Bello: Nigeria Needs N3 trillion to Bridge Transport Infrastructure Deficit
*As stakeholders lament lack of govt adequate attention to maritime sector
By Francis Ugwoke
The Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers ‘Council, Barr. Hassan Bello, Tuesday said that Nigeria needs as much as N3 trillion to be able to address the issue of infrastructural deficit in the transport sector of the national economy..
Bello however said such infrastructural issue cannot be insurmountable but should be seen as opportunities which investors can leverage on to create wealth and jobs in the national economy.
Speaking on the occasion of the Transport Leadership lecture organized by Kings Communications on the next Level Leadeership, the NSC CEO said Nigeria can surmount the challenges in the transport sector through collaboration between the public and private sector.
He said the country needs to invest at least N100bn per annum in the next 30 years to be able to tackle infrastructure deficit.
Bello said, “We have a lot of challenges but they are not insurmountable because when I look at the deficit in infrastructure as it is said, we need N3 trillion to make up for our deficit, meaning that we need to spend about N100 billion every year till the next 30 years. We should not be down cast by the challenges but be rejuvenated by the opportunities presented by the infrastructure deficit”.
Bello added that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) which President Muhammadu Buhari signed recently was a wonderful development which could be one way that the transport industry and the ports sector can grow.
He said, “The African Continental Free Trade Agreement could be the spur that we need because we are talking about the N2 trillion economy and 1.2 billion population as well 54 countries. We need to have imperial output to these negotiations”.
He said that Nigeria is currently doing well as far as trade is concerned with cargos coming from the competitors.
According to him, by the time the issue of infrastructures in Apapa environment is fixed, there will even be more improvement.
He said, Of course, we have the problem of interconnectivity, which is being solved now; at least, the chaos in Apapa has reduced drastically.
“We believe that by the time the infrastructure problems around Apapa are mitigated, we will see a resemblance of order but we are already having short, medium and long term solutions. Though, there are challenges but we are sure that they will be dealt with. And by August, the Council will sign the $500 million Ibadan Dry Port facility. We are seeing efficiency in our ports but we need to reform our trucking and cargo clearing system.”
Stakeholders who attended the event had expressed concern over lack of adequate attention to the maritime sector by the federal government.
Former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr Temisan Omatseye who was the Chairman of the occasion said the stakeholders will be ready for the next Minister of Transport and tell him the truth.
Similarly, another former DG, NIMASA, Mrs. Ufom Usoro, called on government agencies in the transport sector to collaborate and set target for a better transport system
Usoro also called for an integrated transportation policy, adding that this will lead to an efficient transport system.
President of League of Maritime Editors and Publishers, Mr Kingsley Anaroke who is also the Managing Director of Kings Communications in his welcome address said the advocacy for the appointment of professionals to head the ministries and agencies by stakeholders was gradually shifting from professionalism to performance and leadership assessment.
Anaroke said “it the quest to maximize the huge potentials in the sector through the right leadership or performance based leadership capable of positioning the sector to take its critical place in the Next Level agenda of the current regime and the emerging new technology-driven transportation world that gave birth to the MMS Transport Agencies’ Performance Rating with its reward system, Award for sterling performance to spur others to action, while the lecture arm of it, the Transport Leadership Lecture is to help crystallize the philosophy of good governance”.
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