Govt to unveil executive order for road transport reforms

Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said the present administration will not leave any stone unturned in efforts to transform the sector for the benefit of Nigerian citizens.

He disclosed that the Road Sector Transformation programme is ongoing, as the draft executive order is being fine-tuned by stakeholders to transform the current narrative in the road subsector and ensure regulation of the sector.

Mentioning that the sector is the most critical in implementing the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and enhancing regional integration, he reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to transforming the transport system.

The minister stated this yesterday, in Abuja, at an international conference, organised by the Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Transportation tagged “The Role of Transportation in the Implementation of African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Amaechi, who was represented by the Minister of State for Transportation, Gbemisola Ruqayyah Saraki, said: “Transportation is cross-cutting and permeates many economic sectors, facilitates international trade, supports food security, delivers energy and enables industrial and infrastructural development. It generates employment and helps create prosperity, thereby fulfilling critical economic as well as social functions.

“It is obvious that adequate transportation infrastructure could trigger a country’s economic progress by diversifying production, trade and export. Transportation is essential for economic and social development, it provides vital links between centres of production and markets; and aids in facilitating the flow of goods and movement of people along corridors, linking the different points of activities and thereby promoting regional and national integration and development.”

In his remarks, the Director General/Chief Executive, Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology, Dr. Bayero Salih Farah, noted that intra-African trade stands at about 15 per cent, an abysmal fact attributable to unnecessary bottlenecks and infrastructure deficit.

He noted that there is urgent need for improved investment in connectivity and transportation infrastructure, adding that transportation is the link between all the factors of production.