Nigerian federal government is determined to connect the entire country with rail lines, the .minster for transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has said.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the 15th National Council on Transportation, in Sokoto, Amaechi however said the project was quite huge and expensive.
“The president promised to create employment but all of us know that you cannot create employment other than creating a conducive environment and building infrastructure. To this effect, the President called two of us, myself and my Colleagues in the Ministry of Works and Power Babatunde Fashola and told me specifically that I must ensure that the 36 States including Abuja are connected by rail. It is a very big and huge assignment in the sense that it is very expensive to do so,” he disclosed.
He also gave update on the railway projects stating that the Ajaokuta -Itakpe rail line has received funding, the ground breaking for the Lagos- Ibadan has been carried out while the Calabar- Port Harcourt segment will commence once the counterpart funding of the loan agreement is finalised.
He said the Kaduna dry port has been commissioned, adding that if a businessman from Sokoto orders goods from outside Nigeria, he has a choice to choose his destination at Kaduna Dry port for the delivery of his goods.
“Export from the north and our landlocked neighbours like the Niger republic can also be packaged in the Kaduna port. This can only be possible because of the role the railways play in connecting the seaports and carrying cargo straight to designated dry port in the hinterland. The dry ports are located in all the geo political zones.
Earlier in his address, the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar called on the ministry of transportation to take full responsibility of maintenance and construction of all roads in the country.
“The most important form of transportation is by road and most of us go to our offices, markets, mosques, churches by road. Why is it not under the ministry of transportation, is it too much work?
“If it is, the ministry should sublet it to the state and give them money to take care of it because we in the states know how important our roads are,” the Sultan explained.
Stella Enenche, Sokoto
