From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Kano State Governor Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje unveiled the theme and logo for the Dala Inland Dry Port in Abuja on Monday ahead of its commissioning this year.
Speaking while performing the unveiling ceremony in Abuja, the governor also highlighted the imperativeness of developing the dry port in Dala, noting that the Port will help to decongest the traffic witnessed at the seaport in Lagos.
The port, which is billed to be commissioned later in the year, is expected to serve Nigeria and other neighbouring countries.
So far, both the state government and the management of the port have spent over N5 billion on the construction of the dry port.
Speaking further Governor Ganduje disclosed that the state government alone has spent over N2.7 billion on the construction of access roads, perimeter fencing, water and electricity.
‘This project was conceived over 20 years ago but did not go beyond paperwork. When we came in, we decided to give it political will and we discussed and we were requested to provide an enabling environment which was necessary,’ the governor stated.
‘We have spent more than N2.7 billion for the access road, fencing of the whole site, provision of water, electricity, and security around the area. So, we are happy that the project has taken off in earnest,’ he revealed.
On the potential of the port when completed, the Governor said: “We assure you that if Dala is declared a port of origin and destination, we will not be serving the state of Kano alone, we are extending discussion with the Republic of Niger, Chad, northern Cameroon, Republic of Central Africa and they have all agreed to utilise this facility.
‘There is no option but to develop this dry port because Lagos is highly congested and we have to decongest Lagos to make business easy.
‘We thank all stakeholders who have come to our aid, we assure you that the Kano State Government will provide enabling environment to ensure that this inland dry port provides the best services in the world as far as inland dry port is concerned.
‘We appreciate the Rail revolution project which shall change the dynamics and also particularly, the Dala Inland Dry Port which shall be the game-changer. With a functional rail line from Lagos or other seaports to Kano inland port and from Kano inland port to the Niger Republic, etc; the imports for the zone shall be at competitive prices while there will be rapid exponential continuing growth of none oil exports which shall greatly grow our national GDP.
‘The economic benefit of Dala Inland Dry Port cannot, therefore, be over emphasized. That is why when my administration received a follow-up letter from the FGN Coordinating Agency for the Inland Port requesting us to provide critical infrastructure to the land for the project, we did not hesitate in doing so. We set out aggressively to ascertain first the commitment of the Concessionaires to the project and the status of the project.
‘We were convinced that the concessionaires were committed and the major hindrance to the project actualization were two, namely, servicing the land with critical infrastructure and the required declaration of the Port as a Port of Origin and Destination. We subsequently learnt that the Honourable Minister had given an instruction that the Port must be built up to 60 per cent completion before the Minister will make the declaration,’ he stated.
Speaking earlier, Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, represented by Permanent Secretary Dr Magdalene Ajani, stated that a ‘state with a sizable number of textiles and agro-allied industries, a motor assembly plant, hides and skin industries and several manufacturing plants deserves an Inland dry port.’
Ameachi also assured that the port when completed ‘has the potential to facilitate international trade as well as transit cargoes to land-linked countries.’
He highlighted other advantages of the port, stressing that ‘it will bring shipping activities closer to shippers in the hinterland and increase cargoes throughput, act as a catalyst for improved trade flows and create employment opportunities that would ultimately stem rural-urban migration.’
He added that it will also act as a source of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to the host state as well as a revenue source to the federal government.
‘The Dala Inland dry port in Zawachiki would be given the necessary attention by considering possible options to align the facility with the Lagos-Kano standard gauge rail line under construction, apart from the narrow gauge line already in existence,’ he stated.