Managing director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, has identified ineffective railway infrastructure as an impediment to effective port operations in Nigeria.
Speaking in Lagos on Monday at the opening of the West Africa Rail Revolution Conference in Lagos with the theme, “Defining the Future of the Transport Infrastructure, Maintenance and Expansion in West Africa,” Usman said rail transportation would continue to play a crucial role to port operations.
According to her, no country should contemplate establishing port without adequate rail transport system to complement the port.
“If anyone had any doubts as to the clog that poor railway infrastructure could be in the wheels of effective port operations, let he or she borrow a leaf from the challenges that we are currently facing with the Lagos Port Complex (LPC) and the Tin-can Island (TCIP). This challenge would instruct you on why no country would contemplate establishing port without the complement of adequate rail transportation,” she said.
She blamed the substantial
part of the challenges, which port users face in the optimisation of the ports in Lagos area, which had even extended to distort normal activities of Lagos to the failure to provide adequate rail infrastructure in the ports.
She said the failure had eventually resulted in the dilapidation of the structure that was available at the beginning.
She however stressed the need for operators of the ports across the African continent to embrace the economic benefit of the sector as a key player in the growth and development of their country’s economies within sub-saharan Africa.
This would take place only through the collaboration in the sharing of experience and resolving complex issues, she said.
Stating that the Federal Government is presently working towards a more efficient port terrain through the deployment of modern rail infrastructure, the NPA boss urged all the delegates to embrace the new agenda and explore all possibilities towards taking it to the next level.
Chidi Izuwah, director-general/ceo of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), reiterated the need for African countries to ensure adequate provision was made in the area of port infrastructure.
