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BUSINESS & ECONOMY
I’ll tell Niger to use Kaduna port, not Lagos – El-Rufai
Published

May 8, 2019
Okechukwu Nnodim and Godwin Isenyo

The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, plans to send a delegation to the Republic of Niger to tell it to start receiving goods at the Kaduna Inland Dry Port instead of using the seaports in Lagos State.

El-Rufai disclosed this on Tuesday while speaking on the sidelines of the ceremony for the commencement of cargo delivery by rail to the Kaduna Inland Dry Port.


He said, “We are very grateful today’s event has opened a new vista of commercial opportunities, not only for northern businessmen but even for our neighbouring countries.

“I intend to send a delegation to the Republic of Niger to sensitise the government of that country on the opportunities of receiving their goods in Kaduna instead of Lagos and having to truck them, as well as any of their exports from Kaduna port to any part of the world.”


According to the governor, the transportation of goods from the dry port and containers from the seaport in Lagos to Kaduna by rail has confirmed that the inland dry port is functioning.

El-Rufai said, “You can ship your goods directly from Kaduna to any part of the world and you can also import goods from any part of the world directly to Kaduna without your containers or any of your goods being opened up for inspection in Lagos.”

The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, Hassan Bello, said the commencement of cargo delivery by rail at the port would address the challenges faced by importers and exporters and guarantee the seamless movement of cargoes from the seaports in Lagos to Kaduna Inland Dry Port.

On efforts taken to attract investors to use the facility, Bello said, “We are in preliminary discussion with the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council in London and we want to bring them to Kaduna so that they will know what value they can add to the dry port.


“We are talking with the Nigerian Railway Corporation to create more space for associated industries, for it is an industrial hub where things are also processed. We don’t want to be exporting raw materials without having them processed. So, there is also a need to improve on our packaging.”

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Bello also noted that the dry port might become a free trade zone, as the council had been engaging with all relevant authorities to achieve the target.


He said, “About 24,000 direct jobs will be created from this project. If we are able to connect the Niger Republic and Chad to use the port as the destination port for their cargoes, it will have a multiplier effect for Kaduna and its environs.

READ ALSO: Lagos stops prison sentences for petty offenders

“We can then be able to decongest the ports in Apapa and Tincan Island and we won’t be having the gridlock we are experiencing now. It will take two days for the train to arrive from Lagos to Kaduna because we are using the old track, but we are improving and the movement must improve.”



According to Bello, the rail cargo delivery service currently has about 24 wagons and will bring in about 24 containers on each trip, and this will cut down cargo delivery cost by about 50 per cent.

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FEATURED
Insecurity in North worse under Buhari — Northern elders
Published
May 8, 2019
Godwin Isenyo, Kaduna

The Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Prof Ango Abdullahi, has lamented the growing security challenges facing the country, saying President Muhammadu Buhari is not doing enough to salvage the situation.

The former Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was reacting to the Presidency’s assertion that the kidnap of the district head of Daura, Buhari’s hometown in Katsina State, had shown the security agencies were not giving any town preferential treatment.

Speaking on the abduction of Alhaji Musa Uba, Buhari’s brother-in-law, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said on Kakaaki, a breakfast television programme on AIT, “because the President comes from Daura, that is not to say there cannot be crime in Daura or Daura will be specially treated”.

However, Abdullahi slammed the Presidency, saying the current security issues in the North was worse than when Goodluck Jonathan was leading the country.

In an SMS to our correspondent, the NEF leader urged the Presidency to focus on securing lives and property in the country.

He said, “I don’t understand what the reaction from the Presidency is expected to convey to the public.

“They (Presidency) should be concerned that the security failures are everywhere, including the hometown of the President.

“Obviously there is more insecurity in the North today than during Jonathan’s leadership.”

The group last month said a spate of banditry in Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna and Sokoto states would persist without effective policing.

They also said Buhari had no political will to effectively secure lives and property of the citizens.

Abdullahi, who conveyed the position of the NEF, said the police lacked the capacity to tackle the security challenges because they lacked manpower.

READ ALSO: PDP faults Buhari’s statements on kidnapping, IGP’s performance

The professor of agronomy had said, “The President has the responsibility to face these challenges. The President, according to what we know of the Nigerian structure and the constitution and the instrument of power, he has the instrument to deal with the challenges.”

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All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.

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