Nigeria Charts New Transport Future as Ministers, Stakeholders Push for Integrated Reforms
Kathy Kyari
Nigeria’s transport sector took centre stage in Lagos this week as government ministers and industry stakeholders outlined bold reforms to reposition the country as Africa’s logistics hub, unveiling milestones in rail, road, and port infrastructure while decrying decades of policy gaps that have hindered growth.
Nigeria’s Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, His Excellency Adegboyega Oyetola, declared that the Federal Government is determined to transform the nation into a logistics hub for West and Central Africa by entrenching intermodal transport systems and lowering the cost of doing business.
Speaking as Special Guest of Honour at the 2025 Nigeria Transport Sector Annual Summit organised by the Transport Correspondents Association of Nigeria (TCAN) on Wednesday in Lagos, Oyetola described transport logistics as “the invisible engine of any economy.”
“Without a reliable, resilient, and efficient logistics value chain, industries falter, competitiveness declines, and opportunities are lost. But with effective transport logistics, nations prosper, trade flourishes, and growth is accelerated,” he said.
The Minister noted that despite Nigeria’s vast resources and strategic coastal location, inefficiencies in cargo evacuation, particularly over-reliance on road transport have long hindered competitiveness. To address this, he explained, government has made intermodalism the cornerstone of reforms, ensuring that road, rail, barge, and pipeline operate as complementary channels.
Highlighting key interventions, Oyetola cited the operationalisation of the Lagos–Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail line, the promotion of barge operations, oversight by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), and the reconstruction of the Apapa–Oshodi Expressway. He also recalled the commissioning of the 27km Lekki Port Access Road by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in June 2025.
Dry ports and inland container depots in Ibadan, Kaduna, Kano, Funtua and other locations, he added, are also being developed to ease pressure on seaports while spurring local economies.
Oyetola further announced that the Ministry has developed a National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy — a framework designed to attract private sector investment, foster intermodal integration, reduce logistics costs, create jobs, and align Nigeria with global trends in sustainability and digitalisation.
“By lowering the cost of doing business, improving turnaround times, and attracting private capital into port and hinterland infrastructure, it will position Nigeria as a preferred logistics hub for Africa,” he stressed, while urging stakeholders — shipping lines, terminal operators, freight forwarders, investors, regulators, and the media — to play their part.
Transportation Minister, Senator Said Ahmed Alkali, also used the summit to assure Nigerians that the Federal Government’s ambitious transport reform projects are firmly on track, highlighting sweeping rail expansions, modern bus terminals, and new policy frameworks designed to transform the sector into a catalyst for economic growth.
Alkali commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for “spearheading the National Transport Sector Reform project through laudable policies, initiatives and commitments to actualize the Renewed Hope Agenda by making public transportation efficient, effective, safe, secure, integrated and affordable.”
He listed the Lagos-Kano rail modernisation project, the rehabilitated narrow gauge from Lagos to Kano, and the ongoing Port Harcourt-Maiduguri line as major indicators of progress. “It is significant to emphasize that while the Port Harcourt to Aba segment has been completed and put into use, the Kaduna-Kano and Kano-Maradi ongoing rail project recorded appreciable execution progress from 5% to 15% at the inception of this Administration to over 50% and 60% respectively,” he revealed.
The Minister added that the Kano-Maradi rail will reach Katsina by December 2025 and is on course for completion by March 2027. He also announced Federal Executive Council’s approval for the construction of modern bus terminals in Abeokuta, Onitsha, Warri, Kano, Lokoja, and Gombe, stressing: “This development will no doubt address the challenges of operational inefficiencies, intra-city traffic congestion, unregulated motor parks and safety hazards.”
On sustainability, Alkali highlighted the launch of a Dual-Fuel Locomotive on the Abuja-Kaduna rail corridor in September 2024, with plans for similar adoption nationwide. He also described as “a historic milestone” the Federal Executive Council’s recent approval of the National Land Transport Policy after decades of delay.
Meanwhile, TCAN Chairman, Mr. Tola Adenubi, challenged policymakers to confront Nigeria’s lingering transport woes head-on, lamenting that the country has yet to adopt a national transport policy, 65 years after independence.
“The absence of a national transport policy has left the sector open to all comers to do as they please,” he said, warning of devastating consequences for road safety, cargo evacuation, and urban mobility.
Adenubi condemned over-dependence on road haulage, stressing that petroleum tankers and container trucks have overstretched Nigeria’s road network and reduced its lifespan. “As at today, containers still fall on hapless road users along our roads, killing many and leaving many injured,” he lamented, calling for greater investment in alternative modes of transport, particularly waterways.
“Aside from prolonging the lifespan of our roads, the efficient use of barges to freight cargoes in and out of our ports will reduce traffic congestion on our roads, and also provide lower-cost, environment-friendly options,” he added.
Commending TCAN for convening the summit, Oyetola and Alkali both reaffirmed the government’s readiness to collaborate with stakeholders to make Nigeria a continental leader in transport logistics and a “true blue economy giant.”
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