President Muhammadu Buhari said on Tuesday that if his administration had not embarked on the Lagos-Ibadan transportation, Nigerians would have walked.
Buhari remarked that prioritizing infrastructure projects alleviated poverty in some regions of the country while receiving a delegation from Kaduna State led by the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli, and Kaduna State Deputy Governor, Hadiza Sabuwa Balaraba, at the Presidential Villa.
“Despite the limited resources, my goal was clear: I intended to deal with infrastructure across the country,” Buhari’s spokesman, Femi Adesina, said in a statement.
“Infrastructure advancement is something we should consider.” Without infrastructure, no country can progress. There used to be trains, as anyone from Southern Kaduna can recall.
“Which country can truly grow without roads, rails, and power?” “I wanted to sort out infrastructure because Nigerians are competitive by nature, and they will face their enterprises when there is a road, rail, and power,” he says.
The President commended China and those who sponsored the Lagos-Ibadan transportation projects while noting that travel in the South-West has improved.
“People from the South-West can tell better because by now, between Lagos and Ibadan, if we hadn’t done what we did, people would have been trekking since the road, the rail, and the insecurity were all gone.”
“However, we express our gratitude to the international community.” We congratulate China and Chinese investors for their contributions to the Lagos-Ibadan transportation project.
The President also promised that infrastructure construction and repair will continue, citing the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Express Road, which is being managed by Julius Berger to ensure good and long-term quality.
He also praised Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai for transforming the state through increased infrastructural and socio-economic projects, as well as the expanding liberality that welcomes all Nigerians.
“Please convey my congratulations to the Governor for his excellent performance. I lived in Kaduna for many years before coming here, but because of the transformation, I’ll need a modern compass to go about,” he said.
The Deputy Governor, for her part, expressed gratitude to President Buhari for his working visit to the state, during which he commissioned projects in Kaduna, Kafanchan, and Zaria.
She said that the Urban Renewal Program will be sustained and expanded across the state to have a greater impact on people’s lives, with many projects already nearing completion and expected to be completed by May 2022.
