By Iyiola Olalere
The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has described President Bola Tinubu’s five ports trade corridor plan as a creative concept that would quickly spread economic growth, productivity and general development across the country.
In a statement by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, the group noted that the recently unveiled initiative would create a more conducive atmosphere for multiple investment opportunities in the country
TMSG said: “When President Bola Tinubu came up with the idea of reviving the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, little did many Nigerians know that it was part of a larger plan for a nationwide integrated trade corridor.
“It is now public knowledge that the coastal highway is part of a network of road, rail and maritime network to link major deep sea ports in Lagos,Ondo, Akwa Ibom, Port Harcourt and Calabar as part of efforts to make Nigeria a maritime gateway and logistics hub of West and Central Africa.
“We invite Nigerians to note that the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry, which are part of President Bola Tinubu legacy projects are central to this initiative from two flanks.
“While the Coastal highway will provide the primary road link to all five ports, the rail corridors of Lagos-Kano, Kaduna-Kano, Abuja-Kaduna and the Kano-Maradi rail corridors will connnect the ports from the Lagos end to the Sahel’s land locked trade hubs.
“Complemented by the Sokoto-Badagry Express way, the long-term objective is to connect Nigeria’s ports with landlocked markets in countries including Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Sudan and the Central African Republic.
‘We also note that there is an Eastern Corridor through the Port Harcourt -Maiduguri rail line which is accessible to the coastal highway to link eastern maritime gateways to Northern Nigeria.
“And lest we forget, there is also a principal role for rhe Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas project which former President Muhammadu Buhari flagged off but which President Tinubu is painstakingly pushing to completion.”
The group argued that the move will boost local economies and stimulate national development abd productivity.
“We make bold to say that at the heart of the Tinubu 5-port initiative is an integrated maritime, rail, road and logistics network to not only reposition Nigeria as a major gateway to African markets, but to also create direct amd indirect jobs as well as spread national development.
“For us, this initiative which is already in progress will stimulate local economies across the various routes of the integrated trade corridors and ultimately improve national productivity.
“We are convinced that the initiative would trigger investments in different sectors including warehousing, logistics, manufacturing, distribution and agro-processing along the corridors.
“What the President is doing with this pro-business initiative is to create a legacy for posterity and put Nigeria firmly on the path to a $1 trillion economy.
“This will not be different from what he did as Lagos state governor by creating the necessary atmosphere for a modern, economically buoyant state and also paving way for the Lekki Free Trade zone which is now the home of landmark national economic projects, including the Dangote Refinery and the Lekki Deep Sea Port amongst others, the group added.