Shippers Council Seeks FG’s Support to Build N15bn Resource Centre

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) has sought the support of the Federal Ministry of Transportation to build an international maritime resource centre in Jos estimated to cost N15 billion.

The Executive Secretary of NSC, Mr. Hassan Bello, disclosed this at the inauguration of the council’s North-Central Coordinating office complex in Jos, Plateau.

The NSC boss said the centre on completion would include a five – star hotel, a shopping mall, a restaurant, multi-purpose halls and a fully automated conference centre with a capacity for 2,500 people.

According to the NSC boss, “This project will be delivered through Public-Private Partnership and will be supported at all times by the NSC. This zone, this state, this city deserves no less than this. I am sure I will find support from the Federal Ministry of Transportation, the Plateau State Government and the private sector.”

Bello, while welcoming the private sector of Jos and its environs, was quoted in a statement to have said the office being inaugurated was built for them, dedicated to the upliftment of International trade, shipping and transportation.

He thanked the Governor of Plateau State, Mr. Simon Lalong for his economic pursuit and for believing that the Jos Dry Port is an economic investment, a catalyst for employment and an avenue to place the state on the global map of export.

“Governor Lalong is the first governor to visit the NSC Office to discuss the development of the Jos Dry Port. He is frank, patriotic and scientific. He believes in the strong economic pluralism of his state. We sincerely hope that the Jos Dry Port will be completed by the first quarter of 2022,”he said.

He appreciated the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, for his sense of spotting economic ventures and sticking to them, adding that the rail revolution would have a profound impact on the economic ambition of the country.

The Minister of Transportation, Amaechi, in his response, said that the Maritime Resource Centre that the council was promoting is a project with tremendous economic potential for the state in terms of employment, tourism, and intellectual development.

He added that the centre would have huge socio-economic impacts on the state and urged the Plateau government to partner with the Council in actualising this project.

“You have my assurance that the Federal Ministry of Transportation and its agencies are here to partner with the great state, Plateau, to achieve its potential,”he said.

Amaechi said that the Federal Ministry of Transportation through the NSC’s activities highlights the benefits of the maritime sector as the best alternative for economic diversification.

He added that the transportation sector had the potential for employment, investment and growth of the nation’s international trade.