When speaking on NTA’s Good morning Nigeria programme on Friday, Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has enumerated the progress of the current administration especially with regards to rail transportation.
The programme focused on Nigeria’s Diamond jubilee and the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja monitored the programme.
Mohammed said that rails will ease trailer congestion on the roads especially the congestion in Apapa. He said that rail will link Apapa seaport and there will also be a dry port in Omi Adio near Ibadan. This, he said, will enable ease of moving goods so that containers going outside Lagos will be transported by rail to Omi Adio where there is a dry container terminal.
“The containers will be dropped in Ibadan via rail for clearing by importers, thereby decongesting the Apapa seaports and the roads,” he said.
Lauding the Buhari administration, he said that President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to building a lasting legacy of massive infrastructural development, particularly, rail, roads and bridges.
He also recalled that 10 major and minor stations are at different stages of completion between Lagos and Ibadan. He said before this administration, nothing was done to improve the rail system for many decades.
According to him, “It is to the credit of this administration that the Itakpe- Ajaokuta-Warri 312km rail line which commenced in 1987 only came to reality this week when on Tuesday the president virtually commissioned the rail after 33 years.
“It is now to be extended to Abuja and Warri port complex. It was also when we came in that we completed the 175km Abuja-Kaduna rail line which was first commenced in 2011 but which the administration took over and completed in 2016.
“This shows that within the period of about five years, in the area of rail alone, the government has done a lot.”
He further explained that the rail corridor of Itakpe-Aladja-Warri was meant for only cargo but the Buhari administration redesigned the rail to accommodate passengers as well as other services.
“Nothing opens up a country like transportation, especially rail transportation; you can imagine the amount of economy that will be created along that corridor,” he said.
He further stressed that despite challenges, Nigeria still has a lot to celebrate at 60 and that citizens should endeavour to emphasis the positive development rather than the negative trend.
“We will be very unfair to ourselves when we look at the level of infrastructure development in Nigeria especially during this administration and we are saying we are not making progress.
“If other government can follow up on what a previous government has done, there will be steady development,” he said.
