Mrs Pearl Ngwama, convener of the 2025 Transport Summit, has described transportation as a catalyst for wealth creation, a vital enabler of economic growth and a foundation for national development, owing to the globalised inter-connected economy.
The summit, the first in its series, was organised by the JustAlive Communications Limited, publisher of JustNet News with the theme: ‘Nigeria’s Transport Infrastructure: Innovation for a Sustainable Future’.
According to Ngwama, Nigeria can study how most advanced nations are able to build on formidable multimodal transport systems, seamlessly integrating road, air, rail and sea transport.
She added that these systems facilitated trade, improve productivity, reduce costs, and drive innovation in the economy, stating that Nigeria had the potential to replicate and even surpass that level of success.
“We have the minerals and the cash crops that can power industries. We have land, air and sea transport modes. Geographically, Nigeria is ideally positioned. Our country sits at the heart of the Gulf of Guinea, one of Africa’s most important maritime zones.
“Our ports and shipping lanes link us to Europe, the Americas and Southern Africa. In 2024, foreign trade through maritime transport alone reached over N130.75 trillion — a staggering 91 per cent year-on-year increase from N68.44 trillion in 2023. Of that maritime trade value, exports accounted for approximately 59.94 per cent.
“Similarly, in 2023 the aviation (air-transport) sector contributed approximately N215.6 billion to Nigeria’s GDP — with Abuja, Lagos and Port Harcourt airports contributing over 70 per cent of that total.
“And our rail system is beginning to show progress: in the first quarter of 2025, the rail transport system carried 929,553 passengers (up from 675,293 a year earlier) and freight volume reached 181,520 tons (up from 160,650 in Q1 2024).
“These numbers tell us we have momentum. They also tell us we have potential and therefore work to do,” said Ngwama.
Speaking on the contributions of the sector to the country’s coffers, she said that the transportation sector contributed about 6.53 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Products in 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
She added that while this was commendable, given longstanding infrastructure challenges, Nigeria could not be complacent.
“Let me emphasise this: our human capital — our greatest asset — will not realise its full potential without the right and enabling infrastructure. And if transport infrastructure remains under-developed, every other sector — agriculture, mining, manufacturing, banking, health, education — will struggle.
“Transport is the blood-stream of the economy. When it flows freely, the organs of the economy thrive; when it is blocked or weak, growth is stunted.
“Today, our ambition must be to move beyond quick fixes and stop-gap solutions. We must plan, finance and execute transport infrastructure that is sustainable, resilient, and innovative — systems built to last and to adapt as technology and economies evolve.
“In doing so, we must seize the opportunity presented by the government’s Renewed Hope Agenda under President Bola Tinubu — to build a new Nigeria with modern transport infrastructure.
“A Nigeria where: roads and rail corridors connect farms in the hinterland with factories and ports; our airports become continental hubs for passengers and cargo; our seaports and shipping lanes serving not just our country, but the wider West and Central Africa region; and new technologies — green mobility, digital logistics platforms, smart infrastructure — are fully embraced,” she said.
Ngwama hoped that the summit would yield a clear, practical and actionable recommendations and a roadmap for investments and policy direction to improve Nigeria’s transport infrastructure.
She, therefore, called for the collaboration of public and private sectors, Civil society and media, to build Nigeria’s transport infrastructure for the future to unlock the potential of Nigerians, the economy and the continent.
