“FG not building rail line into Niger Republic’ — Garba Shehu contradicts Amaechi The Trade Union Congress, TUC, Thursday, took a swipe at the Federal Government over the recent approval of $1.96 billion for the construction of a rail line from Kano-Katsina-Jibia to Maradi in Niger Republic. TUC, in a statement by its President, Comrade Quadri Olaleye, and the Secretary-General, Comrade Musa-Lawal Ozigi, in Abuja, said construction of a rail line to Niger Republic was an insult to Nigerians and a waste of scarce resources. The statement read: “The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria has described the Federal Government’s approval for the construction of a rail line linking Nigeria to Niger Republic as an insult and waste of our scarce resources. “By this latest move, it has indeed become obvious to the world that the managers of our country have ulterior and sinister motives: to ruin this country. “The Congress is not averse to development. Constructing rail lines to Kano, Katsina and Dutse is understandable; but why extend it to Niger Republic? Why should we borrow from the IMF, World Bank and China to build a rail line to Niger Republic? “Is there something this government is not telling us? How could the Federal Government come up with such an idea in a country where potable water has become a luxury; right to electricity is regarded as a taboo for an average citizen, roads have become death traps and our health facilities lack malaria drugs? “That sum, $1.96 billion when exchanged at the rate of N380 per dollar, is almost N800 billion. This can do a lot in the economy. “The outbreak of the pandemic has exposed Nigeria to the world: our Federal Government was begging for ventilators and nose masks. “Our education sector is in a shambles. Agreements reached with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, over a decade ago are yet to be met. “We are celebrating six decades of independence yet Ghana, South Africa, etc. are threatening and treating Nigerians in their country with disdain. It hurts. It really does! “According to a report from the Debt Management Office, Nigeria’s total debt rose to $79.5 billion (N28.63 trillion as of the first quarter of 2020). Debt servicing gulps trillions of naira yearly. “News had it that Nigeria’s sovereignty is at stake if the country fails to pay China! How could the Federal Executive Council, FEC, accept such now? Or, has the Niger Republic annexed Nigeria? “Government has not completed the road that connects Nigeria with other Western African countries yet the President Buhari-led administration approves construction of a rail line to Niger! “What is Nigeria paying for? Or, could this be another way of looting our commonwealth in preparation for the 2023 electioneering campaign? The whole thing is becoming more confusing. “Your Excellencies, there are many roads seeking attention throughout the country. The Lagos-Ibadan expressway services every vehicle coming into Lagos, including the ones from Kano, Katsina and Dutse; why has it not been completed? “The Niger Delta that lays the golden egg does not have good roads and potable water. They neither fish in their water nor go to the farm because of oil spillage. “Yes, it is true that the NDDC was supposed to provide most of the basics; unfortunately, the reverse is the case because of corruption. “Those appointed to manage the Commission ended up looting it dry. None is in jail because in the very first place it was a political settlement. “Since someone fainted during the National Assembly probe of the Commission, we have not heard anything again on the matter. “It is shameful it happened at a time our ‘incorruptible’ president holds sway. All we are saying is that Charity begins at home! This is not the time for profligacy and licentious spending; the government must manage our lean purse prudently. “We must set our priorities right because Nigeria is becoming a laughing stock to the whole world. Tinkering with such ideas at a time the electricity tariff has been increased and fuel price hiked is indeed suicidal. “Nigeria should stop playing big brother at the expense of Nigerians. This government is not being fair to Nigerians. Simple.” Meanwhile Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, says the federal government is not constructing a rail line into Niger Republic but to a designated border point. Shehu’s statement contradicts the one made by Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, who said the government had approved $1.96 billion for the construction of a rail line into Niger Republic. Speaking with journalists after a federal executive council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday, Amaechi said the rail line would start from Kano and terminate at Maradi in Niger Republic. But on Twitter on Thursday, the presidential spokesman said both countries agreed to construct rail lines to meet at the border town of Maradi. “Nigeria isn’t building a rail line into Niger but, only to the designated Border point,” Shehu tweeted. “An agreement between Nigeria and Niger in 2015, coordinated by the Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission for Cooperation has a plan for ‘Kano-Katsina-Maradi Corridor Master Plan, (K2M)’ as it is called. “Going by this, the two nations would each build a rail track to meet at the border town of Maradi. “Nigerian delegates to that meeting comprised officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Boundaries Commission, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Water Resources as well as those of Kano and Katsina states. “The objective of the rail is the harnessing of raw materials, mineral resources and agricultural produce. “When completed, it will serve domestic industries and play the role of a viable transportation backbone to the West African subregion, starting with the neighboring Niger Republic for their export and import logistic chain.”

