The 2014 Confab recommendations on transport policy

ON assumption in office, the Minister of Transport, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, pledged to  reform the transport system in Nigeria. His immediate predecessor, Senator Idris Umar gave such a pledge years ago. Every transport Minister in Nigeria has made such pledges. But so far, little has been achieved in that sector. I want to believe Chief Amaechi will make a difference. Transportation is a major key to development, be it railways, air or by sea. As Dr. Emeka Okengwu, a development economist, said in his paper, the existing transportation infrastructure in Nigeria comprising roads, railways, ports, airports and pipelines is inadequate in terms of accessibility and inter-operability. This poor performance has been largely occasioned by the fragmented operational and institutional framework for the inter-modal coordination of the country’s transport modes, hence the need to integrate and coordinate the activities and responsibilities of the different transport modes in the country so as to harness the various potentials contained therein”.

The National Conference sat in Abuja in 2014 for about three months. The Conference came out with some recommendations that today are either ignored or buried.Before it concluded sitting, the conference divided itself into various committees. The one that caught my attention was the committee on transportation. It was headed by Senator Musa Adede, who represented Cross Rivers North in 1999 in the Senate. Senator Adede was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Transportation in 1999 and 2003. He is a transportation expert. The committee made recommendations on the need for improvement of the Aviation sector, rail transportation, seaports, in-land waterways/shipping,roads, pipelines, transport services support sector in mines and steel.

The Adede committee implored that the government should review the existing transportation master plan for each sector based on economic analysis, to determine the economic rate of return on each transportation project looking at the economic impact and financial implication of such projects. In addition the committee suggested that the plan should prioritise projects based on economic analysis and budget constraints so as to determine the diverse range of benefits including accessibility and social benefits, economic and growth benefits, decongestion benefits, environmental benefits, health and social benefits, infrastructure maintenance benefits, operation and maintenance benefits.

When Amaechi told the nation in 2015 that he would reform the transport system, I suggested that he should take a look at the comprehensive 78-page report of the Musa Adede committee. To me that report is a major guide in solving our transportation problems. The most central challenge identified by the committee is the absence of an integrated approach to transportation development and management in Nigeria. The absence of a central authority to oversight the implementation of the various National Transportation Master Plan and the heavy dependence on budgetary provision for transport development had led to inadequate funding regimes and distortions in most transport projects. The privatisation of projects such as the ports concessioning has not also removed the financial burden from government as public funds are still applied to the expansion and maintenance of the facilities, leaving the concessionaires to collect revenue.

The committee suggested, among other, things that:  1. The existing National Transport Council should be expanded from the current Federal Ministry of Transport and State Commissioners of Transport to include the Federal Ministries of Works and Aviation and the State Commissioners of Works as well as experts in the transport sector and representatives of all core stakeholders therein. It shall be responsible for the formulation of policies governing the sector throughout Nigeria and covering all tiers of government. The Council should also set and maintain standard practices and ensure the coordination of transport development in Nigeria. It should meet on quarterly basis; and any other time as the need arises. The Council is answerable to the President.

Government efforts towards the establishment of a Commission should be accelerated. The Commission should have the mandate to formulate an intermodal national transportation infrastructure development policy that would identify and initiate the development of key mineral and agricultural products that can yield load value on the return of investments and the inclusion of local financing institutions such as AMCOM, BOI,NEXIM, SURE-P Natural Resources Development Fund(NRDF) Sovereign Wealth Fund(SWF) and local finance institutions and investors so as to promote inclusive growth, guarantee retention of foreign direct investment and avoid outright sale of national assets through non inclusive concessioningprogrammes. Deployment of an integrated transport infrastructure development program that would intricately tie a fixed and appreciable percentage of steel and allied materials for use in rail transportation lines roads and housing construction, air ports remodeling and boat and ship building to the Ajaokuta, Aladja, Oshogbo, Katsina and Jos steel plants and rolling mills.

Next, review of the existing transportation legislation by ensuring all States and private sector participation provided that such participation is in line with the policies of the National Transportation Commission. This will allow the development of a national transportation infrastructure to be inclusive of rights of State governments to build intra-state transportation infrastructure, while   private sector investors shall be allowed to build and operate certain categories of transportation infrastructure linking the mines, beneficiation plants and integrated agricultural projects. Then, encouragement of Public-Private Partnerships or Joint Ventures in the provision of transportation services. Also, development of all the ports and making them functional through deliberate policy for maximum utilisation by using attractive incentives and providing an enabling environment to discourage importers from diverting their imports to neighbouring countries. Again, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and its relevant departments and agencies should develop a policy that gives indigenous shipping lines the right of first refusal to transport Nigerian crude. 9.  Expansion of the rail network to commercial nerve centers and all major ports in the country as well as exploring the possibility of extending railways to all state capitals.

• Teniola, a former director at the presidency, lives in Lagos.