President Goodluck Jonathan Friday said he had fulfilled the promises he
made to Nigerians during his 2011 campaign.
He said this while inaugurating a five-seater air-conditioned passenger
inter-city rail transport system that will link Makurdi, Benue State with
Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.
Jonathan, who was represented by Vice-President Namadi Sambo, said the
country had witnessed transformation, especially in the transport sector during
his administration.
He said, “President Jonathan has ensured the fulfilment of the promises
he made to Nigerians by transforming the country, especially the transport
sector as a critical infrastructure.
“Today’s event is a commitment of our unflinching services. This
transformation is in three phases: System transition, system modernisation and
system stabilisation”.
Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State applauded the President for
reviving the “moribund” railway system which he said had been abandoned for the
past thirty years.
He said, “Transformation does not need noise. We need young people to
run government, but not old people who are too weak; the old people should
guide us to continue the Transformation Agenda.”
The Chairman, Nigerian Railway Cooperation and former National Chairman,
Peoples Democratic Party, Bamanga Tukur, said the commitment of the Federal
Government in the railway sector had boosted the economy.
The Minister of Transport, Idris Umar, also charged the people to take
advantage of the opportunity provided by the present administration in the
railway sector.
However, some Makurdi residents have described the inauguration as
“window dressing.”
One of them, simply identified as Terkuma, asked, “How can a dead
railway system that has been moribund in the last thirty years come to life in
just three days?”
He described the event as a campaign strategy to woo the Benue
electorate.
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Politics