Nigeria needs N3 trillion to bridge Transport Infrastructure gap - Shippers’ Council

Abiola Seun |

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NCS), Barrister Hassan Bello said that the nation needs N100billion yearly for 30 years to bridge its transport infrastructure deficit gap.

Bello disclosed this during the second transport leadership lecture tagged, “Leadership in A Next level”, organised by Kings Communication limited, publisher of MMS Plus weekly newspaper in Lagos on Tuesday.

Though, he said the country needs a whopping N3trillion to bridge its transport deficit gap he however assured that the challenges facing the nation’s transport sector are surmountable.

He said, “We have to tell the government the truth that there are infrastructural deficit and government has to create a conducive environment because the operating atmosphere is a little bit harsh.”

“We have challenges, a lot of it, but it is not insurmountable. When I look at the deficit in infrastructure for example and it is that we needed N3 trillion to make up for our deficit, that means about N100 billion every year for the next 30 years.
Though, am not down cast by that, like I used to say, you can’t go to Canada because they have done everything, but here we are about to built and so we should not be daunted by the challenges but rather we should be rejuvenated by the opportunities.”

“We have to do a lot of things in the various sub sector of the economy and I think the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCFTA) could be the spur that we need.”

“We are talking about a N2 trillion economy, we are talking about 1.2 billion people, we are talking about 54 countries, and we are talking about protection and the cost of production under operation.”

“So, Nigeria must gear up to challenge this, I have always said we need to have imperial outlook to this trade negotiations, and Nigeria is so big that it cannot be treated with other countries,

“We must have some advantages, as a matter of fact Nigeria is already the hub, everything will be focused on Nigeria and we will strain to have fair competition but leadership is completely important.”

The Shippers’ Council boss also stated that the council is ready to sign an agreement for the $500million Ibadan Inland Dry port facility in August

According to him, ” We are going to sign the Ibadan dry port in August with $500 million facility which is going to be modern and we have to make it distinct to remove what’s happening at the seaport, and we are already winning because we have started receiving cargoes from our competitors.”

“Although we have a problem of interconnectivity which is being solved now, and this shows that government is poised to make a difference, by the time the infrastructure around Apapa is mitigated we will see a resemblance of order, but we are already having a short medium and long term solutions.” He said

“So as we struggle to see that all this things are done I will call for sincerity because the port is a miasma of various interest. ”

The NSC boss confirmed that there are challenges mitigating against the ease of doing business at the port, he was however optimistic that the challenges are surmountable.

“So on behalf on NCS which is contributing to bridging the deficit in Nigeria, an happy to announced that cargo is now been transported to Kaduna inland dry port by train on a weekly bases,” he said.