The Managing Director of Inland Containers Nigeria Limited (ICNL), Operators of Kaduna Inland Dry Port (KIDP), Omotayo Philip Dada, has described stronger integration between the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), seaports and inland dry ports, backed by reliable rail connectivity, as a critical route to reducing logistics costs and improving cargo movement across Nigeria.
Dada, who operates the Kaduna Inland Dry Port, said seamless rail services and through Bills of Lading would make inland ports more efficient while strengthening trade, exports and economic activities in the hinterland.
The Managing Director of Inland Containers Nigeria Limited (ICNL), Omotayo Philip Dada, has backed the Federal Government’s decision to transfer Inland Dry Port functions from the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), describing the shift as a chance to bind seaports more tightly to hinterland terminals.
Dada welcomed the new regime because NPA sits at the centre of Nigeria’s port system. Closer alignment, he argued, would advance the original idea of taking port services nearer to businesses in the hinterland.
“Our expectation is ultimately about connectivity and integration, stronger relationships with shipping lines, more effective through Bills of Lading (TBL) to Inland Dry Ports, reliable rail connectivity, improved positioning of empty containers for exporters, and seamless movement of cargo between the seaports and the hinterland,” he said