Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo on Friday said that no administration in Nigeria has surpassed the Muhammadu Buhari-led government in the area of infrastructure.
He claimed Buhari’s enemies admitted this fact which was why they orchestrated insecurity to rubbish the administration.
The Minister stated this in Lagos during his tour of the Mobolaji Johnson Train Station, the flagship station of the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Train.
Sambo who took over the mantle of leadership of the Ministry recently was on a tour of the agencies in the Ministry in Lagos for the first time since his appointment.
He was taken round the expansive Mobolaji Johnson Train Station by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Engr. Fidet Okhiria and accompanied by other heads of agencies and parastatals in the ministry.
While he expressed satisfaction with the level of infrastructure development in the Transportation sector, he said there is still a lot to be done because there is no end to infrastructure development.
The Minister also restated the stand of the Federal Government that train service would not resume on the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service until all the kidnapped victims of the March 28 attack were rescued while an enhanced security system was put in place.
He said, “I’m happy with everything I saw. Why I said mixed feelings is that we have a lot to do. Unfortunately some of the things we have to do are not solely under the purview of the Ministry of Transportation.
“After infrastructure, it is infrastructure again. There is no end to infrastructure. Remember the history of man, we used to live in the caves. Have we stopped building houses, mansions, skyscrapers? No.
“With increasing knowledge and technology, infrastructure also improves. Infrastructure is the bedrock of life. So there is no end to it and I hope that we would achieve a lot in Nigeria.
He continued, “If you look at the National Development Plan 2021-2025, you would see that there is a lot of inputs as far as infrastructure is concerned.
“In fact this administration has underscored the importance of infrastructure by creating what we call the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund for us to drive certain priority infrastructure projects.
“I’m sorry, I’m not saying this because I am part of this government. I would have said it before I joined government, no administration, I’m over 60 years, I have seen the Tafawa Balewa Government, (Aguiyi) Ironsi six-month government, I have seen Yakubu Gowon’s nine-year government, I have seen all the subsequent governments in this country, believe me, there is no administration in this country that has invested in infrastructure like the Buhari’s administration.
“Even our enemies admit that. It’s why they try to cause problem for us by generating insecurity here and there. It is a generated thing. I won’t say more than that.”
On the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service, he stated that it would inhuman to resume the operations when all the victims have not been rescued.
He said, “I answered that question two weeks ago when I visited the train stations. I think it will be inhuman of the Nigerian Railway Corporation to resume services when we are still battling to get all the victims returned and reunited with their families.
“While that process is ongoing, we are also looking at world standard security system to put in place to ensure that forever such a thing will never happen again. So the two are going at the same time.”
