Sometime in 2007, stakeholders in the dry port or inland container depot project from across the country converged on Abuja to brainstorm at a forum that was put together by the project’s superintending agency, that is, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council.
The gathering probably came up in view of the lukewarm attitude of Nigerians to the concept that was first mooted officially by the Shippers’ Council in 2002.
Sometime in 2007, stakeholders in the dry port or inland container depot project from across the country converged on Abuja to brainstorm at a forum that was put together by the project’s superintending agency, that is, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council.
The gathering probably came up in view of the lukewarm attitude of Nigerians to the concept that was first mooted officially by the Shippers’ Council in 2002.
As a matter of fact, efforts to ease the problems that were being faced by shippers from the Northern part of the country predate the 2002 initiative of the Council. Our findings revealed that while inland container depots have featured in the Northern part of the country since the early 1980s, the Shippers Council involvement became only noticeable in the 1990s.
What all these mean is that the Council is not new to the concept. So, when it came up with a supposedly more conventional and more modern arrangement in the name of dry ports and freight stations, it was expected that it would (in no time) solve the myriads of problems that were usually faced by importers and exporters, most especially those from extreme Northern Nigeria.
No doubt, due process was followed in arriving at the choice of the concessionaires who are to operate the five Inland Container Depots (ICDs) and the three Container Freight Stations (CFS). The ICDs are located in Oyo state, Abia State, Plateau state, Bauci state and Kano state, while three container freight stations are sited Katsina, Borno state and Gombe state.
But that is how far the supposedly good story of the ICDs and the CFS’ goes. At least sods of two or three different sites have been turned, but not much has been achieved beyond the fact that hectares of land have been acquired for the projects.
It is now years since the-then minister of transport, Chief Ojo Madueke, inaugurated a committee to implement the ICD project, that is, after World Bank consultants have okayed it.
It is instructive that after the Abuja stakeholders’ forum, there has been no gathering to appraise the project. Even though stakeholders were told at the forum was meant to educate all those who are concerned; including government agencies and host states about their roles in the emerging dispensation of ICD and CFS.
Apart from recent development at the Jos ICD site which have put the whole project in jeopardy, we are also of the opinion that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council is not doing enough to kick-start commencement of business at these depots and stations.
The Federal Executive Council approved the commencement of Inland Container Depot (ICD) project at the six locations in the country under BOOT Agreement on 15th March, 2006 and the project was gazetted vide Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette No.30 volume 94 of 21st May, 2007
With the gazette and other memorandum of understanding that have been signed one would expect that the new concessionaires , which are: Eastgate Inland Container Terminals Limited, whose depot is located in Isiala-Ngwa, Aba, Abia State, with 50,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit of Container; Catamaran Logistics Limited, with its depot located in Ibadan, Oyo State with 50,000 TEU; and Dala Inland Dry Port Limited, located in Kano with 20,000 TEU, Duncan Maritime Services, with its depot in Jos, Plateau State, with 20,000 TEU capacity; Equatorial Marine Nigeria Limited, Funtua with 10,000 TEU and Migfo Nigeria Limited, Maiduguri with 10,000 TEUs capacity, would have no problems starting business. In the typical Nigerian way, this is hardly the case; there is yet no enabling law to back their existence.
If there is a law that makes the ICDs point of destination for cargo, it would not have been that easy for the Plateau state government to demolish the facilities at the Jos ICD.
We also recall that a couple of weeks ago, a strong delegation from Oyo state was at the Shippers Council to appeal that more seriousness should be attached to the ICD business , and from what the executive secretary of the Council told his guest which included the Secretary to the Oyo state government and the chief executive officer of Catamaran Logistics Limited; the Ibadan depot concessionaires, there is little hope that the depots would come on stream soon.
There are justifiable fears that they are fast becoming white elephant projects. It is shameful that after eight years of its being gazzetted, no ICD facility has been opened for business.
Apart from the legal incapacitation, the absence of intermodal transportation system is also another reason to worry about. How workable is an ICD or a CFS without a direct rail linkage from the seaports to the various sites.
One of the criteria that favoured the locations was the presence of traceable rail tracks. But do the seaports enjoy rail linkage, what is the connectivity between Lagos seaports and the proposed ICD in Ibadan, Jos, Kano and others and between Port Harcourt seaport and the ICD at Isiala Ngwa, Jos, Kano, Bichi and so on.
We are not in any way advocating cancellation of the project. Thank God that agreements have been signed with the concessionaires. We are only calling for expedited action and early rail linkages with the locations such that the projects can take-off and are commissioned for the purpose that they are meant to serve.
Considering the years of inactivity, the lack of visible dedication on the part of the Federal Government and the apparent helplessness on the part of the superintending agency, that is the Nigerian Shippers Council, one can but say that the ICDs and the CFS are tending towards becoming white elephant projects.
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