Category: News

…Nigeria Has The Potential to Become a Major Player in the Global Economy – Enugu State Deputy Governor Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai

…Nigeria’s Post Subsidy Economy not viable without combating corruption, nepotism – Ike Neliaku

…We cannot have answers from outside, we must develop answers from inside – Msgr. Prof. Obiora Ike

…We must do away with the Japa Syndrome – Mr. Emeka Mba

Muna Chinedu, Enugu

The President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr. Ike Neliaku, has stated that the anticipated Nigerian post subsidy economic recovery would be impossible without first combating corruption, nepotism and factoring the southeast in.

He said this in Enugu on Saturday, November 18, 2023 while delivering a lecture on “The Post Subsidy Economy – Exploring Bold Initiatives for Economic Recovery in Nigeria” at the third edition of the Frontier Discourse, an annual public lecture series and award organized by Pacesetter Frontier Magazine, an online and print magazine headquartered in Enugu, with coverage in Southeast, South-south, and the FCT.

While delivering the lecture, Ike Neliaku who was also a Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan did not hold back words in stating that fuel subsidy in Nigeria was a scam, however, he frowned at the abrupt way it was removed. Looking at the post-subsidy economic recovery, and the end of the hardship it has put the citizens through, he insisted that Nigeria must hold supreme, the rule of law, equity, justice, and fairness in its governance.

“Nigeria was never designed as a country that will succeed, but as a country that will keep falling, without failing. We were built in a way that through ethnicity, we will never focus on things common about us.

“We must wake up, focus on things that make us one, we must shun nepotism and enthrone equity, justice, and fairness in our government system if we are ready to grow as a nation,” he said.

Touching on the fact that Nigeria had significant economic prosperity in the ‘80s, the NIPR President regretted that we had moved backwards due to corruption and nepotism, stressing that the harsh effect of the corrupt practices and irresponsibilities of the Nigerian leading elites is suffered by the citizens.

Speaking more on the way forward, Neliaku made it clear that there was a need for the country to engage in a total re-orientation of the nation’s moral and value system, create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive, make all-inclusive policies, invest in the youths, fix infrastructure, especially roads, tap into our creative industry and solid mineral, without ever playing a blind eye to international conspiracies, among others.

Earlier at the event, after HRH Eze Barr. Igwesi Obi Igwesi, one of the Royal Fathers of the day, broke Kolanut and prayed the event open, one of the co-chairmen of the event, Msgr. Prof. Obiora Ike, Professor of Ethics and Intercultural Studies, Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, in his opening remarks, lamented how Africa and Nigeria has everything but imports everything, like palm oil.

While reminiscing on the past when Nigeria thrived on agriculture, with a flourishing economy until the discovery of crude oil, he said, unlike other nations that have crude oil, Nigeria’s crude was a curse, not a blessing.

He called on all citizens to be the change they want to see, saying that running abroad wasn’t the answer, “People have challenges, and stand up to face them, but for us, we japa. And that is what we are facing, that young people want to japa to the UK instead of facing our problem. We cannot have the answers from outside, we must develop the answers from inside.”

Mr. Emeka Mbah, a co-chairman at the event and CEO, Afia, laid more emphasis on the fact that the japa syndrome must be stopped, calling on the youth population of Nigeria, which he said was about 70% of the nation’s total population, the greatest resource the country has.

He enjoined the leaders to do things to bring the youths out of the state of hopelessness that fuels the japa syndrome.

“It’s a big problem, a danger if the largest part of your population live without hope, live with a sense of despair. We must think about what to do to give our young people a sense of hope so that the japa syndrome can end. I have hope in the young people, in Nigeria, in the South East.”

The Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai, who was represented by Dr. Solomon Ejim, in his speech, recognized the fact that the economy is in bad shape, but held up a light to the path of hope, as he shared the government’s plans to grow the economy, through industrialization, MSME, agriculture, technology, to make markets function better, and others, by “Stabilizing the macroeconomic environment, achieving agriculture and food security, ensuring energy sufficiency, improving transportation infrastructure, and focusing on (the growth) of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs.”

