Niger Sets up Agency for Control of Traffic

Laleye Dipo in Minna

The Niger State Government has set up an agency, The Niger State Traffic Management Agency (NISTMA), for the control of traffic throughout the state.

The agency will also identify and prosecute offenders and keep adequate data of road users for revenue profiling and planning.

The state Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, who flagged off the new organisation in Minna yesterday, also tasked it with the responsibility of facilitating “traffic law enforcement, curb the growing security challenges using technology and to expand the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state.”

According to the governor, the need for the establishment of the agency has become very expedient in view of the fact that all means of transportation are available in the state and their use should be checked.

He, therefore, challenged the agency “to build and develop a culture of law-abiding road users through sensitisation, enforcing regulations that would help reduce road accidents.”

Bello, who also presented 21 new vehicles to the agency, disclosed that the government has boosted the fleet of the state Transport Authority with 63 new buses.

He advised both the management of NISTMA and the NSTA to make proper use of the vehicles given to them, disclosing that the government will pay the salaries and allowances of the NISTMA staff for only three months after which it will be on its own.

In his address, the state Commissioner for Transport, Alhaji Zakari Mohammed Tanko, said the law establishing the agency was assented to by the governor in July 2021 in his desire to have an “effective and inclusive management of the transport sector in the state.”

Tanko commended the governor for what he described as his “immense support” for the sector, and called for the understanding and cooperation of all and sundry for the agency to succeed.