SENATOR STELLA ODUAH'S MOTION ON INLAND PORT DISSECTED

Our indefatigable Senator Stella Oduah sponsored a Motion on: Need for the Establishment of Inland Ports at Onitsha, Enugu and Other Land-locked States. The Motion was designed to reduce the challenges business men and women in those landlocked cities with high volume of economic activities go through daily to get their imports down to their destinations from major seaports across the nation like Lagos by road.
What is an Inland Port? An inland port is a port located away from the sea port to stimulate easy and efficient movement of goods from the main seaport for easy distribution to various warehouses of the importers. It is a means to facilitate easy and efficient distribution of goods to the various points of needs even down to the hinterlands.
The Following features are common with Inland Ports: • Connectivity to the seaport through a railway • Warehouses for storage of the goods • Proximity to business population or industrial locations • Free trade zone status is granted to the port in some situations
The Motion will help to reduce pressure on our roads which are currently used to move these goods and equipment from the existing ports of entry. It will also help FG to increase revenue base while many unemployed youths will be engaged to work in them.
The Motion will address the challenges our business men/importers especially from Eastern commercial hubs like Onitsha and Aba face daily to get their goods to their warehouses. Lots of goods are destroyed in the process through accident, rain, bad roads etc.
Many of these importers also end up paying double taxation as some illegal customs checkpoint also insist on fresh charges and fees from these haulage vehicles before releasing them. It will help to reduce turn around time for their businesses because they wait for so long to have their goods into their warehouses due to the long process of delivering them from Lagos Ports to the owners’ warehouses in Aba, Onitsha, Enugu et al. The major objectives achievable with this motion are: • Reduction of cost of transport to the importers as they don’t have to pay huge amounts to road haulage companies to bring their goods by road to their warehouses. • It is of big benefit to big box retailers who find it convenient to build their facilities close to the inland port to reduce cost and for more efficiency • Reduces customs harassment on the roads during the process of distribution from seaport to the warehouses of the importers in the hinterland • It eliminates double taxation • It will increase revenue for the FG and also IGR for the state government where they are located • It will help to create many jobs for the youths • It will reduce damages that occur by road while moving the goods to their points of needs Inland ports are common sites in developed countries and they contribute to the efficient distribution of goods and services. They are pivotal to the development of industrial cities.
Establishment of inland port in Onitsha, Aba, Enugu et al will contribute immensely to the growth of these already vibrant economies with lots of potentials to grow more.
#IStandWithStellaOduah #JesusIsTheGreatest