President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his administration’s commitment to improve road transport infrastructure and enhance ease of doing business, create job opportunities and pull people out of poverty is yielding results.
President Buhari said this on Thursday at the official commissioning of 40.27km Nnenwe-Odume and Ishiagu mile 2 roads in Enugu and Ebonyi states, respectively.
Represented by the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, President Buhari said that as his administration enters the final lap, they are also entering a season of completion and delivery of projects.
Buhari said, “As you can all see, we are handing over today the 40.27km road which is Nnenwe–Oduma–Uburu Road Section I (26.27km) and Section II: Spur to Ishiagu-Mile 2 Road (14km).
“This road links Enugu and Ebonyi states and it is a critical component of our national road network. This road has been built to the highest quality of design and workmanship and if it is well used and not abused, it should last for the designed service life.”
Buhari also said road abuse takes many forms such as overloading of vehicles and trucks which accelerates pavement damage, spilling of petroleum products, which dissolves the components and allows water to penetrate, and converting the road shoulders to permanent parking places, that brings the onset of road failure therein.
He warned the communities in which these roads passed, to ensure they are not allowed to deteriorate.
He said, “We must all do our best to avoid these practices, report them when they occur and act in a lawful manner to stop them.
“The road is also a story of the capacity of our people. The patriotic Nigerians who were employed directly to build this road, the scores of suppliers employed indirectly who are responsible for providing the machines utilized in the construction.
“This road is also a statement of economic efficiency and ease of doing business. Of course, this road is part of our many roads to prosperity because reduced journey times means reduced expense on travel, because time is money.”
Earlier, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, said that from the North West to the North Central, the service driven progressive train of the Federal Government and President Buhari has arrived the South East.
Fashola said, “It therefore gives me great pleasure to bring the good tidings of our administration, to the people and Governments of Enugu and Ebonyi States, who will be impacted by the Nnewe-Uduma Road Sections I and II that our President will hand over today.
“After the handing over of the Sokoto-Tambuwal-Jega- Kontagora-Makera Road and the Vandeikya-Obudu Cattle Ranch Road within the last 10 days, I am happy to reiterate that this is the third of many more project completion and Hand-overs our country will experience in the next few weeks and months as we enter what I call a season of completion and impact”.
