the day, Dr Lilian said, “We expect to meet with our old students from 1984 till date. One major setback is the difficulty in reaching many of them because then we were in analogue age without phone numbers and the addresses we have are no more feasible. In any case, we will make do with the number we have now hoping that with the strong publicity in this inauguration, many of them will get to know and come on board. “There will be a lot networking and relationship build-ups and also they will see our achievements so far,our short comings and areas where they can assist the institute to function better. We expect a fulfilled gathering generally.

“However, the first expectation from the Alumni body is to identify with their Alma mater,then every other thing follows.The expectations are high but I don’t want to mention anything for now. I want to use this medium to reach out to our old students from 1984 to come and register with the Alumni body of the institute. There are lots of benefits which I will not mention here”, she opined.

Continuing, the Rector revealed that their products are doing very well at their work places which is a testimony of the thorough academic and high moral values of the Institute. “I can assure you that the Institute has paid and is still paying her dues adequately in that regards. We are proud of the testimonials of honesty and hard work received regularly by our products.” She said

According to the soft spoken beautiful woman, “the institute was established in March 1984 as school of flight Attendance Air Ticketing and Reservation. The name later changed to Institute of Air Travel and Management studies. In the year 2000, the name was later changed to Institute of Air Travels and Maritime Studies to accommodate the maritime department of the institute. Finally, the academic board of the Institute settled for Institute of Transport and Management Technology. The act establishing the institute empowers it to do the following;

“To carry on the business as management practitioners and to undertake general management, financial, Maritime, marketing and other forms of business consultancy service in fulfillment of which the institute empowered to conduct feasibility studies, hold seminar, symposia, conferences, management development and training activities in Nigeria and elsewhere.”

“To organize and offer courses in the field of management, business administration, accountancy, banking and finance, Maritime, internal Auditing, Basic E education, Law, Purchasing, Hotel and Catering, Tourism, Health Education, Engineering, Transport, Aviation, Computer and other related, Technology, Public Relations, Advertising, Insurance, Secretary ship, Teacher Education, Agriculture, Marketing, Sales Management, Shipping and other field of learning in full time, Part-time, weekend, Postal and sandwich courses in any part of Nigeria or elsewhere in the world.”

“The institute shall set up training institution, colleges, centers, offices, agencies in any part of Nigeria or elsewhere provided that such organs of the institute operates as division of the institute, they shall be given any name considered necessary from time to time by the institute.

“The institute shall at any time considered necessary organize and hold terminal promotional and/ or final course examination for its students for the assessment of their standard of academic achievements, the institute and its organs shall grant or issues to students considered qualified certificate, Diplomas, Higher Diplomas, Postgraduate Diplomas or any other form of qualified considered necessary from time to time among others.”

The Rector further explained that the Institute was approved by the ministry of education with reference number LED/CED/VOL.4/S.396 VOL 1 of 27^th December 1988. “It is recognized as a training center for Nigeria institute of shipping and the Chartered institute of Aviation Management of Nigeria. It is equally recognized by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Aviation with a reference number CA08/008/1of 18^th August 1986.”

More so, the boss of the institute said “the institute has secured the approval of National Board for Technical Education (NABTEB). As a result of this, the institute has been enlisted in the jamb brochure since 2017. Also the Associate degree of the institute is used for direct B.Sc conversion with our affiliate universities. We are not stopping here, there is also plan within our limited resources to build more hostels, strengthen our library and buy school buses that will enhance academic activities in the institute. I want to use this opportunity to beckon on our fellows, the government, the government agencies, corporate individuals, and all lovers of education to look back and support the school in any way they can, be it in the area of IT placement, job security or connection to enable us achieve our desired goals and objectives.

Furthermore, DrChibor, mentioned that the Institute has introduced scholarship scheme as their corporate social responsibility which about 50 students are benefiting from at the moment. In line with the mandate of International Maritime Organization last year as it emphasized that Empowering women will fuel thriving economies across the world, spurs growth and development, and benefits everyone working in the global maritime community in the drive towards safe, secure, clean and sustainable shipping, the institute is prepared to contribute their quota towards this.

 Continuing, she observed that the statistics of  IMO, reveals that women represent only two percent of the world’s 1.2 million seafarers, with 94 percent of female seafarers working in the cruise industry as Shipping has historically been a male-dominated industry and that tradition runs long and deep. However, IMO believes that empowering women fuels thriving economies, spurs productivity and growth, and benefits every stakeholder in the global maritime community. Little wonder, the 2019 World Maritime Day celebration held across the world on the 26^th of September brought attention to the importance of gender equality in the maritime industry and especially the contribution of women within the sector.

Talking about the major challenges of the institution, the Rector said, “Well, the number one challenge the institute is facing is funding. Again, getting the right resource personnel to lecture is another issue as there are only about two Institutions which currently do courses on transportation and these are not even full time courses. The location of the institute presently at Badagry could equally be said to be another challenge because it would have been better off being situated at the central part of Lagos. In any case, we are coming up with study centers in other to address the need of those that want to run one programme or the other with us. One beautiful thing about our graduates is that most of them are up and doing and they don’t wait for employment rather they will look for a gap in their environment and fill it. Thank God the institute has taught them to be self-reliant and the key to connect so as to give themselves financial freedom for life.

Be it as it may, the importance of transportation cannot be overemphasized as it can be seen as the lifeline of the nation. The presence of transport infrastructure has added speed and efficiency to every country’s progress. Transportation to a greater extent holds the root of all commerce. If we can’t move our bodies, our ideas, parcels products or whatever else there would be dormant society. The possibility for commerce and wide reach can only be possibly by the increase in number of people and things to which we have access. Transportation infrastructure is so important that it helps shapes the urban areas and also serves as a platform for rural-urban linkages because good physical connectivity in the urban and rural area is essential for economic growth. Overtly, one would expect that the importance being attributed to transportation and its infrastructures would translate into more efforts by the government in ensuring that more researches and efforts are put into the field of transportation.

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