*Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN.

By Olisa Agbakoba

INTRODUCTION

Nigeria has huge opportunities in the transportation sector to generate revenue, create jobs,

and facilitate movement for business and leisure. Unfortunately, over the years, we have not

been able to take advantage of those opportunities largely because of inadequate

infrastructure, high operating costs, weak or suboptimal regulations, limited skilled capacity,

financial difficulties, and more recently insecurity. These challenges cut across all transport

sectors including rail, road, aviation, and maritime. To successfully develop a multimodal

transport system, we first need to understand why these challenges have persisted and then

proffer workable solutions. In this article, I identify five cross-cutting legal and policy failures. I

have also outlined legal and policy priorities for transport in Nigeria.

CROSS-CUTTING LEGAL AND POLICY FAILURES

1. Over-centralisation and federal dominance – The federal government currently

dominates the entire transport sector, not effectively engaging states and local governments.

This denies states and especially local communities the opportunity to participate in tackling

pressing transport challenges like insecurity. The fifth alteration to the 1999 Constitution,

which now allows States to participate in rail transportation is a step in the right direction.

However, a lot more devolution of transportation powers needs to take place. States should be

allowed to manage inland waterways, federal intra-state roads, etc.

2. No harmonised policy on transportation – Since Independence, Nigeria through the

Federal Ministry of Transportation has developed at least 7 transport policy documents, some

of which include: the 1965 Statement of Policy on Transport; the 1993 Transport Policy for

Nigeria; the 2003 Draft National Transport Policy Document; the 2008 Draft National Transport

Policy; the 2010 Draft National Transport Policy; the 2013 Draft National Transport Policy; and

the 2021 Draft National Transport Policy (being the latest). Most of these have remained as

drafts and were not implemented. Each state and transport sector (Aviation, Rail, Road,

Maritime) has its own policies, most of which sometimes contradict each other.

3. Overlapping institutional mandates – Nigeria’s transport sector currently has too many

regulatory agencies with unclear responsibilities. The result is competition over funding and

resources, weak inter-agency coordination, administrative bottlenecks between agencies, inter-

agency frictions over operational areas, etc. This makes coordination extremely difficult. For

example, there is a conflict between the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA and the Nigerian Ports Authority NPA over wreck removal; NIMASA and the National

Inland Waterways Authority NIWA are also in conflict over who controls the inland

waterways. The same applies down the line among the other agencies.

4. Weak Enforcement and Implementation – Enforcement and implementation of

policies, laws, and regulations in the transport sector are often lacking due to corruption,

inadequate capacity, and insufficient funding. Several airports, airlines, and maritime operators

flout stipulated safety standards in their operations, landing procedures, and maintenance

schedules due to oversight gaps. Vandalism and trespassing of railway tracks, equipment, and

properties is rampant as there is deficient security and enforcement to protect such transport

infrastructure

6. Inadequate private sector engagement – This is mostly a result of complex regulatory

requirements, limited incentives, and poor contract enforcement. Policies and regulations

governing transportation are crafted without sufficient private sector inputs and perspectives,

leading to business-unfriendly policies. There is minimal private sector participation in the

development of inland water transport infrastructure and services, leading to the

underutilisation of Nigeria’s vast river systems. Additionally, private companies play negligible

roles in railway operations, leaving rail transportation underfunded and inefficient, apart from

select attempts at railway concessions. Most federal roads are funded solely by the

government, with very little private sector involvement through public-private partnerships

(PPPs), which leaves the roads in poor shape.

LEGAL AND POLICY PRIORITIES

1. Harmonised transport policy supported by legislation – Nigeria would benefit

greatly from the development of a harmonised national transportation policy that is supported

by legislation, and which integrates all levels of government and the private sector. The Federal

Ministry of Transport should play a coordinating role in this regard. Such a multimodal policy

would facilitate coordinated infrastructure development, balanced transport investments

across regions, unified regulatory standards, robust planning from shared data forecasts, and

increased private sector capital. This would eliminate duplicitous efforts through synchronized

complementary buildout of assets like roads, rails, airports, and seaports. An overarching set of

operational, safety, and customer service regulations would also allow better sector oversight.

This, in turn, would improve efficiency, quality of service, safety, and cost optimization for both

passenger and freight movement by consolidating the strengths of public agencies and private

companies across aviation, land, and water transportation.

