By Anthony Nwachukwu
Hopes of transacting full port activities at faraway Katsina State will now become reality as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu performs the much-anticipated commissioning of Funtua Inland Dry Port (IDP) today.
The facility, a Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for 2024 first quarter, is also in line with the performance bond signed by the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr. Adegboyega Oyetola.
The NSC Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Pius Ukeyima Akutah, described the project as a significant milestone that proves the agency’s commitment to trade facilitation in Nigeria, according to a statement from the Assistant Director, Public Relations Unit, Mrs. Rebecca Adamu.
Akutah explained that the IDPs being promoted by the council will, among other benefits, bring shipping and port services closer to the importers and exporters at the hinterland, decongest the seaports, create job opportunities, and improve and accrue huge revenue to the government.
The Federal Government had in February 2023 declared Funtua IDP as a Port of Origin and Destination, thereby paving the way for importers and exporters to officially consign their cargo from the facility to any part of the world.
It is the third in the series to be commissioned across the nation after the Kaduna Inland Dry Port in 2018 and Dala Inland Dry Port in 2023.
