Minister of Works, Mr Mike
Onolememen, has disclosed that former President Olusegun Obasanjo rejected a
bid by the World Bank to reconstruct the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway while he was
in office.
The minister, who stated this in
an interview, said that the World Bank had indicated interest in reconstructing
the road as far back as 2006, adding, however, that the former president
insisted that the road would be concessioned.
According to him, the World Bank
has a collaboration with the Federal Government to implement a programme tagged
the Federal Road Development Project, noting that the number one road the Bank
indicated interest in was the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway.
The minister, who also praised
the decision of President Goodluck Jonathan to end the cycle of corruption in
the road sector by tinkering with the certification system for contracts, said
that the ministry has been able to showcase many achievements, because the
president has ended the cesspool of corruption.
He said: “I just told you
about the collaboration the Federal Ministry of Works has with the World Bank
through the Federal Road Development Project. The collaboration between the
World Bank and the Federal Government of Nigeria is being operated by the
Federal Ministry of Works in the road sector and for the World Bank, the number
one road they indicated interest in funding and constructing was the
Lagos/Ibadan expressway.
“As far as 2006 when the
negotiation started, Lagos/Ibadan expressway was the number one road. But in
the wisdom of the then president, that road was not to benefit from the World
Bank funding. Rather, that road was to be concessioned. I have no problem with
trying to access funds from private sector investors. It is one of the ways we
have to drive development in the sector.
“But these particular private
investors were not ready; so, the project came to a standstill. Whereas, I just
gave an example of the reconstruction of the road from Enugu to Abakaliki, to
Ogoja, to Mfon; when the government dropped that (Lagos/Ibadan expressway) road
from the list, the World Bank now focused on this Trans-West African corridor and
it’s fully reconstructed as I speak to you. In fact, on that road, you could
close your eyes and just drive, if you have gadgets that can guide you and put
you on the right way.”
He urged Nigerians to give
President Jonathan another four years to rule the country, adding that his
administration would launch what he called Golden Triangle Superhighway
He said Jonathan has
already concluded plans on the launch of the “Golden Triangle Superhighway,
which is going to link the commercial city of Kano with Lagos, with Calabar and
all the way through Gombe, Bauchi, back to Kano and it’s going to be linked
with the Kano/Maiduguri expressway.”
He said that the road would link
at least 22 state capitals in Nigeria and would be within a distance of one and
a half hours to each state capital.
“Which means from all parts of
the country through that Golden Triangle Superhighway, you can get to any other
part of the country because that highway will be within one hour 30 minutes
reach from about 22 State capital cities and a lot of towns and cities along
the road.
“So that is what is in need for
Nigeria? When you vote for President Goodluck Jonathan, at least, you can see
how the future will look like in the road sector,” he said.
On corruption in the Federal
System, he said he was usually amused whenever people talk of corruption in the
current administration, adding that having witnessed monumental corruption in a
previous government, he is in a position to compare the two worlds.
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