Laleye Dipo
The Niger State Government at the weekend blamed the non-operation of the Baro Port in Katcha Local Government Area of the state on the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
The state government said Amaechi “did not believe in the project, and therefore will not allow it to see the light of the day.”
The state government position was made known by the Coordinator of Public Affairs to the state Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa, who also accused the minister of allegedly frustrating every effort made to ensure the operation of the port.
Vatsa, who was a former state commissioner for information, spoke with journalists in Minna at the weekend, declaring: “The minister did not believe in the project, and therefore, will not allow it to see the light of the day.”
He alleged that Amaechi did not hide his dislike for the project when he said at a recent public interview that the “operationalisation of Baro inland port and others are not realisable.
“It is now clear that the so-called inauguration of the port in 2019 before the general election was politically motivated just to deceive the people of the state. If not, how is it that three years after, nothing has happened, as the port has failed to take off?”
Vasta lamented that while the minister believes that the Baro Port is not realisable, he (Amaechi) can hoodwink the federal government into constructing a rail line from Kano to Maradi in Niger Republic, “a project that has no economic value to Nigeria.”
The governor aide said the position of the minister “is a shock to all well-meaning people of the state who have been excited with the idea of having an inland port as it used to be in the past,” adding that “Baro Port has a very historic record as one of the melting pots of economic activities in the North.
“The port boasts of a quay length of 150 metres, and cargo stacking yard of 7,000 square metres. It also has a transit shed of 3, 600 square metres and an estimated capacity of 5,000 TEU at a time.”
