Nigeria Content Online

Rail transportation is the only means to address the
ports congestion that has continually threatened the nation’s maritime
industry, Peter Irabor, the former President General of the Maritime
Workers Union of Nigeria, has said.

Mr Irabor said that the port operators are trying
their best to find a lasting solution to the perennial problem, but
advised that the federal government should not leave the responsibility
to the internal operators alone. He expressed dismay at the non
availability of functional rail system to service the ports. “How can
you have a port without rail lines to the ports? If you have rail
transportation to the ports, you can transfer containers from the port
to the north, east and other western states,” he said.

Mr Irabor, who is also the Vice President of Nigeria Labour
Congress, called on the federal government to provide rail lines from
the ports to connect all other parts of the country. “All goods that
come into the country, including cars could then be transported on
rails,” he said. The labour leader also criticized the port authorities
for their failure to replicate what they saw in other countries. “I
don’t know why our people go out there,” he said. “When they go out
there to acquire the knowledge, they drop it at the airports on their
way back to the country. They don’t take it to the industry. That is
the problem. They know what to do, but they don’t want to do it.”