Nigerian maritime experts have called for an urgent structural shift of freight transport from roads to coastal shipping as parts of efforts to cut carbon emissions and ease environmental degradation across the country.
The recommendations were made on Sunday in Lagos by industry leaders during separate interviews addressing the rising transport-related carbon footprint in Nigeria.
Speaking on the operational and ecological advantages of the initiative, Tajudeen Alao, president of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners (NAMM), said moving freight via water transport offers an immediate “low-hanging fruit” for national decarbonisation.
“Coastal shipping could reduce emissions by up to five times compared with road haulage,” Alao said.
Alao noted that a single coastal vessel is capable of removing hundreds of heavy trucks off federal highways, which would simultaneously lower high fuel consumption, reduce severe highway traffic gridlock, and curb aggressive wear-and-tear on national road infrastructure.
However, stakeholders cautioned that unlocking these environmental benefits requires overcoming persistent systemic hurdles.
Alao pointed to poor road-port-rail connectivity, weak maritime infrastructure, and a fragmented national transport policy where cabotage is treated strictly as an economic tool rather than active climate policy.
Echoing these concerns, Niyi Labinjo, former president of the Nigeria Shipowners Association (NISA), urged the federal government to combine long-term investments in cleaner marine fuels with immediate modal shifts.
Labinjo called for a transparent disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) to support eco-friendly indigenous shipping.
