FG Charged to Develop Interest in Transport Sector for Economic Growth

The Federal Government of Nigeria has been charged to develop interest in the different modes of transportation as they are the moving force behind every economy.

Speaking at a Roundtable Discussion at the International Maritime Press Center of the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria (MARAN) on Tuesday, frontline transport analyst and planner, Dr. Segun Musa, stressed that effective transport sector is the driver of economic growth.

He, however, regretted that the Nigerian government is not interested in the development of the sector but rather in generating revenue.

Musa, who is the President, Global Transport Policy and CEO of Widescope International Logistics Limited, stated that government is not adding value to the different modes of transportation while its investment in the rail subsector was misdirected.

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He decried the investment in locomotive engines and wagons instead of coaches for moving passengers.
According to the transport planner, the railways can never be viable if it concentrated on passenger movement instead of haulage of wet and dry cargoes.

He noted that effective transport planning would have made pipeline transportation a focus that would stop inter-state haulage.
He maintained that globally tankers and trucks are not designed for long distances, warning that haulage cannot pilot the Inland Container Depots (ICD).

He said running ICDs with haulage will be counterproductive and at a very high cost.
Musa also decried the neglect of the courier industry as another area of transportation that needs attention.

He stated that the industry is less regulated and currently dominated by a few foreigners whereas indigenous companies should be encouraged to compete with these foreign actors in order to generate employment for teeming Nigerians youths.

The transport analyst also enjoined the Nigeria Customs Service and all port operators to digitalized their operations, saying that Nigeria of today cannot afford to run a system in an analogue way.

He stressed that it’s important for the country to migrate from analogue to digital operations to enhance ease of doing business in line with global best practices.
However, he commended Nigeria Customs for improving in its technology drive.
Musa described the creation of Blue Economy ministry as fraud, arguing that “blue economy has always been with us”.
He advised that the Blue Economy ministry would have been made a department in the Ministry of Transport.

According to him, it’s not the minister that runs the ministry but the permanent secretary and directors, insisting that creation of multiple ministries is a waste.
On Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), Musa stated that the Fund has been used by the government as the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) could not give an audited account of the money collected so far.

Though he argued that the CVFF belongs to the shipping stakeholders for building indigenous capacity but he believed the money is not there as they are being made to believe.
“If CVFF is still there it’s the one they just collected,” he said.