…Target quick Economic boast
From Idu Jude Abuja
The Federal Government of Nigeria has commissioned into full operation of the Funtua Inland-Dry Port as part of the concerted effort to diversify and broaden the economic base of the country beyond oil exports.
His Excellency, President Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu who performed the commissioning of the project Thursday, expressed optimism that importers and exporters in Nigeria will benefit immensely from the Inland Dry Port project, being inaugurated.
The President, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume affirmed that the establishment of Inland Dry Ports in the country will not only create job opportunities for the teeming youths but will decongest the seaports, accrue huge revenue to the Federal government and also take shipping and port services closer to importers and exporters in the hinterlands.
According to the President, “The concept of Inland Dry Ports has gained prominence globally, particularly with the container revolution and exporters located within inland cities as well as neighboring hinterland countries such as Niger, Chad, Northern Cameroon, and Central Africa.
The President who reaffirmed the Administration’s commitment to prioritizing the completion and utilization of more dry port projects in the country which he described as critical infrastructure necessary for seamless operation, pointed out that the completion and commissioning of the Funtua Inland Dry Port is the third to be completed among the six legacy Inland Dry Port projects spread across the nation’s six Geo-political Zones.
Describing the infrastructure as integral to the Administration’s commitment to promoting export business across Nigeria thereby, achieving trade balance, reducing costs, and enhancing the ease of doing business, the President called on national and international maritime practitioners, shippers, shipping companies in landlocked countries and Port users to take full advantage of the Inland Dry Ports for imports and exports.
He therefore, enjoined the general Public, host communities, and the State to consider the Funtua Inland Dry Port as part of our national assets and ensure its protection. To the Nigerian Customs Service and all other port users, the President said: “Please act diligently in ensuring the efficient functioning of these facilities, free from unnecessary bureaucracy and delays, without compromising national interest and security”.
Also speaking at the occasion, the Hon. Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, H.E, Oyetola Adegboyega, said that
the Inland Dry Port initiative was conceived as part of the Federal Government’s Ports reform program and it is to be sited at chosen locations across the country.
Speaking further, he said the six Inland Dry Ports approved by the Federal Executive Council in March 2006 were to be concessioned to private sector operators on Public-Private-PartnershiP (PPP) with the strategic framework to Build, Own, Operate, and then transfer the projects to the government.
“The Funtua Inland Dry Port project in Katsina State was among the six Inland Dry Ports approved and was concessioned to Messrs Equatorial Marine Oil & Gas Limited. It was inherited at the 80 percent completion stage. This prompted me to announce in November last year that it would be ready for commissioning in the first quarter of this year”, Oyetola said.
“as part of efforts to further decongest the ports and increase their efficiency and optimization, we are embarking on Ports’ rehabilitation and modernization. As we speak, the process of engineering, procurement, and financing of the project, which is estimated to be around One billion Dollars, is ongoing. We are also collaborating with the Ministries of Transportation and Works to help further increase our Port’s efficiency. For the Ministry of Transportation, we are collaborating on the intra-modal link between the seaports and the inland dry ports, while the Ministry of Works is assisting in fixing the access roads to our Ports. All these efforts are aimed at improving the ease of doing business in our Ports”, the Minister added.
On the Funtua Inland Dry Port, Oyetola explained that the State was chosen for the project because of its position of being ranked in agricultural products and other businesses in the country, such as the largest producer of cotton, second largest producer of sorghum, producers of 13 percent of Nigeria’s sugarcane, and other cereals and legume crops and several manufacturing industries, making the State not just suited, but most qualified for an Inland Dry Port
According to the Hon. Minister, the Funtua Inland Dry Port will no doubt further unlock the economic potential of Nigeria and facilitate trade with the land-locked countries like Niger and Chad Republic.
“We will provide importers and exporters located within the hinterland access to shipping and Port services without physically being at the seaports. This will further promote the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and economic integration as well as support the Presidential Business Enabling Environment Council (PEBEC) initiatives”. The Minister said
Furthermore, Oyetola said the Funtua Inland Dry Port will be a Customs port by the provisions of the Customs and Excise Management Act, Cap. C45 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and shall have all the prerequisites of an international Port.
On his part, the Governor of Katsina State, His Excellency, Dr. Dikko Umar Radda noted that the contributions of the State Government, like the provision of seventy hectares of land provided quick facilitation of the Funtua Inland Dry Port, saying that the completion of the Inland Dry Port will contribute greatly to the development of the State, and the nation at large.