The Federal Government on Thursday unveiled Nigeria’s first National Land Transport Policy, describing it as a major step towards building an integrated, efficient, safe, affordable and sustainable transportation system to drive economic growth.
The policy was presented at the 19th National Council on Transportation held at the National Judicial Institute, Jahi, Abuja. The four-day council, which ran from August 31 to September 3, 2026, was themed “Developing an Effective Transport System for Nigeria: The Role of Integrated Transportation.”
Representing Vice President Kashim Shettima, the Director-General, General Duties, Aliyu Modibbo Umar, said transportation remains central to the economy because it connects workers, families, businesses and markets.
He said the government’s strategy under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is shifting from isolated projects to an integrated national network where roads, railways, ports, inland waterways and aviation complement one another.
“The objective is to ensure that transport infrastructure connects production centres with markets, ports and consumers, while improving the movement of people and goods across the country,” he said.
Umar highlighted the railway modernisation programme as a critical component, noting ongoing development of major rail corridors to improve connectivity across the eastern, central and northern regions.
He cited the Kano-Maradi Railway Project, which links Kano through Jigawa and Katsina to Maradi in Niger Republic, as key to domestic connectivity, cross-border trade and regional integration.
He also stressed the need to link ports to rail and road networks to ease cargo evacuation and reduce pressure on highways.
“Rail must connect to roads. Rail to production centres and markets, while roads provide first- and last-mile access,” he said. “No single mode of transportation can adequately meet the country’s needs in isolation.”
On urban transport, he said the Federal Government had approved high-grade projects for Nigerian cities and urged the Minister of Transportation to work with states to establish clear technical, regulatory and implementation frameworks without delay. He added that successful projects would serve as models for replication.
In his remarks, former Minister of Transportation, Senator Said Ahmed Alkali, described the policy as the first comprehensive land transport framework since independence.
He commended President Tinubu for creating an enabling environment that led to the Federal Executive Council’s approval of the policy on July 31, 2025.
Alkali said the absence of such a policy had hampered effective regulation, especially amid emerging challenges. He noted that the new framework aligns with the administration’s eight-point agenda and provides a roadmap for a fast, safe, efficient and intermodal transport system.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Engr. Olufunso Adebiyi, said integration means ensuring that different modes of transport function as components of a single national system.
“Our roads, railways, ports, inland waterways and urban transport systems must connect people and goods efficiently across the country, and increasingly, across our borders,” he said.
Adebiyi cited the operational Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna rail corridors as progress, and said work was ongoing on the Kaduna-Kano segment of the Lagos-Kano Railway Modernisation Project.
