The Federal Government will begin the construction of the Kaduna-Kano rail line in July, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, said on Friday.
Amaechi said the government was currently rounding up the Lagos-Ibadan rail project billed for inauguration in June and based on that, construction work on the Kaduna-Kano line would commence in July.
He disclosed this when he led a delegation of Nigerian Shippers Council and Nigeria Railway Corporation on a courtesy visit to Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, in Kano.
The minister told his host that based on the economic viability of the state, the rail line and the Inland Dry Port would boost the business activities of Kano, as well as encourage import and export.
Amaechi stated that even though there was no river in the state, maritime activities would be brought to Kano once the rail line becomes operational.
He was quoted in a statement issued in Abuja by his media aide, Taiye Edeni, as saying “We are here because we want to see how far you have gone with the Dala Inland Dry Port.
“This is because between now and July, we would start work on the Kaduna-Kano part of the rail. Wherever we link the Kano rail to Kaduna and link Ibadan to Abuja, then we have the problem of cargoes.”
The minister added, “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 and with a major station in Kano it will be able to control the volume of human traffic in Kano.”
Responding, Ganduje said that he was delighted that the zonal office of the NSC was located in the state because of the commercial nature of Kano.
The Kano governor stated that based on the population of the state, its volume of import and export had been very high.
He said the state government would make the Dala Inland Dry Port wet in terms of performance.
