The hauling of goods from the Lagos Port Complex in Apapa, Lagos State to the Ibadan Dry Inland Container Terminal in Moniya, Ibadan, Oyo State has been flagged off by the federal government.
On behalf of the Federal Government, Sen. Saidu Alkali, Minister of Transportation, marked off the first cargo movement across the rail corridor while on his first official inspection of the Lagos-Ibadan rail.
As part of the government's endeavour to decongest the ports, spare shippers from amassing demurrages, and facilitate efficient operations at the Lagos ports, Alkali said during his speech that 3 coaches of 30 waggons will be loaded daily from the Apapa Ports to Ibadan.
The Minister revealed plans to renovate the Lagos to Kano narrow gauge, saying that by the time this section is finished, the problem of decongesting the Lagos ports, providing alternative modes of transport, and providing sustainable and cost-effective means of transport would have been addressed to some extent. Nonetheless, efforts to decongest the ports are still ongoing.
He also said that just one track will be used to move cargo out of the ports since the Nigerian Customs scanning Center was making it difficult to finish the other two tracks connecting to the port. However, he pledged to make attempts to communicate with the Finance Minister and the Nigerian Customs Service to propose moving the scanning centre.
Regarding the question of the country's railway industry's sustainability, the minister stated that we would make sure that the contracts already in place were fulfilled and that it was the administration's vision to improve the transport industry, particularly with the removal of the fuel subsidy, which would make the cost of transport much safer and more affordable.
The Hon. Minister also went to the Kajola Wagon Assembly Factory, which is the first of its kind in West Africa and was built by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) as part of its corporate social responsibility to the nation and is intended to employ more than 500 young people.
The Nigeria Railway Corporation's Managing Director, Engr. Fidet Okhiria, stated in his remarks that the Corporation had previously operated a narrow gauge rail freight service on the Lagos-Kano route but had discontinued due to vandalism.
To fully support the government's efforts to encourage trade and decongest the ports, he nevertheless guaranteed that the NRC has roughly 120 narrow gauge waggons and has also placed more orders through the China Civil Engineering Construction Company.
-By Osita Okoro|thetransporteronline24|Nigeria
