The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s comment that his administration had embarked on massive infrastructural upgrade across the country, especially the Southwest.
In a release over the weekend signed by the Jare Ajayi, national publicity secretary of the organisation, Afenifere, the group said that the President’s comment was another indication that those in the corridors of power do not seem to be in touch with the present reality in the country.
President Buhari on Tuesday, February 22, 2022, said that if not for the intervention of his administration especially on rail and road projects, people, especially those from the SouthWest, could have been trekking from Lagos to Ibadan.
The President stated this when he received in audience a delegation from Kaduna State, led by Ahmed Bamalli, Emir of Zazzau, and the state’s Hadiza Balarabe, the state’s deputy governor,at the State House, Abuja.
Acknowledging the primacy of road, rail and power in the growth of a business or country, the President said that this was why his administration focused on the development of infrastructure. He then pointed to the Abuja-Kaduna and Ibadan-Lagos lines.
“The people from South West can’t tell better because between Lagos and Ibadan by now, if we hadn’t done what we did, people would have been trekking because the road was not there, the rail was not there and there was so much insecurity,” he said.
Taking the President up on this claim, Afenifere said that although the resuscitation of Lagos-Ibadan railway was appreciated, it is a height of an unpardonable exaggeration to say that without it people in the South West would have been trekking.
Read also: President Buhari okays Nigerian Startup Bill for transmission to NASS
Afenifere added that the number of people using the rail transport is very small, compared with people using the road that not many felt the impact when it was not available.
“In any case, assuming without conceding that the rail transport is so significant in the life of the people as painted by Mr President, what about several other routes in the SouthWest that have no rail system.
“So, why has the government not provided rail transport in all these areas so that people would not have to trek? And on the road that the President lamented its absence, whose responsibility is it to provide the road; is it not the government?
Also recalling the President’s speech at the 6th Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Summit in Doha, Qatar, on the same Tuesday where he was represented by Timipre Sylva, Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, the group said that Nigerians are hardly impressed by the President’s disclosure that his administration is now embarking on different initiatives, projects, and policies to enhance the performance of the oil and gas sector.
According to the group, “Why is the administration just embarking on these initiatives when it has just about 14 months left in office?” If the government truly believes in the pivotal roles oil and gas play in the lives and economy of the people, why should the prices of these commodities be all-time high now?
“Why are the refineries not working? Why not license modular refinery operators so that the commodities can be widely available? The reality on ground forces one to doubt the sincerity of the administration in its policies, vision and claims”.
Afenifere further faulted comment by the President Buhari that by the time he is leaving office in 2023, he will be leaving a legacy for a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria also flies in the face of the present reality in the country, especially going by the rate of inflation, rate of unemployment, the level of mistrust and unprecedented insecurity being experienced in various parts of the country now.
