LEADERSHIP & PROFESSIONALISM IN TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA - Emeritus Professor Micheal O. Filani

Introduction

Transport and Logistics Sector is one of the most important in any economy. This is because of its major role in promoting the effective functioning of the other sectors of an economy. Every country in the world today recognizes the central role that transport and logistics play in socio-economic growth and development and, therefore, makes significant efforts to meet the ever challenging demands for mobility and physical distribution. While transport provides quality and cost effective services to move passengers and freight from origins to destinations, logistics enables efficient management of the supply chain by ensuring that goods and services are available where and when they are needed in good condition and at competitive prices. Logistics managers, therefore, aim at ensuring that “the right” product in the right quantity, in the right condition is delivered to the right customers at the right place at the right time at the right cost (Council of Logistics Management 2012).

Since the early 1970s in Nigeria, there has been a tremendous increase in transport and logistics capacity. As it is all over the world, rapid changes have been taking place in the transport and logistics industry. The world itself is experiencing increased globalization, commercialization and privatization of enterprises; technology continues to advance and change; competition increases in service delivery and the ever-changing development in the information technology (IT) continues unabated. The globalization of the world economy calls for the movement of tremendous amount of goods and people in ever greater volumes and efficiencies. All these affect the transport and logistics industry.

Consequently, consideration of leadership and professionalism in the transport and logistics industry has become a compelling issue, which must be constantly addressed in order to move the industry forward especially in a fast developing economy like Nigeria. As the country’s economy grows, so grows its transport and logistics industry. Nigeria is becoming a more mature economy and this is bringing new challenges and opportunities to the country’s transport and logistics industry. How, then, can Nigerian companies and stakeholders improve the country’s transport and logistics environment? One of the ways of accomplishing this is the subject matter of this presentation, that is, the issue of leadership and professionalism in the country’s transport and logistics industry.

Leadership and Professionalism

The Oxford Advance Learners’ Dictionary defines a leader as “a person who leads a group of people, especially the head of a country, an organization etc” while leadership is the “state or position of being a leader”. Professionalism is also defined by the same dictionary as “the high standard that is expected from a person who is well trained in a particular job.

Strong leaders are important to any business to function effectively and efficiently but transport and logistics management demands unique leadership capabilities. Both transport and logistics represent large and diverse investment for most companies that engage in them. The unique challenges in the transport and logistics industry make having the right leadership and professionalism a critical part of achieving good results.

Professionalism in the transport and logistics industry entails expertise or abilities developed in the course of time through training, practice and experience. It is usually associated with high level performance in the organization, management and operation of the transport and logistics industry.

The two concepts, leadership and professionalism are not interchangeable. It is possible to be a good leader, that is, someone who is capable of managing the day-to-day activities of an organization without being a professional, that is, someone who is trained in the art and science of the organization he manages. For instance, an individual can be a leader in any ministry, parastatal, or private enterprises dealing with transport and logistics matters without having any training in transport and logistics.

The individual who has the training in transport and logistics must also be so recognized by the professional body responsible for designating him/her as a professional transportant and logistician. Such a body in Nigeria is the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILTN) or the Institute of Transport Administration (IOTA). CILTN and IOTA are the professional bodies, which serve as the ultimate authorities on the affairs relating to transport and logistics in Nigeria. At present, CILT, Nigeria operates under the Royal Charter of Britain but significant efforts have been made towards the process of enacting the Nigerian Act, which, when put in place, will help the Institute to be more effective in the monitoring and evaluation of professionals in the field of transport and logistics.

Leadership and Professionalism in Transport Logistics Industry in Nigeria
Having defined in a general way the meaning of leadership and professionalism, the questions that then arise have to do with what type of leadership and professionalism are required to move forward the transport and logistics industry in Nigeria and how can this be achieved?

