Road sector accounts for N157trn worth of goods – FG

The road transportation sector facilitates the movement of goods and services worth about N157 trillion, underscoring its central role in Nigeria’s economy, the Technical Adviser on Transportation, Logistics and Innovation to the Vice-President, Prince Segun Obayendo, has said.

Obayendo who is also the President of Chartered Institute of Transportation Administration (CIOTA) made the assertion at the 2026 Transport Correspondents Association of Nigeria (TCAN) Transport Industry Summit in Lagos, with the theme, “Unlocking Nigeria’s Economic Growth Through Transportation Logistics.”

He said the sheer value of goods and services moved through the road sector should compel governments at all levels to treat transportation as a critical component of economic planning.

“We have a sector that is responsible for the movement of goods and services worth N157 trillion, it’s a particular sector. It’s moving and taking care of N157 trillion. Which sector should be most important to any government?” Obayendo asked.

He stated that out of five modes of transportation, only the road sector alone accounts for 90 per cent of the nation’s transportation, saying the development makes Nigeria’s road sector ugly.

He added: “I’m not being biased because I’m into the sector. It should be transportation. It should be transportation that should be most critical to any local government, any state government, any federal government.”

According to him, the contribution of transportation to economic activity goes beyond the conventional understanding of the sector as simply a means of moving people and commodities.

“That is why I kept repeating it and saying this government understands that,” he said.

Obayendo argued that transportation should be recognised as a factor of production because production itself has little economic value if goods cannot be moved efficiently to their intended destinations.

“It is either we have efficient transportation or our economy is doomed,” he stated.

The transportation expert stated that with the rate that Nigeria’s economy is growing, it is high time the country freed up the road sector.

“We must cut logistics costs to a single digit. If we are able to do that we would see the prosperity everybody will enjoy.

“I think Adam Smith is wrong to have propounded the factors of production and did not include transportation.

“I am contesting that. If it’s alive, it should work. Let’s talk. I think we should have the distinct factors of production, and I beg to say and declare that it is transportation,” he said.

He explained that the traditional factors of production—land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship—could not deliver their full economic value without an efficient transportation system.

“It’s not about capital, it’s not about land, it’s not about labour, it’s not about entrepreneurs,” he said.

“That’s what we were taught when we were in the elementary stage of our growing up in secondary school—factors of production. And I’m saying today, please help me propagate it: transportation is a factor of production.”

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, disclosed that the Federal Government is also seeking to strengthen the maritime component of the country’s transport network, with plans to modernise six major seaports in what he described as the most ambitious port upgrade programme in more than five decades.

The programme covers Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos, Onne Port, Rivers Port, Calabar Port and Warri Port.

Oyetola said the modernisation would include reconstruction of quay walls, deepening of port channels to accommodate larger vessels, replacement of obsolete cargo-handling equipment and further digitalisation of terminal and gate operations.

He said the objective was to increase port capacity, improve vessel turnaround time and cargo handling, and make Nigeria’s maritime gateways more competitive.

The minister said port efficiency had implications beyond the maritime sector because delays affected manufacturers waiting for raw materials, exporters waiting for vessels, transport operators, distributors and consumers.

He disclosed that the 2025 Container Port Performance Index produced by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence recognised improvements in Nigeria’s ports, with Tin Can Island Port ranking 10th and Lagos Port Complex, Apapa, ranking 12th among the world’s 20 most improved container ports between 2020 and 2025.

Oyetola, however, said continued investment and reforms would be necessary to sustain the gains.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Dr Kayode Opeifa, similarly called for closer integration of road, rail and maritime transportation.

Opeifa, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Yinka Aderigbigbe said Nigeria needed a transport network in which road, rail, maritime, inland waterways and aviation complemented rather than competed with one another.

He said transportation was more than the movement of people and goods, describing it as a driver of productivity, trade, industrial development, employment and national competitiveness.

According to him, rail has an important role to play because of its capacity to move large volumes of passengers and bulk freight over long distances.

He said improved rail connectivity could reduce pressure on highways and facilitate the movement of agricultural produce, petroleum products, containers and other commodities.

Opeifa said the NRC was therefore focusing not only on passenger services but also on strengthening freight operations and connecting rail lines with seaports, inland dry ports, industrial centres and major economic corridors.

He called for greater private-sector participation to bridge infrastructure and investment gaps in the sector, noting that the government alone could not provide all the infrastructure required to develop an efficient national transportation system.

He said investment opportunities existed in rolling stock, freight terminals, logistics hubs and related infrastructure, while urging the government to maintain a regulatory environment that encourages efficiency and innovation.

The NRC chief executive also called for stronger protection of railway infrastructure, including tracks, bridges and signalling systems, warning that vandalism and encroachment threatened national investments.

He said protecting railway infrastructure should be a shared responsibility involving government agencies, security organisations, host communities and the travelling public.