Efficient transport system is our mandate- MAGDALENE AJANI
The Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Transportation Dr. Magdalene Ajani, has restated the Ministry of Transportation commitment in making efficient the Transportation system in Nigeria. The Parm Sec who spoke to AsphericNews correspondent in Abuja said that the provision of a Multi-modal Transportation system that will seamlessly link road, rail, and water is the goal of the Ministry.
‘’My vision for the Ministry of Transportation is to provide an efficient Transportation system that will be multi-modal to the Transportation system of the country. when we are talking about multi-modal we are talking about the road, we are talking about water and we are talking about rail, air is no longer under Transportation because there is Ministry of Aviation but you will want to be able to provide multi-modal Transportation system, which is the mandate of Mr. President to the federal ministry of Transportation, where the road, rail, and water will link seamlessly and you will want to be able to Transport goods and services from point A to point B in an efficient way without causing stress to the users or even the producers and consumer.
so when goods are produced we want to be able to Transport whether raw or not to the consumers without putting stress on the people. If I am a farmer, I have the goods that come out from the farm, I need to get it to the market, I need good roads to get it to the market, in the riverine area you may not have fantastic roads but you have water, and the question will be can I move my products by boat to the consumers, so we can start talking about our water system if it’s working properly. The Ports working as they should, we shouldn’t have to go to Lagos. We have at least six ports, can I move my goods anywhere to any of those six ports.
Those six ports have to function, and when I get to the port, how does my container gets to me, how do I know what is happening in Lagos as regards to the condition of my container. So we are looking at the system where things can come in from other ports. We have the Warri ports, we activate all these ports to be working where people can ship their things and be able to pull all the containers through the rail.
we are now extending the company through the rail line to get right into Apapa and tin can Island. To get those things on the rail and move them out, if we take from Ibadan, we move them to other areas which will reduce the congestion from Apapa, everybody does not need to go to Apapa to clear their stuff.
If Ibadan becomes a destination where people can ship their goods from wherever to Ibadan, so when the ship arrives in Lagos, the owner doesn’t need to go to Lagos to clear, you just gather all through the Ibadan rail line to take his luggage.
So that will definitely serve the Southwest, then if you come to the North, you see the Kaduna port, we also have Kano terminal, we have Kastina and Sokoto coming up, what can we do to make all these ports, port of destination. We know the Abuja-Kaduna is working very well. Then from the South, from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, in that way when goods come in, we are able to move them, for those who must use the road, the road will be good for them. The rail transport system is safe, it’s cheaper and it will take more people on road.
So my vision is to make sure that the mandate of the Transportation system comes up and that is making the multi-modal Transport system available to Nigerians throughout the whole Country. From what I know if we take the Lagos, Kano, Lagos-Calabar, Port Harcourt – Maiduguri roads 29 States will be caught, so we are saying out of 36 States people can get to 29 States by rail and this is the mandate of Mr. President, this is his desire that the whole country gets connected by rail at least by 2023. And so my eye is on that ball, to make sure that I work with my Minister to deliver this mandate and nothing else” she stated.