The rapid expansion of the Nigerian economy in recent times has been accompanied by the growth and development of its transport and logistics industry. Thus, it has become imperative now, more than ever before, for leadership and professionalism issues to be seriously addressed by all stakeholders. The industry requires strong leaders who must be visionaries. Such leaders must not only be good managers seeing to the day-to-day activities but they must also see beyond the immediate. As McChimon (2013) stated, good leaders are “people who can blend four skills; they are able to plan, organize, motivate and control. Andrew Goetz (2013) also stated that achieving success in logistics requires two levels of skills. The first level includes basic skills or core competencies such as writing, communications and quantitative analysis. The second level involves skills specific to the logistics sector itself.

Thus, leadership and professionalism in transport and logistics industry in Nigeria require those who can develop innovative solutions and optimize logistics and supply chain strategies and operations to gain competitive advantage. To be successful, transport and logistics leaders must get involved with industry organizations and follow current events so that they can be up to date on issues affecting the industry. Having a broad vision, communicating well, anticipating future trends and staying competitive are among the secrets to leadership success.

Good and effective leaders do not operate in a vacuum or in an isolated manner. They must always stay tuned to what is happening in the market place by reading newspapers and trade magazines, attending conferences and exposing themselves to new ideas and seeing how their counterpart professionals in the industry address challenges which may differ or be similar to theirs.

The entire transport and logistics industry has become more technology dependent. Therefore, leaders have to know and be conversant with the latest technology systems. In fact today, technology has revolutionized the transport and logistics industry and has become the key to supply chain efficiency.

Supply chain has grown and widened. Businesses have consolidated creating more volumes to manage and globalization has created geographic issues. When a company moves from domestic to international distribution, the challenges multiply. This is more so because the company must deal with different laws, a variety of supplying modes and multiple countries. Managing international freight requires different sets of skills and experiences for which leaders must be prepared. To be an effective and efficient leader in such a situation requires familiarization not only with the geographic issues in globalization but also an understanding of the requirements of different transport modes and how to optimize the supply chain by using the correct mode or combination of modes. Globalization has changed logistics and supply chain management and, consequently, the qualifications required of leaders in the field. Today leaders in the transport and logistics industry must understand industries around the world and how they operate. They must possess a good grasp of international laws, regulations and policies in order to improve how they direct their companies globally (Goetz, 2013).

Continuing education is also essential for good leadership in the transport and logistics industry in Nigeria. Professionals who want to move into leadership positions must be familiar with the development trends in the industry. Therefore, good leaders must continually improve their educational and professional profiles particularly through attendance at certificate and professional development programmes and workshops which can help prepare them for the future.

Future trends and changes in the transport and logistics industry in Nigeria will require leaders and professionals who can best meet the customers’ ever-changing needs. Such needs will require leaders who will do more than merely move people, goods and services from one place to another. They are leaders who will offer new value-added services based on existing capabilities to match customers’ increasing diverse demands and capture market opportunities. It must be realized that, in competitive intensity of the market demands, providing general services will no longer be enough for most customers. For example, producers of commodities such as apparels want to bypass intermediaries to meet their customers directly. Such a situation requires transport and logistics providers, who can store, pick up, sort, pack and distribute such various products according to customers’ changing needs at sales outlets.

Good leaders and professionals in the transport and logistics industry must be team players. They need to recognize the importance of having good talents on their team to help drive innovation and change. They will surround themselves with professionals who are strong in arrears where they may be weak and must be prepared to delegate functions. The transport and logistics industry covers a very broad area and requires various kinds and levels of operatives. As a result leaders and professionals in the industry must be able to address not only executives at the board room level but also talk to and mix with truck drivers and warehouse workers.

Today in Nigeria, the transport and logistics industry still lack most of the requirements stated above with respect to leadership and especially professionalism. Although an attempt was made towards the end of Obasanjo’s administration to professionalize the transport industry by appointing professional transportants as Directors of units in the Federal Ministry of Transport and some transport parastatals, this effort has been thwarted in recent times. The management of the transport sector has again been returned to general practitioners who are not trained in the art and science of transport. The same applies to private organizations and parastatals that deal with physical distribution (logistics) where general practitioners are also in charge.

