By Moses Ebosele, ebosele@hotmail.com —
No country should contemplate establishing Seaport without the complement of adequate Rail Transportation, Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman has said.
Speaking at the West Africa Rail Revolution Conference in Lagos on Monday, Bala Usman said: “The truth is that a substantial part of the challenges that we face in the optimization of the ports in Lagos area which has even extended to distort normal activities of Lagos is because of the failure to provide adequate rail infrastructure”.
Bala Usman stressed the need for operators of the ports across the African Continent to embrace the economic benefit of the sector as a key player in the growth and development of their country’s economies within the sub- Saharan Africa, adding that this would take place only through collaboration.
She informed the delegates to the conference that the Federal Government was assiduously working towards a more efficient port terrain through the deployment of modern rail infrastructure and urged all the delegates to embrace the new agenda.
In his welcome address, Engineer Chidi. K. C Izuwah, Director General/Chief Executive, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission reiterated the need for African Countries to ensure that adequate provision is made in the area of port infrastructure.
According to the him, the developed nations of the world have overtime placed emphasis on developing their infrastructure.
The two-day conference tagged “Defining the future of the transport infrastructure, maintenance and expansion in WestAfrica” drew participants from within the continent of Africa and beyond.
L-R: The Technical Director, ARTF, Gabon, Jean-AimeNzegengui, The Ambassador of Belgium, His Excellence, Daniel Dargentthe Managing Director, National Port Authority of Liberia, Bill Twehway, the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), HadizaBala Usman, the Director General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Engr. Chidi Izuwah, Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Engr. Fidet Okhiria, Director Operations, National Railway Corporation (NRC), Niyi Alli, during the West African Ports and Rail Evolution Conference and Exhibition in Lagos, on Monday.
