Ogun receives ICRC certificate of compliance for Gateway inland dry port

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has presented the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) certificate of compliance for the outline business case to the Ogun state government for the Gateway inland dry port project.

In a statement on Tuesday, Rebecca Adamu, NSC’s head of public relations, said the certificate was presented by Pius Akutah, NSC’s executive secretary, to Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun state.

ICRC was established to superintend and regulate public-private partnership (PPP) endeavours of the federal government aimed at addressing Nigeria’s physical infrastructure deficit which hampers economic development.

Akutah appreciated the governor for his commitment towards the development of the Gateway inland dry port.

“The dry port will bring shipping services closer to the hinterlands for the benefit of shippers,” the executive secretary said.

“I also want to emphasise the importance of technologies and automation at the ports; the automation will reduce human traffic at various ports in the country.”

In the statement, Akutah said NSC is also partnering with the government on a vehicle transit area (VTA) project.

Akutah appreciated President Bola Tinubu for creating the ministry of marine & blue economy as part of the diversification from the oil industry to the non-oil sector, and Adegboyega Oyetola, the minister of marine and blue economy, for his support on the actualisation of the dry port project and initiatives taken to strengthen the agencies under his supervision.

He appealed to stakeholders for their backing to help turn the council’s vision into a reality by supporting the passage of the bill that intends to change the NSC to the Nigerian Shipping & Port Economic Regulatory Agency.

“The Council’s new Bill is to transmute Nigerian Shippers’ Council into the Nigerian Shipping & Port Economic Regulatory Agency,” he said.

“The Bill has passed through both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“The bill when passed into law will promote efficiency of Nigeria’s ports and transform Nigeria to a regional maritime hub.”

‘GATEWAY INLAND DRY PORT WILL BENEFIT MANUFACTURERS’

The governor said the Gateway inland dry port is essential to his administration and will benefit manufacturers.

“The Gateway Inland Dry port is very important to my administration, especially as the state is an industrial nerve centre and has manufacturers who will enjoy the ports’ services,” the governor said.

“The development of a dry port in Ogun will also reduce cargo congestion at the Lagos Ports.”

Abiodun appreciated Akutah and his NSC team for the visit and applauded Tinubu for appointing a technocrat to lead the team.

The governor noted that within a few months of Akutah’s appointment, Nigeria had recorded landmark achievements, including the groundbreaking of the state’s dry port project at Papalanto in Ewekoro local government area.

Abiodun further asked for support for the passage of the NSC bill into law.