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Nigeria, has in the past expressed its concern to the Federal Government on the necessity to professionalize the transport industry in Nigeria. This is particularly in respect of the appointment of officials responsible for policy planning, formulation and articulation in the ministries of transport and their parastatals. The complexity of the transport and logistics industry makes it imperative to ensure that those who propose, plan, manage and execute policies in the sector and subsectors are those who are professionally qualified as professional transportatants and logisticians.

Towards Achieving Leadership and Professionalism in the  Transport and Logistics Industry in Nigeria.

The transport and logistics industry is a dynamic one where constant changes occur due to the market demands, advancements in technology, policy formulation and implementation and globalization. This is the more reason why continuous training and retraining of professional transportants and logisticians is critical to keep them abreast of current happenings and future expectations in the industry.

It is gratifying that Nigeria has training institutions in several fields of transport and logistics. Some of these institutions are meant to train lower and middle level staff technicians and certain categories of professionals. Some transport agencies, in fact, own training institutions.

However, the type of training required for leadership and professionalism in Nigeria’s transport and logistics industry is the one at the post graduate level. For quite some time, the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), Zaria has offered the one-year postgraduate professional diploma in transport with options or specializations in operations and management and/or in technology and engineering. The Institute now runs a Master of Science (MSc) degree programme in Transport and Logistics in affiliation with the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria “to fill the leadership gap in corporate organizations in the transport and logistics industry in particular and the nation at large.” Other institutions that offer post graduate training in the industry include the Department of Transport Management Technology at the Federal University of Technology Owerri and the Centre for Transportation Studies at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye in Ogun State. The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Nigeria also organizes periodic workshop and development programmes where captains of the industry and academicians are brought together to enrich the career development of leaders and would-be-leaders and professionals in the country’s transport and logistics industry.

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, Nigeria, still has a major role to play in ensuring continued provision of adequate and right leadership and professionalism in the country’s transport and logistics industry. Their role of approving, through accreditation, the educational programmes that equip graduates to become chartered professionals must continue. The process of enacting the Nigerian Act for the Institute must be followed to a logical conclusion so that the Institute may have the legal backing for ensuring that Nigeria’s transport and logistics industry is manned by the right and adequate leadership and professionalism.

Conclusion

From the foregoing, the importance of leadership and professionalism in the transport and logistics industry in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. For the industry to move forward, it cannot be business as usual for those who are charged with the responsibility of managing the industry. It is therefore, gratifying that NITT has organized this forum where all of us can exchange ideas on ways and manner to provide the right leadership and professionalism in the industry. It is only through such exchanges and interaction that the students, staff and other participants can enhance their leadership and professional skills while preparing all for leadership positions in the country’s transport and logistics industry.

By Emeritus Professor Michael O. Filani

Department of Geography, University of Ibadan

Being a Paper Presented to Master Students and Staff of the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology (NITT), on July 23, 2013

References

1. Agcas (2012) Industry Insight–Transport and Logistics (www.agcas.org.uk) June 2012

2. Brown Justin (2013) Logistics Leadership: Secrets to Success (NFI, January 2013, Future 

Stories) pp5.

3. Council of Logistics Management (2002) Careers in Logistics (www.clml.org) pp 1-10.

4. Filani M.O. (2003) The Relevance of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport to 

Transport Development and Sustenance in Nigeria (Keynote Address at the Launching of 

CILT Southwestern Zone Chapter in NISER, Ibadan Dec. 11, 2003.

5. Filani M.O. (2010) Keynote Address at the CILT Industry Leadership Lecture on Friday,

July 30, 2010 at NIIA, Victoria Island, Lagos.

6. Igwe Alban (2012) Regulation and Professional Practice in the Logistics and Transport

Sector (A paper presented at the CILT, Nigeria National Conference, May 18, 2012.)

7.Kearney A.T. (2012) China 2015: Transportation and Logistics Strategies 

(www.atkearney.com) pp 1-10.

8. Supply Chain Digest (2012) (www.RedPrairie.com)