About 13 years after the idea was first mooted, and more than nine years after the Federal Government gave its nod, news broke recently (officially too) that one of the nation’s Inland Container Depots (ICDs) has been gazetted.
By the statement which came directly from the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, the Kaduna Inland Container Depot (ICD) is now a port of origin and final destination for imports and exports.
About 13 years after the idea was first mooted, and more than nine years after the Federal Government gave its nod, news broke recently (officially too) that one of the nation’s Inland Container Depots (ICDs) has been gazetted.
By the statement which came directly from the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, the Kaduna Inland Container Depot (ICD) is now a port of origin and final destination for imports and exports.
We recall that, in 15th March, 2006, the Federal Executive Council actually approved the commencement of Inland Container Depot (ICD) project at six locations in the country under Build Operate Own and Transfer (BOOT) agreement. To give a further vent to its determination to get it off the ground, the ICD policy was gazetted through a Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette No.30 volume 94 of 21st May, 2007.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) defines an ICD as "a common user facility with public authority status equipped with fixed installation and offering services for landing and temporary storage of export, laden and empty containers Carried Under Customs Control and with Customs and other agencies competent to clear goods for home use, warehousing, and export, temporary storage for onward transit and outright export".
It is an equivalent of a seaport located in the hinterland. It receives container by rail from the seaport for examination and clearance by Nigeria Customs Services. It has all the loading and off-loading equipment needed to handle container and general cargo.
As good as they are, Nigeria has been battling with getting these facilities that are located in Isiala-Ngwa (Aba, Abia state), Ibadan in Oyo state, Kano in Kano state, Jos in Plataea state, Funtua and Maiduguri, to take-off.
When completed, the ICDs are expected to bring shipping services to the door step of shippers across the nation, assist in decongesting the seaports and make them more user-friendly and also help to revive and modernize the railway as a primary mode for the long distance haulage of cargo. They are also expected to help in reducing of overall cost of transit cargo to Landlocked neighboring countries.
The proponents of ICDs argue that their benefits include the fact it will come with establishment of customs clearance facility close to production and consumption centers, improved container usage and reduction in the movement of empty containers, improved turn- around time of ships thereby reducing demurrage and avoiding pilferage. They also posited that an ICD comes with issuance of "Through Bill of Lading" by shipping lines and thereby assuming liability from dispatch to destination ports, lower freight to increase trade flows, optimal use of surface transport and the decongestion of the sea ports and reduction in marine pollution activities around the seaport.
Added to these are the fact an ICD offers easy and safe access to international shipping facilities in the hinterland giving a boost to inland trading, revitalization of export agriculture leading to multi-product economy and the avoidance of employment opportunities stemming urban-rural drift and increase in revenue to the government as well as rehabilitation of the surface transport system and enhanced usage of containers.
We recall that shortly after the policy and the project became public knowledge, stakeholders 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 initial lukewarm attitude of Nigerians to the project.
It is sad that for so many years, no cheering news on the ICDs have been heard, except complaints from the concessionaires about the late take-off of the facilities.
In some of the sites, only turning of sods have been carried out in years, even after hectares of land have been acquired.
But the cheering news about the Kaduna ICD should be commended. It is our opinion that the current leadership of the Nigerian Shippers Council deserves everyone’s commendation for finally breaking the jinx of the delayed take-off of the ICDs.
From all indications, none of the other ICDs have met the criteria for gazette, and we think this is very disappointing.
If the Kaduna ICD could meet all criteria, we don’t see why others shouldn’t strife to do same.
Without prejudice, the absence of intermodal transportation system is one of the reasons to worry about. How workable is an ICD without a direct rail link from the seaports to the various sites.
It was said that one of the criteria that favoured the locations of the ICDs in those towns was the presence of traceable rail tracks. But do the seaports enjoy rail link to those depots? 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 and so on?
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