The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, has unveiled how the federal government planned to move more cargoes by inland waterways. “We have a dream in the Ministry to move containers from Marina in Lagos to Onitsha in Anambra State and even to Baru, in Niger State. That will entail channelization and channel management of the routes from Lagos through the intra-coastal routes to land rivers up to Onitsha along the River Niger up to Baru,” the Minister said.

Sambo said the federal government has given assurances that it was working assiduously to ensure that soon, Inland waterways would be developed, enough to move cargoes by barges to their ports of destination.

He spoke on Thursday, October 27, 2022, at the on-going 2022 Ministerial Retreat in Uyo, Awka Ibom State.

“We want to make sure that Inland waterways transportation is developed in such a way that movement of containers and other cargoes by barges from Lagos through the intra-coastal routes to hinterlands will become the new normal,” Sambo said.

According to the Minister, to make that possible, it would involve clearing the waterways and fortunately, the Ministry has found a company that was ready to do that in November, this year.

The Director of Press and PR in the Ministry of Transportation, Eric Ojiekwe, said in a statement, “On the issue of the Costal Railway line that should run from Lagos to Calabar,” the Minister said what was stalling it as funds as the China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), Contractor handling the project has been unable to provide the 85 per cent of its counterpart funding while Nigeria is to provide 15 per cent.

He however gave the assurance that the Ministry has identified an investor that was willing to provide the funds and the Ministry was in talks on how to share the works between the investor and CCECC, the initial contractor.

“The Coastal line is a very important line because it connects all the port cities of Nigeria. If you connect all the port cities by rail, you will then be able to open up the Eastern Ports as well so that goods that come from the ports will naturally go upland.

“The plan that we have under the 25 years Railway Modernization Plan is to connect every State capital by rail.”