As Nigeria celebrates its 60th Independence, Nigerians have scored the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration high in rescuing the country from precipice of destruction. A cross section of Nigerians in the Southwest states and Kwara assessed the administration based on its nine-point agenda. They said that the government’s sincerity of purpose was evident in the giant strides of provision of infrastructure including roads, housing, rail system of transportation, schools and hospitals. The respondents, however, urged the government to spend the remaining three years of the administration to tackle unemployment, revive the economy and combat insurgency and other security challenges facing the country. Mr Abayomi Arabambi, the Chairman, Labour Party in Ogun, said that the priority areas as highlighted by the Buhari government had proved the focus and competence of the government in convincing the citizenry that it had sufficient and adequate ability to build a thriving and sustainable economy. Arabambi said that the nine points agenda would enhance social inclusion and reduce poverty and also pave way for enlargement of agricultural output for food security and export. The labour party chieftain noted that the nine priority areas identified by present administration to guide its policies over the next few years in its drive to enhance national development was a step to build a thriving and sustainable economy. He said that the Buhari government had been able to engage a very large percentage of unemployed youths in various arms of self-employment including sectors in various agricultural operation and investments. “The truth is that all of the priority areas are very much inter- dependent and very highly complimenting each other. “Today, even youths are proud owners of large farms and recognised employers of labour. “In every worthwhile assessment of the capability of this government, it has come up convincingly to let the unbiased critic see that the tilt of good governance of this government is in the positive and in the altitude,” he said. He appealed to the president to continue building a system that would continue to fight corruption, expand access to quality education and provide affordable healthcare services. “Currently, a lot of visible and verifiable great work has been done by the Buhari-led government to correct the corruption – induced mal-administered power projects in the country and very many other projects. “In a fair and reasonable consideration of the national standard in governance of this country, it is not in doubt that in every sector, the current Federal Government has outclassed the performances of any previous governments. Also speaking on the nine priority areas identified by the government, Mr Azeez Adeyemi, the National Public Relations Officer, National Association of Nigerian Students, said that sincerity of purpose should come first on the list. Adeyemi listed security, agriculture and corruption as the critical areas the government should channel its resources. He said that the insecurity situation in some parts of the country needed urgent attention of the government, saying that lives and property were at risk in such areas. He said that the Nigerian security system needed complete overhaul, saying that government should intensify efforts in shaping the security system to curtail the excesses of kidnapping, banditry, and other inhumane vices. He also called on the present administration to take agriculture serious with the provisions of basic agricultural inputs and encourage youths to participation in the sector. Adeyemi said that corruption had continued to be a major obstacle hindering the growth and development of the nation. “The government should focus more on the processes that lead to corruption rather than waiting for a leader to be pronounced corrupt after terms of office. Also, Mr Sunday Bamidele, a sociologist, scored the administration of Buhari high in the areas of transport and infrastructural development. Bamidele, who spoke with NAN in Akure, described the development of the railway system as a very significant landmark which could not be wished away by anybody. He said that the present administration met a moribund railway system and a very bad road network which had had been neglected by successive administrations. The sociologist, who commended Buhari for bringing the Abuja-Kaduna railway to life said “this alone has brought ease and comfort to people travelling on that axis on daily basi. “Modern trains, which are of standard gauge with executive coaches, now convey passengers on this route to make the journey stress-free. “Different road projects have been concluded while some are ongoing. Reconstruction of the inherited Niger bridge project at Onitsha in Anambra state has been embarked upon, and work has never stopped on the project. “To add another feather to the cap of his administration is the ongoing rail transport system between Lagos and lbadan which is to be commissioned towards the end of this year,” he said. Bamidele, however, noted that the government had not done enough in the area of security. “The government needs to rise up to its responsibilities by reinforcing the security system of the country so that we can sleep with our two eyes closed,” Bamidele said Mr Temitope Fakuade, the Deputy Director, Planning, Ondo State Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, said the success of the nine-point agenda of the government depends on the political will of the current administration to see the plans come through. Fakuade said that successive administration had initiated many plans in the past but the challenge was with the execution. According to him, result based monitoring and evaluation mechanism should be put in place to ensure that everything is done right from the conceptualisation of idea to execution stage to achieve result from the agenda, Dr Michael Oke of the Department of Banking and Finance, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, however, expressed concern that the nine-point agenda of the Federal Government might not see the light of the day. Oke said that many national agenda had been hatched in the past without fulfilling their aims and objectives. He identified inconsistency and insincerity of purpose as causes of failure of the government in the series of national growth plans.