By Temitope Adebayo
The Federal Government has moved to overhaul Nigeria’s road transport sector, with the Presidency calling for the establishment of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA)-style institutions in all 36 states of the federation.
Technical Assistant on Transportation Logistics and Innovation to the Office of the Vice President, Dr Segun Obayendo, made the call in Lagos, saying the proposed presidential initiative on road transport transformation would professionalise, standardise and reposition the sector as a major driver of economic growth.
Obayendo, who spoke at the 2026 Transport Industry Summit of the Transport Correspondents Association of Nigeria (TCAN), said the absence of strong institutional structures across most states remained one of the major weaknesses affecting the development of Nigeria’s transport system.
The summit, held at the Radisson Hotel, Ikeja, was themed, “Unlocking Nigeria’s Economic Growth Through Transportation Logistics.”
According to Obayendo, only three states currently have metropolitan transport authorities, leaving most states without the institutional framework required to effectively plan, regulate and manage urban transportation.
“The 36 states in Nigeria need LAMATA-like transportation systems in operation where all of them would be professional, well trained and with capacity. When this is done, the sector would attract funding into the sector. Whoever is giving you this money would be fully assured that you have the capacity to manage it,” he said.
He said President Bola Tinubu’s experience as Lagos governor between 1999 and 2007 had influenced the administration’s understanding of the importance of institutionalising transportation management.
Obayendo recalled that the framework that eventually produced LAMATA was established during Tinubu’s administration in Lagos, describing the authority as an example of how institutional planning could support the development of an organised transport system.
“It is a pity that as a country, as we speak today, only three states are proud to say that they have established a metropolitan transport authority, and none has come close to the strides and might that have been achieved in Lagos,” he said.
He said the Federal Government was moving beyond an approach focused largely on federal roads and infrastructure, stressing that transportation was a shared responsibility involving the federal, state and local governments.
Obayendo said initiatives involving Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), vehicle conversion centres and other interventions were also part of efforts to transform road transportation.
He put the value of movement through Nigeria’s road transport sector at about N157 trillion in 2025, but said the sector contributed only about 1.5 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, partly because of the high level of informality and difficulties in tracking economic activities within the sector.
“I am now part of the government, the era of lamentation is over, this is the time for action to be taken,” Obayendo said.
He said the proposed presidential initiative would focus on improving the sector’s contribution to the economy, while urging transport professionals to raise their standards through proper regulation, standard operating procedures and professionalisation.
Obayendo also announced plans for the development of a national land transport policy, saying orientation on the policy would commence soon.
The proposed restructuring comes as stakeholders increasingly call for better integration of road, rail, maritime, inland waterways and aviation to reduce logistics costs and improve the movement of people and goods.
Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, represented by the Director of Inland Transport Services at the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency, Paul Ganuwa, said the cost, speed, reliability and predictability of moving goods had direct implications for investment, production, trade and employment.
He said port and waterway performance could not be considered in isolation because they formed part of a wider logistics chain involving roads, rail, warehouses and distribution networks.
Oyetola said the Federal Government, with the approval of President Tinubu, was set to commence what he described as the country’s most ambitious seaport modernisation programme in more than five decades.
The programme covers Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos, Onne and Rivers ports, Calabar Port and Warri Port, with planned interventions including quay-wall reconstruction, channel deepening, replacement of obsolete cargo-handling equipment and further digitalisation of terminal and gate operations.
The Nigerian Railway Corporation also called for greater integration of rail with road, maritime, inland waterways and aviation.
NRC Managing Director, Dr Kayode Opeifa, represented by his Special Adviser on Media, Yinka Aderibigbe, said rail could help reduce pressure on highways, lower logistics costs and facilitate the movement of agricultural produce, petroleum products and containers.
He said the corporation was strengthening freight operations and connections to seaports, inland dry ports and industrial centres.
Opeifa, however, stressed the need for greater private-sector participation in railway infrastructure and operations.
“Government alone cannot provide all the infrastructure and investment required,” he said, calling for private investment in rolling stock, freight terminals and logistics hubs.
He also urged stronger protection of railway infrastructure against vandalism and encroachment.
Earlier, TCAN President, Tola Adenubi, said transportation should be regarded as the backbone of economic activity because virtually every product consumed or used in the country had a transportation component.
He said high logistics costs arising from port delays, poor roads, congestion, inadequate storage and weak coordination among government agencies were ultimately passed on to consumers through higher prices.
Adenubi stressed that while roads remained central to Nigeria’s transportation system, they could not carry the entire burden, calling for a connected multimodal network in which roads, railways, aviation and waterways perform the functions for which they are most efficient.
