The Federal Government says it will commence the linking of Kano-Kaduna by rail in July soon after commissioning the Lagos-Ibadan rail project in June .
The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi disclosed this when he led a delegation of Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) and Nigerian Railway Corporation to pay a courtesy visit on the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, in Kano on Thursday.
The Minister was in the state to commission the NSC’s North-West Zonal Office as well assess the ongoing Dala Inland Dry Port,
Amaechi said the opening of the zonal office and the Inland Dry Port would boost business activities in the state adding that it would also encourage import and export as plans are underway to launch maritime activities in the area.
“We are here because we want to see how far you have gone with the Dala Inland Dry Port because between now and July, we would start work on the Kano-Kaduna part of the rail and when we’ve linked the Kano rail to Kaduna and linked Ibadan to Abuja, then we have addressed the problem of movement of cargoes” he said.
He further said: “We have to learn how to manage cargoes that come to Kano, like you know, we are also linking Kano-Maradi, so Kano will be the hub for the railway sector with a major station in Kano, to control the volume of human traffic in Kano”.
The Minister called on the state government to support the Federal Government by providing an enabling structure for protection of Federal Government projects in the state .
In his response, Governor Ganduje expressed delight over the siting of the Zonal Office of Nigerian Shippers’ Council in the State which he described as the economic hub of the north
He added that siting the office there will further of engender commercial activities in the State.
According to him, the population of the State is responsible for the high volume of import and export and assured that Dala Inland Dry Port would l be put to good use.
The governor noted that the Dry Port ,and the proposed Rail line linking Kano-Maradi and Kano- Kaduna when completed, would in addition to, the Aminu Kano International airport and the trans-border businesses between Kano and other neighbouring countries further boost the economic activities of the state.
The Minister was accompanied on the visit by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, the Executive Secretary, NSC, Hassan Bello, the Director, Maritime Services, FMT, Suleiman Auwwal, and other management staff from the Ministry and NSC.
