2nd Niger Bridge: work ongoing
The Federal Government has released the list of the 69 ongoing road and bridge projects in the South-east.
In a statement in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said though the contracts for many of the roads were awarded before the advent of this Administration, they were either poorly funded or not funded at all, hence work on the roads has lingered.
The Minister said the 69 roads and bridges, which are spread across the five states in the South-east, are now in different stages of completion, thanks to the funding sourced by the present Administration from budgetary allocations, the Sukuk Bond and the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund.
He said the government is also looking into the possibility of using a part of the recovered looted funds to fund the development of infrastructure across the country.
While announcing the projects, which include the rehabilitation of the existing Niger Bridge as well as the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge last week, Alhaji Mohammed promised to publish the full list of the roads and bridges, as well as give a state-by-state breakdown of the total figure.
While many individuals waved the projects off as phantom, Ignonekwu Ogazimora, a former image maker for one time Enugu State governor, Chimaroke Nnamani affirmed thus:
” 1. I can confirm that one side of the 9th Mile-Awka Expressway is under construction. The section spurring from 9th Mile is smoothly done but not yet in use.
2. Nothing is going on from 9th Mile to Enugu and Ugwu Onyeama reamins a scene of deadly accidents with trucks falling over from the big ditches.
3. It is true that the Nike-Orji-Enyi Awhum- Egede-Affa has commenced
4. It is true that Umulumgbe-Umuoka-Ikedimkpa is about commencing. I met the contractors
Then, there is something to note. Most of the contracts were awarded by previous regimes which never meant to do them, but to hoodwink the people. One was even awarded as far back as 2009. So, why did they not do them?
On this note, i give some credit to the administration of President Muhammad’s Buhari on this account.”
He however advised that those who know these spots should speak up