A member of the United Nations Committee on Trade and Transport Location, Dr Alban Igwe, has advised the Federal Government on integrate all transport modes.
Igwe gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.
He was reacting to a statement by the Minister for Transport, Mr Saidu Alkali, that freight services on the Lagos-Kano Narrow Gauge would begin this May or June.
The minister had also said that the Lagos-Kano Narrow Gaug, linked to the Dala dry inland port, would facilitate conveyance of freight from Lagos to the northern part of Nigeria.
According to Igwe, the country needs to fully exploit multi-modalism to ensure that freight services on the Lagos-Kano rail will be smooth.
He said that if the country would not exploit multi-modalism, it would be doing disservice to itself as well as robbing itself of huge contributions multi-modalism to the growth of the economy.
“I think it will be possible if we put the enabling conditions on ground, as the rail alone cannot do it. We need to see rail and road talk with each other.
“We need to see how this will happen because the rail cannot go to the warehouse to pick goods.
“Someone will bring it from the warehouse, and how do we connect that; so, we need to talk multi-modalism – how these modes can complement each other,” he said.
According to him, there is the need to make the rail line more active for optimal operations.
“We need to be more intentional in the use of rail for freight movement in the country, not just in Lagos.
“Freight is where the railway has obvious advantage over other modes of transport.
“We need to think about inter-connected access to all the modes of transport.
“We need to see what is on the ground and improve on it,” he said.
Igwe said that Nigeria’s transport sector had been divided into three – aviation, marine and blue, and land.
“We should not dismiss the fact that these modes of transport need to be connected so that they can function efficiently.
“For instance, if there is no road network, there will be no flight because you cannot access the flight.
“It will not come to your house to pick you,” he said.