2. Update existing legislation – There is an urgent need to update existing legislation

governing the various transportation sectors to enable much-needed modernization. Key laws

requiring amendment include – the antiquated 1955 Railways Act to allow private concessions

and public-private partnerships in railways; the 1954 Ports Authority Act to repeal constraints

on private port operators and increase privatization; the 2006 Civil Aviation Act to empower the

NCAA regulatory agency to enforce stricter safety standards; the 2004 Highway Development

Act to attract private infrastructure investors through fairer returns; and the 2004 Inland

Waterways Act to provide impetus for private sector partnerships in boosting inland water

freight and passenger transportation channels.

3. Enact pending legislation before the National Assembly – There are several pivotal

transport sector reform bills pending before Nigeria’s National Assembly that need to be

urgently passed to enable a comprehensive revamp. These include – the National Transport

Commission Bill to formulate integrated policies across all transport modes and manage safety

regulations and consumer protections; the Ports and Harbours Bill to commercialise ports

operations and drive efficiency through privatisations; the Railway Development Authority Bill

to setup an independent agency that can expand the railway network via private investments;

the Road Sector Reform Bill to increase private sector participation in road infrastructure

projects; and the National Transport Policy Bill to institute an overarching policy that interlinks

aviation, rail, maritime and inland water transport strategies using global best practices

customised for Nigeria.

4. Streamline regulatory institutions – Nigeria needs to streamline the complex array of

regulatory institutions governing the transportation sector to improve efficiency and reduce

costs. This can be achieved by consolidating all road transport agencies under a Federal

Highways Authority; merging aviation bodies like FAAN, NCAA and NAMA within a unified

Nigerian Aviation Commission; privatising ports management while an expanded Ports

Commission oversees regulations; expanding the Rail Transport Safety Commission into a

broader oversight mandate; instituting a private sector-supported Automotive Control

Authority for vehicular inspection regimes; and setting up an apex Transportation

Commission/Ministry to coordinate policies and data sharing across the consolidated entities –

covering aspects like infrastructure integration, safety/security assurances, operational

efficiency and service delivery enhancements for a holistic advancement of Nigeria’s aviation,

rail, road, maritime and inland water transport networks.

5. Privatise and commercialise through PPP – This promises immense benefits including –

injecting billions of dollars of private capital annually to bridge huge public infrastructure

funding gaps; driving major efficiency improvements in cost optimisation, operational

excellence and service quality; enhancing technology utilisation for customer experience, safety

and transparency; reducing public sector budgetary and operational burdens to focus more on

policy oversight; and injecting world-class technical expertise, managerial competencies and

global best practices to holistically transform Nigerian transportation.

6. Incentivise transport education and growth of Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul

MRO facilities. Nigeria needs to incentivise transport education and growth of Maintenance,

Repair and Overhaul MRO facilities by providing tax rebates and import duty waivers for

certified training institutes and MRO centres; subsidising enrolment fees for technical transport

courses via a dedicated Fund to aid affordability; allocating free land or preferential leases at

airports and seaports to attract global MRO players; making MRO experience mandates for

licensing renewals to compel local facility usage; implementing preferential local content in

tenders for contractors evidencing skills transfer; and extending export incentives and tax

credits for indigenous MRO firms to support their expansion – all towards addressing the

strategic skill gap challenges and strengthening maintenance capabilities vital for advancement

of Nigeria’s aviation, rail, road and maritime transport sectors.

7. Strategy on insecurity. Nigeria requires a well-coordinated strategy between federal and

state agencies to tackle endemic insecurity in the transport sector via setting up a multi-agency

joint taskforce for intelligence sharing and unified patrols; installing sophisticated surveillance

systems like sensors, drones and AI-based analytics software integrated for proactive threat

response; incentivising community participation for intelligence gathering on risks; reviewing

insurance policies and compensation models to support operators suffering losses; criminalising

activities like rail vandalism etc. to enforce maximum deterrence penalties; and training

specialised security units dedicated to safeguarding critical airport, railway, maritime and

highway transport infrastructure.

CONCLUSION

Nigeria has enormous potential to advance its multimodal transport networks across

aviation, rail, road, maritime, and inland waterways. However, several structural issues such as

over-centralisation, fragmentation, weak institutions, inadequate infrastructure, and insecurity

have severely constrained tapping into those opportunities. Implementing the outlined legal

and policy priorities focused on greater harmonisation, updating legislative frameworks,

consolidating regulatory bodies, increased private sector participation, capacity building, and

security improvements promise to set Nigeria firmly on the path towards modern, efficient,

integrated, and world-class transport amenities. The time is now for Nigeria to make these

pivotal unified, collaborative, and progressive reforms that put in place the enabling conditions

for transport operators, investors, and customers alike to thrive.

Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN, foremost maritime lawyer and former National President of the Nigerian Bar Association NBA, writes from Lagos.