Ekiti seeks extension of railway to state

Ekiti State Government has appealed to the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, extend the railway system to the state in a bid to boost its participation in international trade and achievement of the ongoing diversification of economy.

State Commissioner for Commerce, Michael Ayodele, said the rail line extension was necessary because “a lot of agricultural products are being wasted in Ekiti State because of lack of opportunities to move them out en-mass for export purpose.

The Commissioner, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Mr. Babatunde Akilo, spoke in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, yesterday at a one-day enlightenment seminar organised by the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) with the theme: “Ports Regulation: A Panacea to a Cost Effective Import/Export in Ekiti State”.

He said: “There is a limit to which evacuation can be done by road. Extension of railway system to Ekiti State would definitely increase the export potentialities of the Shippers Council”, calling on the council to use its position “to influence the establishment of more industries in the state”, saying such would serve as catalyst to its events”.

This was as stakeholders in shippers activities at the programme requested for the establishment of a warehouse in the state where their products and commodities would be housed for export rather than resorting to use of warehouses in Lagos for that purpose.