Hassan Bello: Ibadan Dry Port To Gulp N35.7bn

The first phase of the Ibadan dry port will cost in excess of $100m (N35.7bn) to develop, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has said. The facility, to be built by the Chinese company, CRCC, had the ground breaking ceremony done recently by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Executive Secretary of NSC, Mr. Hassan Bello, who spoke to journalists yesterday in Abuja, also disclosed that the facility would take 18 months to build.

The facility, he said, will sit on a 90-hectare of land though only 40 hectares would be utilised in the first phase. “It is going through the process of procurement; a lot has been done. Milestones have been achieved. We want to start negotiations of the concession with the preferred bidder” he explained. ”What is their obligation, what is the obligation of the federal government, what is the obligation of Shippers council?

We want to enter into talks with Oyo State government to determine how many years the lease will subsist after which it will revert to government,” he explained. The executive secretary said the dry ports would be modern dry ports, electronically engineered and ICT driven to avoid repeating the mistakes of the seaports. He said the port community system, which is a subset of the national single window, will be utilised at the initial stage.

This, he said, will enable us compete favourably with other ports. Speaking on the Lekki deep seaport, Mr. Bello said the facility will provide employment for 170,000 people. “We need ships that can carry more cargo. The Lekki port is 16 meters draft which will bring larger ships.
When we have larger ships it means the cost of transportation will be less, but I also appeal to all concerned that everybody’s interest must be canvassed,” he stated. Looking back at 2019, Bello said no arbitrary charges were recorded for the most part of the year.

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