By Chidi Ugwu
The Federal University of Transportation, Daura (FUTD) in collaboration with Technic, Engineering, Architecture and Marketing (TEAM), Nig. Ltd. have conducted a two-day seminar for staff, students and the general public.
According to a statement by Umar Usman, the Chief Information and Communications Officer, the seminar themed, “Planning, Development and Management of Transportation Infrastructure in Nigeria”, was conducted on Tuesday 25th and Wednesday 26th February, 2025.
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Delivering welcome remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Hon. Prof. Umar Adam Katsayal, mni, welcomed the TEAM group to the University and commended the company for supporting the establishment of the University from its inception.
While commending the TEAM for following the footsteps of the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) by providing a pro-bono consultancy service at the construction stage of the University, he urged other companies working in Nigeria to emulate the CCECC and TEAM in proving Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in order to identify with their host communities.
Speaking about the TEAM as a company working in Nigeria, the Vice-Chancellor stated that the company has a staff capacity of approximately 400 and it witnessed rapid growth since eighties.
While wishing the presenters all the best in their presentations, he called on the participants to listen attentively with a view to getting the best out of them.
Making the first presentation, the team leader of the TEAM Nig. Ltd., Engr. Precious Ebare, the Project Manager handling Kano – Kaduna Railway, spoke extensively about the company and what it does, saying that the TEAM “is an engineering consulting company belonging to TEAM Group”.
“It is an internationally renowned consultancy organization that specialized in engineering, urban planning and architecture, with main offices in three continents.
“We capitalize on our long-standing experience, expertise and highly qualified international team of dedicated professionals to deliver state-of-the-art services to both private and public clients”, she said.
According to her, the group’s development began in 1975 with the establishment of T.E.A.M., followed in 1977 by TEAM Engineering, a company specially entrusted with the technical execution of designs and studies in the various sectors of engineering, architecture and urban planning.
Another presenter at the seminar was Mr. Talha Ali, an Electrical and Electronic Engineer, who continued the presentation by dwelling into transport system/infrastructure, taking into consideration various modes of transportation such as road, rail, air and sea.
He explained the importance of transportation infrastructure, stating that it supports economic growth, social connectivity, and mobility, stressing that the economic impacts of transportation infrastructure were the facilitation of trade and business growth and enhancement of connectivity between cities and countries.
According to him, the social impacts of transportation infrastructure were improvement of accessibility to services such as education and healthcare, while the environmental impacts included pollution and carbon emission, land consumption and deforestation, and need for sustainable solutions.
Taking the presentation further, Izomoh Akpoesiri, a Material Engineer spoke on Railways in Nigeria where she talked on statistics about transportation infrastructure in the world with particular emphasis on Nigeria.
Speaking on the history and development of Nigerian railways, Akpoesiri said that Nigerian Railways were built between 1898 and 1964, totalling 3,505 km of Narrow-Gauge rail lines.
She identified different types of gauges in the world to include Broad-Gauge, Standard Gauge, Metre Gauge and Narrow Gauge.
She said that the first Standard Gauge Railway line, not only in Nigeria, but the entire Sub-Saharan Africa, was the Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri Railway, adding that the aim was to feed the Ajaokuta and Warri steel plants with raw materials located in Itakpe (iron ore mine) and the Ajakuta (limestone quarry) and to eventually connect to the existing rail-network at Baro, thus extending service to other steel mills.
According to her, the completion of the system suffered repeated slowdowns and stoppages due to lack of funding, up-to a complete stoppage.
She added that, with a fast-growing population and transport demand, particularly accelerated in the recent years, Nigeria had realized that a proper transport system, suitable for the future development of the country, must be necessarily based on efficient rail network, which, compared to road transport is safer, cheaper and faster.
On their own part, Arc. Mubarak Mustapha and Mr. Olusegun Adebisi dwelled on Architectural designs of Railway stations as well as the role of engineering companies in the construction industry.
Engr. Precious Ebare and Izomoh Akpoesiri further took the overview of railway planning and development, explaining the importance of feasibility studies and environmental and social impact assessment studies.
Other presentations made during the seminar were on the lifecycle of infrastructure and at the end of the seminar, there was a technical interaction amongst various fields of engineering.
All the presenters encouraged the student participants not to get demoralized for any reason, emphasizing on the uniqueness of the University being the first in Africa as a whole.
FUTD students were further informed that, being the pioneer students of the first University of transportation in Nigeria and Africa, many opportunities lie ahead of them in Nigeria and beyond, especially if they could prove their worth.
The students were further encouraged to stretch themselves in search of knowledge not relying completely on classroom lectures but rather to be participating in the practical aspects of transportation.
Delivering vote of thanks, the Director Academic Planning, Prof. Ahmad Abubakar congratulated and thanked the presenters for their presentations.
He thanked the University Management, especially the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Umar Adam Katsayal, mni for always supporting staff training and development.
He also thanked all staff, students and the general public for their participation, saying that many seminars and workshops would be organized under the leadership of the current Vice-Chancellor.
He finally urged the TEAM Nig. Limited to keep the relationship with the University alive, assuring that the University would do the same.
