ICDs will revive railways – Capt Biu
By TOKUNBO OLOKE
Thursday, June 8, 2006

The idea of establishing Inland Container Depot (ICD) was conceptualized four years ago by the Nigerian Shippers Council, with a view to finding a lasting solution to the hitherto problems of movement of goods from ports to the hinterlands.

Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Captain Adamu Biu, expounded on the new concept of ICD, the benefits and its locations among others.

The genesis of ICD
Let me first of all emphasis that the development of ICD in the country is part of the reform policies of the Obasanjo administration. Over the years, government has embarked on various reform policies aimed at repositioning our national economy. The maritime industry, in view of its importance to the economy, has witnessed many of such reforms among which is the establishment of ICD.

In response to complaints from shippers in the hinterland on the movement of their goods from the seaports to the various locations, the council then sought for and obtained the approval of the Minister of Transport to conduct a feasibility study to select viable sites for ICD projects across geo-economic zones in the country. A German firm, Messrs Hamburg Port Consult, along with an indigenous firm, Springfountain Management Consultants, selected the following locations, Ibadan (South West Zone), Isiala-Ngwa (South East Zone), Jos Heipang (North Central Zone), Bauchi (North East Zone), Kano (North West Zone), Gombe (North East Zone) and Borno (North East Zone).

Concept of ICD
The concept of ICDs are designed to provide solutions to some inherent problems within the maritime trade, such as undue delay in cargo discharge and prolonged turn around time of ships; inadequate safety and security measures; rising operational costs; declining customer patronage and revenue due to diversion of cargoes to the neighbouring countries.

Therefore, the establishment of ICDs will serve as a catalyst towards the revitalization of our railway system, which is in line with the World Bank recommendation and government’s economic policies.

New locations of ICDs
After due process in the selection and due diligence on bidders, the Federal Executive Council has approved the setting up of ICD in Ibadan, Abia, Jos, Kano, Funtua and Maiduguri. Let me reiterate here that the project is entirely a private sector-driven initiative based on Build-Own-Operate and Transfer (BOOT) model. Under this agreement, the operators are expected to equip the dry port with the basic amenities and run it for 25 years before transferring it to the government. The agreement also stipulates a period of 30 months within which the operators are to construct and develop the sites.

Incentives
Some of the incentives contained in the agreement are, first, the land to be used for the sites are free of all encumbrances, operators are given some form of tax exemption and lastly, the ports are expected to enjoy the status of an Export Processing Zone (EPZ).

Council’s role
The council is essentially a partner with the operators in the process. In order to discharge the responsibilities attached to this role, the council has adopted a proactive approach. We have started the training of our member of staff on the rudiments involved in handling the tasks by sponsoring them on overseas training particularly to countries that share similar economic environment with us. The training is in batches and it will be a continuous exercise.

We are also committed to maintaining close working relationship with some of the government agencies involved in enhancing the operations of the ICDs. These are Nigerian Railway Corporation, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Ports Authority and port operators, the National Association of Road Transport Owners and other related agencies.