From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has directed the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, to complete the Abuja-Kaduna-Kastina-Kano Federal Highway within one year.
Umahi disclosed this when Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, visited him in Abuja.
According to the minister, the project, which was inherited from the past administration, would be started in three sections as soon as possible.
“We are going to have the first section of 38 kilometers by two, (which is 76 kilometers,) done by Dangote Group of Companies on Tax Credit and it’s going to use concrete to do it. We will allow the next 82 kilometers for Julius Berger to handle. And then the last 20 kilometers by two (which is 40 kilometers) for BUA to handle and to also use concrete to do that. I can assure you that the job will start in these three sections within this month of May.” he said
The minister commended the governor for the peace and development being witnessed in Kaduna State under his administration despite inherent challenges.
He further stated that the president’s directive on designing 1,000-kilometer Sokoto-Badagry highway was being handled with dispatch by the Federal Ministry of Works, noting that the project would cover the old African trade route of Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos states, connecting to Badagry. He also stated that a proposal was being made to link the South East to the North through the Trans Sahara Highway that would have a spur passing through Benue, Kogi, Nasarawa, and end in Abuja.
The governor extolled the vision and will of the President of Nigeria in revolutionizing road infrastructure, which is a catalyst for the socio- economic development of the nation, and the commitment of the Minister of Works which has changed the narrative in the development of road infrastructure in Nigeria.
Sani commended President Tinubu’s initiative to construct Lagos-Calabar road and the Sokoto-Badagry road, noting that the projects would enhance the socio-economic potential of the country when completed. He emphasized the importance of Federal Government’s intervention on the Eastern Bypass in Kaduna State, the Mando-Benigwari road connecting the North West. He said that the road was of prime importance for agricultural programmes in the North.