Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has said funds was not a challenge delaying completion of the 1.6 billion dollar Lagos-Ibadan rail project.
Amaechi said in a statement by the Director, Press and Public Relations of the ministry, Mr Eric Ojiekwe, that the delay was due to lack of workers on sight.
The minister was quoted as disclosing this on Saturday while inspecting the project in company of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The Project was paused due to the onset of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the country.
The minister, however, tasked Messrs China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), the contractors handling the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail to complete the project within five months.
He argued that COVID-19 had come to stay thus, Messrs CCECC were to devise measures of completing the project.
He urged them to procure personal protective equipment for their workers as no excuse for failure would be accepted.
He advised the company to adhere to safety measures such as compulsory use of masks and safety shields by all workers to get the required number needed to work in all stations.
On why the Ibadan-Kano 5.6 billion dollar rail yet to commence, Amaechi stated that government was yet to secure the loan facility from China Export-Import Bank.
He gave assurance that the project remained a priority of the President Muhammadu Buhari ‘s led administration.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Mohammed, on his part, commended efforts made so far on the project.
Mohammed said:“I am very impressed. The reason we brought you here is to see that it is not a concocted story.
“This is the reason why we are borrowing the money so that Nigerians can travel in dignity and comfort”.
He explained that monies borrowed were not for grandiose display nor for overhead or running costs for the nation but rather for capital projects which on completion would create jobs and provide needed infrastructure for Nigerians.
He noted that there was nothing bad in borrowing so long as it was used to provide improved service delivery for the people.
Mohammed commended Amaechi for the passion exhibited in driving the project and urged CCECC not to disappoint.
The Managing Director, Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria, disclosed that the corporation was working out modalities on commencing operations on the Lagos-Ibadan and the Itakpe-Warri rail corridor in September.
Other dignitaries on the inspection tour included Managing Director, Nigeria Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala-Usman, the Board Chairman, NRC, Mr Ibrahim Alhassan Musa, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Hassan Bello, among others.
FG’s mental laziness responsible for Nigeria’s huge debts — YCE Sec-Gen
The Secretary-General of the Yoruba Council of Elders, Dr Kunle Olajide, has said the inability of the political leadership of the country to look inward for ways to generate revenue is responsible for plunging Nigeria into huge debts.
Olajide said this in an interview with our correspondent in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, on Saturday.
There have been public outcries over the debt profile of the nation since the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), took over in 2015.
Just in March 2020, the Senate approved Buhari’s plan to borrow $23.7bn from the Islamic Development Bank; African Development Bank; the World Bank and creditors in China, Japan and Germany.
The nation is currently using more than half of its revenue to service debts and the Federal Government was recently accused of agreeing to cede Nigeria to China as collateral for loans.
Condemning the FG’s penchant for borrowing, Olajide said the present regime, like the previous administration before it, had no reputation for fund management including loans and should stop borrowing.
He said, “This is not healthy for our economy. For obvious reasons that you and I know, our government, including the present one, has no reputation for fund management. In the last six or nine months, we have had sufficient revelations in the National Assembly from ministries, departments and agencies; there is no visible ways of tracing how funds allocated to these MDAs are spent.”
“If you look through the country, you will see that we have abundant natural resources that can be tapped to raise any amount that we require to build infrastructure and put some other things in place. We have bitumen, gold and many others. We have fertile land to grow different crops, process them and through that we can feed the whole of Africa. Even the crude oil, we are not adding value to it.”
