The Ogun State government has described the recently approved Kajola Dry Port as a game changer in the economy of the state, saying it will create at least 40,000 jobs for both skilled and unskilled workers.
The Commissioner for Transportation, Olugbenga Dairo, in a statement on Thursday, said the dry port would expand the state’s internally generated revenue, reduce transport and transaction costs, and attract various infrastructure and regional development to the state.
Dairo said efforts were at an advanced stage to begin work on the dry port at Kajola, Papalanto in the Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state.
He said, “In 2021, His Excellency, Governor Dapo Abiodun directed us to put together a strategic Multimodal Transportation Master Plan for Ogun State.
“This, we did in conjunction with experts from the prestigious Olabisi Onabanjo University and support from the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office.
“We were very mindful of the aspirations of His Excellency on the economic and industrial development of the state, and so we deemed it critical to plan for an airport and a dry port.
“The airport is nearing completion, and our congruent plan is to develop a dry port that will receive goods from Apapa and Tincan dry ports.
“The good news is that we have got the Federal Government approval to develop, and we are not resting our oars on other processes towards this realisation.
“The proposed site has been satisfactorily assessed to be proximate to both the NRC narrow and standard gauge rail lines. It is a flat land good for a dry port, and there are Lafarge and Dangote cement factories within its catchment area.
“We are having constant engagements with the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Nigeria Shippers Council, ICRC and recently, we visited the Nigeria Railway Corporation Oyingbo, Lagos and engaged the Commissioner for Police and Nigeria Civil Defense in that station, on the way forward.”
