By Emmanuel Obisue
Federal Government has expressed worry that the country is losing billions of naira because of its lack of modern storage facilities for consumables, amidst the many challenges facing Nigeria’s transport sector, including the high cost of transport caused by President Bola Tinubu’s removal of fuel subsidy.
Speaking in Abuja on Thursday at the 4th Edition of the Annual Workshop of Abuja Transport and Aviation Correspondents Association, ATACA, Sa’idu Alkali, Nigeria’s Minister of Transportation advocated for a harnessing of all transport systems, such that it is easy for commuters to navigate easily with choice.
Represented by Dr. Shuaibu Danwanka, his SA Technical, the minister urged stakeholders to move to address challenges faced by farmers and food supply, to ease the survival burden on Nigerians.
Dr. Emeka Okengwu, Keynote Speaker at the event advocated for “affordability and availability” of a sustainable transport system in Nigeria. This, he said, will help Nigerians plan adequately in line with their income.
Harping on the theme: ‘Harnessing the Aviation, Railway, Marine and Blue Economy sectors for Sustainable Transportation in Nigeria’, the CEO of Anthill Concepts noted that the “reason why you have high cost of foodstuffs in the country is because of our transport system.”
To create more value, he suggested that Nigeria’s railway system consider conveying more economic goods than human passengers.
In his goodwill message, Architect Bob Achanya, President of the Ajaokuta Chamber of Commerce, observed that Nigeria is late on the advancement of a Blue Economy, especially when compared with what is obtainable in other developing African countries like Kenya and Ghana.
Calling for a holistic review of government policies, he posited that “outdated” policies are being used by the federal government to pursue the process of a Blue Economy.
In his opening remarks, Leonard Oru, Chairman of ATACA, highlighted several challenges facing Nigeria’s transport sector, and called on government to work out modalities to harness the sector.