The origin of what we know today as the Funtua Inland Dry Port (FIDP) dates back to the late 1990s when the Board of Directors of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, having considered the need to develop projects that will offer respite to shippers in the hinterland, resolved to create zonal offices in cargo concentration centres. Over the years, the congestions at the country’s seaports put additional burden on shippers in the hinterland. Haulage by road became shipper’s nightmare as it was expensive and hazardous. Clearing of cargo at the seaport would take months and these extra charges had to be passed on to the final consumer. These problems provided sufficient impetus for a policy on inland container depots (ICDs) in the country.

In 2002, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council initiated a Feasibility Study for an ICD system that could provide solutions to the numerous problems of the shippers. One of the sites identified by the study as viable for ICD in Nigeria is the Zanfarawa-Funtua in Katsina State with a capacity of 10,000 TEUs. Consequently, the Federal Government approved the developments of the identified sites through a public private partnership (PPP) model of Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT). The bidding process was concluded in 2003 and Equatorial Marine Oil and Gas Limited (EMOG) was chosen as the preferred bidded and subsequently awarded a provisional concession licence to operate the Funtua ICD (now FIDP). This was followed by signing of the BOOT Agreement between the Federal Government of Nigeria (represented by the then Minister of Transport, Dr. A. S. P. Sekibo) and EMOG.