Amaechi, This Is Urgent Sir, By Faisal Mu'azu

 

Congrats and welcome to the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Sir.

 

Yours is a huge Ministry on its own but with Aviation added it has become a behemoth. That isn't a problem as such except that there is a peculiarity all its own especially as it concerns recurrent expenditure.

 

Sir, your Ministry now supervises some of Nigeria's biggest Agencies and parastatals. Such Maritime giants as Nigeria Ports Authority, Shippers Council, NIMASA, Inland

 

Waterways Authority as well as the Nigeria Railway Corporation and now such Aviation giants like NCAA, FAAN and NAMA.

 

The problem is that while the Ministry is in Abuja, all but a couple of these Agencies have their corporate headquarters in Lagos.

 

This, not only causes a huge drain in recurrent expenditure as traveling allowances, but is also a logistical nightmare that often results in wasted man hours with tha constant shuttling between Lagos and Abuja.

 

I've been a victim of this a number of times with the latest happening today. There is nothing as annoying as traveling out of lagos on a 6.50am flight to attend a meeting only for it to not hold because the Ministry has just lost a Permanent Secretary who was Chairman only to head back to Lagos again or a number of other such reasons.

 

Please address this urgently Sir.

 

Here's what will work: Either

 

1. Move the Federal Ministry of Transportation to Lagos where the majority of its Agencies are located; or

 

2. Move the corporate headquarters of these behemoths to Abuja and leave the operational departments in Lagos.

 

This will cut down a huge chunk of expenses, wastage and lost man hours.

 

It's a sensible thing to do.