The Nigerian Government has said it would commence cargo delivery by rail to the Kaduna Inland Dry Port on May 7th.
The Minister of transportation Rotimi Amaechi, will flag-off the service at the dry port’s premises in Kakuri, Kaduna State.
A statement by Tahir Idris, special assistant to the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Hassan Bello, said the Council would also meet with all relevant stakeholders immediately after the event.
The interactive session has the theme “Optimising the Kaduna dry port as key to Nigeria economic diversification.”
Topics to be discussed at the meeting include: “Inland Dry Port development and management – key to diversification of Nigeria’s economy; The role of Nigerian Custom Service in facilitating the operations of inland dry ports; promotion of exports and Kaduna Dry Port as key to Nigeria’s economic diversification, and prospects and operational challenges of Kaduna inland dry port.
Commenting on the flag-off, the Executive Secretary said the rail facility would lead to the optimisation of the Kaduna inland dry port, adding that it would also drive down significantly the cost of transporting containers from Lagos to Kaduna.
“So much cargo is coming to Kaduna now but on trucks. It takes so much money to transport goods by trucks from Lagos to Kaduna. If it is by rail, the cost will drop by over 60 percent,” he said.
He added that transporting containers by railway would also eliminate the risks of diversion, tampering with goods, and also reduce the risks of accidents by over 95 percent, thus driving down the cost if insuring cargo to Kaduna as a point of entry.
Bello also noted that with reduced cost of transporting the goods, the cost of goods will reduce which will further curb inflation.
According to him, in addition to the above, because a lot of containers would be transported by rail, hundreds of trucks would be taken off the roads, thus leading to longer roads’ lifespan and less accidents due to activities of truck drivers. This should also reduce significantly the gridlock on Apapa road in Lagos, he added.
Stella Enenche, Abuja
