Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum has urged the Nigerian Ports Authority to ramp up non-oil exports from the state, as part of efforts to drive foreign exchange earnings and tackle youth unemployment.
Speaking during a visit to the NPA in Lagos on Tuesday, Zulum outlined plans to deepen value chains for locally produced goods and position Borno as a more active player in international trade.
Zulum, who was received by NPA Managing Director Dr Abubakar Dantsoho and senior officials, has been pushing a broader logistics agenda. During a previous engagement with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, he called for the fast-tracking of the Maiduguri Dry Inland Port, a flagship project aimed at extending port services to Nigeria’s North-East.
He said the facility would cut logistics costs, ease congestion at southern ports such as Apapa, Calabar and Warri, while creating thousands of jobs and boosting internal revenue.
The state is also advancing plans to operationalise a trade hub under the African Continental Free Trade Area in Banki, near the Cameroon border, with the project said to be at an advanced stage.
Zulum said the combined push on inland port infrastructure and cross-border trade would form a coherent strategy to industrialise the state, expand employment and reduce its reliance on federal allocations.