An industrialist, Dr Charles Akhigbe, has said the N6 billion dry port being built at Obaretin, near Benin in Edo State would provide 15,000 jobs and generate N23.9bn within 10 years.
Akhigbe who is the Chief Executive Officer of the AMES-Edo Inland Dry Port spoke at the site when top officials of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) visited the facility. According to him, the port when fully operational will generate about N2.3 billion in its first year of operation.
He appealed to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to hasten approval for the commencement of operational activities at the port.
Akhigbe said that FEC’s approval would fast-track investors’ appetite to do business in Nigeria and boost nation growth.
Mrs Ala Dublin-Green, Director of the South-South Zonal Coordinating Office of the NSC, assured that the Federal Government would soon grant approval for the commencement of services at the port.
She described the facility as a key project that would benefit the South-South geo-political zone and Nigeria at large. (NAN)
Dublin-Green lamented, however, that bureaucracy was holding back the take-off of the facility, the building of which commenced in 2015.
She assured that obstacles and hindrances delaying the commencement of operational activities would be tackled soonest.
The Managing Director of Halcrow Infrastructure Ltd., Mr Tomiwa Aregbesola, described the project as an investment that must not be allowed to waste.
He described the project as an eye-opener, noting that a lot of work and investment had gone into the facility. (NAN)
