Chinedu Eze
Experts have advocated for the combination of Nigeria’s transport system, together with highway, rail, aviation and maritime, in an effort to develop insurance policies that may synergize the motion of products and companies throughout the nation.
The consultants who converged final week in Lagos on the second Nigeria Transport Summit with the theme: ‘Navigating Global Disruptions and the Road Ahead: Mobility, Energy and Trade Facilitation for a Resilient Future’, additionally known as for the adoption of multifaceted safety equipment to guard the multi–modal transportation system.
Looking on the crucial position the maritime sector performs within the transportation of products, the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) advocated for the use of evidence-based regulation and stakeholder engagement to remove avoidable logistics prices, decrease the price of commerce, and streamline cargo clearance operations throughout Nigeria’s ports.
In his presentation on the summit, the Director-General and Chief Executive Officer of NPERA, Akutah Pius Ukeyima, acknowledged that commerce bottlenecks, unpredictable port fees, and fragmented infrastructure continued to hurt the nation’s industrial competitiveness.
“Through effective stakeholder engagement, appropriate regulatory measures and evidence-based decision-making, NPERA is committed to supporting a port system that reduces avoidable costs, improves operational efficiency, encourages fair competition and strengthens Nigeria’s position as a competitive maritime and trade destination,” Akutah mentioned.
Highlighting the financial impression of logistics challenges, Akutah famous that seamless commerce facilitation is indispensable to nationwide progress.
“Delays in cargo clearance, excessive or unpredictable charges, inadequate infrastructure and weak coordination among stakeholders can increase logistics costs and undermine the competitiveness of Nigerian businesses,” he warned.
To handle these hurdles, the NPERA chief emphasised that financial regulation should shield the industrial pursuits of all operators—together with importers, exporters, transport corporations, and freight forwarders—whereas fostering predictable funding situations.
“Effective economic regulation is essential to ensuring that charges are reasonable, service delivery is efficient, stakeholders are treated fairly and the interests of port users are adequately protected within the applicable regulatory framework,” he defined.
Addressing the systemic challenges past maritime gates, Akutah urged federal authorities and personal operators to speed up integration throughout roads, rail strains, and inland waterways.
“The development of an efficient transport system cannot be achieved through ports and roads alone. It requires effective integration of road, rail, inland waterways and other transport modes to facilitate the seamless movement of cargo from the ports to inland markets and production centres,” Akutah famous.
He added that dry ports and supporting transit infrastructures play a strategic position in increasing entry for hinterland companies, offered connection bottlenecks are resolved.
“We must therefore continue to address bottlenecks affecting rail freight services, road transport costs, cargo documentation, shipping arrangements and the effective utilization of inland transport infrastructure,” he urged.
Looking at insecurity in his presentation on the summit, the Executive Director of Operations and Technical at Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, Warredi Enisuoh, known as for the combination of safety consciousness in class curriculum to arrange younger Nigerians to guard their society within the face of insecurity ravaging the nation.
Enisuoh who’s a seasoned airline captain, ship grasp, and maritime safety knowledgeable emphasised that prison components systematically exploit public unawareness and outdated infrastructure.
Enisuoh warned that the nation can now not afford a reactive method to safety threats, noting that widespread indifference exposes residents to preventable risks.
“When it comes to security, the problem is people have to be aware. It is awareness or unawareness that your assailants take advantage of. If people know that you are aware, it helps douse down the insecurity because those who carry out threats always take advantage of the fact that you are not aware. So awareness is key,” Enisuoh acknowledged.
He pressured that the truth of kidnapping and safety dangers have to be straight countered by means of early childhood and adolescent training.
“The amount of insecurity that has somehow inflicted this country is not reflected in the day-to-day education of our children in school. We should start teaching insecurity in school now,” Enisuoh asserted.
He additional mentioned: “Because those who will be kidnapped tomorrow are free today. Everybody seems to feel it’s not their business or ‘not my portion,’ but the person who was taken yesterday felt the same way. We have to increase our educational syllabus to handle insecurity lectures because this is something that has come to stay.”
Critiquing Nigeria’s present transport and logistics infrastructure, Enisuoh famous that the nation’s sea ports and highways have been by no means structurally designed to face up to or mitigate fashionable safety dangers.
Comparing sector performances, he identified that Nigeria’s aviation trade has carried out remarkably effectively on account of stringent worldwide auditing, perimeter fencing, and strict entry controls, including that the maritime area has a lot to study from airport safety frameworks.
The convener of the summit, Mrs. Pearl Ngwama, in her opening speech noticed that mounting geopolitical instability, risky international oil markets, and crippling maritime commerce disruptions, have been posing fast threats to Nigeria’s financial survival except the nation strikes aggressively to combine its fragmented transportation networks.
Ngwama in her speech emphasised that exterior international shocks are straight exacerbating the logistical challenges of home transport prices, squeezing companies, and fueling client inflation throughout Nigeria.
Highlighting the fast ripple results of worldwide crises on Nigerian households, Ngwama pointed to current knowledge from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), confirmed crude oil costs spiking to $131 per barrel in mid-September 2026 following assaults on worldwide power infrastructure.
“For the transport industry, the consequences are immediate. Airlines face mounting aviation fuel bills; shipping companies contend with higher vessel operating and insurance costs; road haulage operators experience increased fuel expenses; and businesses must absorb rising logistics costs. Ultimately, these pressures translate into higher passenger fares, more expensive goods, and reduced competitiveness,” Ngwama mentioned.
She additional cited UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Reuters experiences exhibiting that transport throughput through the Red Sea stays 70 p.c under 2023 ranges, whereas the price of chartering supertankers on key worldwide routes surged to $81 million in comparison with $9.1 million a 12 months prior.
“Nigeria cannot control global oil prices or determine the outcome of international conflicts. However, we can strengthen our domestic transport infrastructure, improve operational efficiency, and develop policies that reduce the extent to which external shocks undermine our economy,” she mentioned.
Ngwama cautioned that whereas international disruptions originate overseas, they primarily expose deep-seated structural flaws inside Nigeria’s inner logistics structure. She known as for a direct finish to uncoordinated, remoted policy-making throughout aviation, maritime, rail, highway, and inland waterways.
According to her, “Nigeria possesses considerable advantages, yet these advantages will remain underutilized unless our transport modes function as parts of an integrated system. A seaport cannot achieve its full economic potential when cargo evacuation is inefficient. A railway cannot deliver maximum value without effective connections to ports, industrial centers, and road networks.”
She pressured that attaining multimodal integration is essential if Nigerian companies hope to capitalize on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), warning that entry to a 1.3-billion-person continental market will yield little if native producers can’t transfer items competitively.
Beyond infrastructure, the summit convener recognized power reliability, digital cargo monitoring, and regulatory predictability as non-negotiable pillars for constructing sector resilience.
