Freight operations have commenced at the bespoke Dala Inland Dry Ports, Kano.
The official flag-off was performed by the Minister of Transportation Senator Said Alkali on Thursday at the company’s facility in Kano.
At the event, the Minister said the FG has resolved to prioritize and reap the economic benefits of inland Dry port projects across Nigeria as an enabler for economic growth.
With this feat, the Dala Inland Dry Port is now fully a port of origin and final destination of goods from most parts of the world.
The Minister said the project is critical to the transportation sector and national economic growth.
“It is in furtherance to this cause that I, commissioned the Lagos /Ibadan standard gauge to decongest the port and promote efficient services during my familiarization visits on assumption of office in October 2023” he said.
“It was during that tour that I issued a deadline to the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC)to fix the narrow gauge from Lagos to Kano freight into use. It is important to put on record that the freight operations from Lagos to Kano, would restore the economic viability of the city as the commercial nerve of Nigeria” he recounted.
According to Senator Said Alkali, “It is worth mentioning that the project being commissioned as well as other several ones were taken under the Federal Government railway modernization programme to accelerate the renewed hope agenda of Tinubu administration”.
Speaking during the flag-off ceremony, the Governor Kano State, Abba Kabiru Yusuf, who was represented by his Deputy Abdulsalami Abdusamad, said that the project has provided needed opportunities for direct importation of goods from abroad to Kano without hindrance.
Abba Yusuf noted that the project will soon boost the economy of the state to continue playing its leadership role in commercial activities across the Sahara.
“This project I so much believe, is key to us. Gone are the days when people go to Lagos to claim their goods, Port Harcourt or Calabar. It has come when the government of Kano state, is about to join Lagos state in enacting policy on transportation to enable us to diversify the economic potentials of the state by tapping the enormous benefits in the sector”
Also speaking during the flag-off, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Engineer Fidget Ohiria, disclosed that the narrow gauge takes three to four days, to move cargo from Lagos to Kano, stressing that the essence is to keep the tracks busy and discourage vandalism on the infrastructure.
“The NRC is ready for this operation and we have mobilized our men to be on duty. We have our team of security men to avoid stealing people’s goods” he said.
