Nigeria needs collaborative, inclusive approach for viable transport policy — GTP

The Global Transport Policy (GTP) has said that without a collaborative and inclusive approach towards designing a viable national transport policy, Nigeria might not get it right.

Speaking in Lagos on Monday during a media briefing in preparation for the Global Transport Policy Second Round Table Conference holding on the 15th of May, Chairman of GTP, Dr Segun Musa, emphasised the need for a collaborative and inclusive approach to designing Nigeria’s transport policy.

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Musa said, “We will continue putting this forward and encouraging the government to also participate. It is not enough for the private sector, like us, to put our resources in without consulting from anywhere, trying to partner with the government, and enhancing whatever policy the government is trying to bring on board.

“If we don’t have a holistic transport policy, we’ll be joking. The transport policy is not something you give to a consultant to write. It’s something that you bring all major actors together to design to meet the demand of the economy, because everybody has their peculiar challenges.

“We must design our transport policy to meet our national interest. If we are not getting the transport system right, definitely we can’t get the economy right.”

Musa revealed that between November and December, he visited 11 countries in Europe to study their transport systems.

“I visited about 11 countries in Europe between November and December to see what is obtainable there. These are the things we’re trying to bring on board to align with international best practices. We want to make sure we get it right now that the government is looking for a partnership,” he said.

The conference is scheduled to take place on Thursday, May 15, 2025, in Lagos. It will feature several panel discussions with participation from key government agencies, industry stakeholders, and ECOWAS representatives.

The discussions aim to share insights and global best practices that can drive transformation in Nigeria’s transport sector.

One of the panellists, Barr. Oritsematosan Edodo-Emore, who will be speaking on the topic ‘Moving People and Goods: The Business and Practice of Efficient and Sustainable Transport Operations’, offered a glimpse into what participants can expect.

“I want to say that Thursday is going to be a very interesting day when we are dealing with sustainable transport systems and what Nigeria can learn from other jurisdictions. It is going to be interesting because we are going to be discussing the whole value chain of the travel system. We are going to be talking about the transport architecture of Nigeria.

“The fact that we are dealing with four systems. road transportation, rail transportation, water transportation, and air transportation. We are going to be answering the question of whether all these transport systems are integrated or whether they are related in any intermodal way.

“Then we will be finding solutions to how Nigeria can use technology, innovation, and expertise to move this transport system from where it is now to where it ought to be in the 21st century. We are going to be looking at other jurisdictions such as Singapore, that is a small city-state, and yet its transportation system is so efficient.

“We are going to be suggesting what we need to do in Nigeria to move our transport system forward. We are going to be stressing on the progress that we have made so far in Nigeria, especially Lagos State for example. We will be asking other states to look at what Lagos State is doing. if they can copy it, then the transport system in Nigeria would be revolutionised.

“It promises to be interesting. We are going to try our hardest to find solutions and to be able to provide a community that the federal government can work on.

“Well, it is exciting because since the establishment of the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, as far as maritime is concerned, there is a ministry that is totally focused onmaritime,e and so we are going to be harnessing all of the energies that there is in maritime and bringing it to bear in the larger economy.”

Also speaking, Regina Robinson, Editor-in-Chief of the Global Transport Policy magazine, shared the agency’s long-standing commitment to transport reform through its various platforms and initiatives.

“The intention is to re-engineer the transport system in Nigeria. So we are going to advance conversations that will shape policies. We actually conceived this idea over 15 years ago.

“So we started with a magazine, Global Transport Policy magazine, which is a bilingual English-French magazine that captures all modes of transportation. It was from the magazine that the Global Transport Policy event was born, as well as the Women in Transport Conference. And we have just one aim, to re-engineer the transport system in Nigeria.”

The upcoming Roundtable Conference is a continuation of GTP’s mission to promote policy-driven dialogue and action that will modernise and integrate Nigeria’s transport infrastructure for sustainable national development.

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