The 13 proposed perishable cargo terminals will be ready by December this year, Minister of Aviation Princess Stella Oduah has said.
The terminals will be sited in Abuja, Akure, Calabar, Ilorin, Jalingo, Jos, Kano, Lagos, Makurdi, Minna, Owerri, Port Harcourt and Uyo.
When completed, the terminals will enable Nigeria key into the over N250 billion annual air freight export market out of Africa. Countries like Kenya, South Africa, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Egypt are participating in the trading in commodities such as fruits, fresh fish, vegetables and flowers while Nigeria, which produces these items in abundance, records zero participation.
A statement from Joe Obi, SA (Media) to the Minister of Aviation said she gave the assurance when Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Alex Sabundu Badeh, paid a courtesy call on her at the ministry.
“We are hoping to have all the 13 perishable terminals ready by December, that’s our mandate and we must accomplish it,” the minister said
She also thanked the Air Force authorities for granting the request to use part of the Makurdi Air Base as one of the 13 approved perishable cargo terminals in the country, stressing that perishables have the potential of transforming the nation’s economy from bottom up.
Currently, “we are doing the fabrications in China; we expect that before the end of October they would have arrived for installation.
“We want to be able to have all our perishable produce from all our rural communities, whether it is pepper, tomatoes or okra, and be able to export them to international markets. It is a very exciting proposition and we are working round the clock to accomplish it,” she concluded
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