By GRACE ABE

Vice President Kashim Shettima on Thursday in Abuja unveiled the National Land Transport Policy.

The unveiling was done during the 19th National Council on Transportation and the National Land Transport Policy with the theme “Developing Effective Transport System for Nigeria: The Role of Integrated Transportation.”

Represented by the Special Adviser on General Services, Alhaji Modibbo Umar, Shettima said “transportation connects Nigerians to opportunities and productions to markets.

“When farmers produce efficiently, industries reach raw materials easily, businesses reach consumers and workers travel safely, it increases productivity.”

He said the duty of government is to provide infrastructure, ensuring that Nigerians feel the benefits through safer travel, lower cost and wider opportunity which is part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

He said the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna standard gauge corridors demonstrate the value of modern rail, as the Kaduna-Kano railway modernisation project is advancing towards completion.

Similarly, he said, the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri corridor is being pursued to restore and modernise connectivity across the eastern, central and northern parts of the country.

The Kano–Maiduguri Railway project would extend rail connectivity through Kano, Jigawa and Katsina to Maradi in the Republic of Niger, he added, noting that it would strengthen cross-border trade and deepen regional integration.

The vice president explained that “every rail line carrying harvest to market, road shortening workers’ journey, port releasing cargo, inland and transit system returning hours to families, binds national ambitions to daily lives.”

Shettima announced that government approved state urban light rail projects in Lagos, Kaduna and Kano and urged the minister of transportation to work with the states to establish the necessary technical, institutional, regulatory and implementation arrangements without delay.

He said “these projects are pilot schemes whose success will guide expansion to other cities. I call on federal and state governments, the ministry and its agencies, consultants, contractors, financiers and partners to act with urgency, professionalism and national responsibility.

“The projects are designed to ease the daily burden of Nigerians.”

Earlier, Mr Olufunso Adebiyi, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, had said that the theme of the unveiling is relevant because it supports economic growth, national connectivity and improved quality of life for citizens

Adebiyi said integration would ensure that various modes of transportation do not develop in isolation, but function as part of one national system.

He added that “our roads, the railways, the ports, inland waterways and urban transport systems must connect people and goods efficiently across the country and across our borders.

“It will strengthen cross-border trade, deepen regional integration and demonstrate how Nigeria’s transportation infrastructure can support both national and West African economic development.”

In a goodwill message, the Chairman, Nigeria Transportation Commissioners Forum, Mr Gbenga Dairo, said transportation is not just about movement, it is about economic opportunities.

Represented by the Abia Commissioner for Transport, Dr Chimezie Ukaegbu, the chairman added that “our greatest challenge today is not necessarily the absence of individual modes of transportation.

“Nigeria has roads, railways, airports and seaports and inland waterways, the challenge is that these modes have not been sufficiently integrated into one seamless transportation system.”

He explained that a modern transportation system must not operate in isolation, but must connect with the people.

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adeboyega Oyetola, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Mrs Fatima Mahmood, reiterated the ministry’s commitment to work with relevant agencies “to build the connections required for a truly integrated transport system.” (NAN)