The Chief Guest of Honour for the event, Sen. Adolphus Wabara Ph.D, a former Senate President of Nigeria, represented by Dr. Friday Ogbuede harped on the need to diversify the economy, address infrastructure, education, and skill development, while making policies that would not leave vulnerable citizens out.

According to the CEO and Chairman of the Pacesetter Frontier Magazine, Prince Onochie Jon-Igwesi, he stressed that the media outfit will continue to do her part in engaging in activities and discussions that add to the growth of our society, our polity, economy, social development, among others, reiterating the desire to have Frontier Discourse as an emerging platform for dissecting national issues, holding quality discussions and qualitative interrogation of contemporary issues in Nigeria’s development.

Among the fascinating aspects of the Third Frontier Discourse Annual Public Lecture Series and Awards was the commemoration of the 74th Anniversary of the Enugu Coal Miners Massacre, which saw Ozo Ferdinand Anikwe give an expose on what happened and how it happened.

He explained how the shooting of the 21 Enugu coal miners because they asked for a pay increase helped to intensify the quest for independence of 1960, while frowning at the fact that the massacre happened just a year after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, adopted by the same Britain whose officials carried out the shooting, thereby violating the same declaration they signed.

The lecture witnessed the presentation of awards to some prominent Nigerians that have achieved outstanding feats in their respective fields of endeavour, or in a particular course.

The lecture had in attendance elites, politicians, members of the academia, captains of industries and business persons, media practitioners, students from various schools and institutes in Enugu and the general public.

The Nigerian Navy Friday deployed 4,000 of its personnel, 13 warships, 88 boats and two helicopters, among others, ahead of the Chief of Naval Staff 2023 Sea Inspection exercise.

Also deployed include two special boat service elements, four maritime domain awareness facilities, four operation bases, two support units, as well as 4 platforms belonging to some crucial stakeholders in the maritime sector.

Flagging off the exercise on board the Nigerian Navy Ship Kada at Onne, Rivers State, the Minister of State for Defence, Muhammad Bello Matawalle, charged the officers and men of the Nigerian Navy to keep up the good work in ensuring that the country is secured for thriving economic activities.

Matawalle said the efforts emplaced by navy to organise the exercise, which he said was aimed at ridding the country’s maritime environment of crimes in all ramifications, was impressive.

He said the sea inspection exercise tagged, Nchekwa Oshimili (meaning securing the sea), was one of the several Nigerian Navy efforts at ensuring that the maritime domain is safe for commerce and economic activities for national prosperity.

The minister said he would ensure maximum support to the Navy to enable it carry out its mandate.

Earlier in his welcome address, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, said the annual Chief of Naval Staff Sea Inspection was aimed at accessing the operational state and readiness of the Nigerian Navy fleet to counter emerging maritime security threats in line with the country’s constitutional mandate.

Daily Trust

As part of measures to improve healthcare delivery and bring healthcare services closer to the people, the Enugu State Government is currently building 260 brand new type – 2 primary healthcare centres across the state.

This was disclosed by the state governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, when he received in audience the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, who paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Enugu.

He said the state government had taken significant steps at improving the healthcare sector, which would ensure increased access to quality healthcare facilities by residents across the state regardless of financial status.

Governor Mbah, who further noted that innovative measures were being taken by his administration to transform the healthcare sector, expressed delight over the federal government’s interest in efforts of the sub-nationals to build a robust and resilient system.

“I am glad that this present federal government is recognising the roles the states play to achieve their health indicators, those targets that we have, whether it’s maternal or infant mortality rate, it won’t happen from top-to-bottom, it’s going to happen from bottom-to-top.

“We are doing some aggressive things also in collaboration with the federal government. We are currently constructing brand new 260-type 2 primary healthcare centres in the 260 wards of the state.

“Just like yourself, when we came in, we recognised that we couldn’t craft an excellent strategy. We were not able to obtain enough data, so, we immediately sent forth and gathered data to enable us plan and be able to tackle, and identify the gaps we have across different strata of our healthcare system, whether in the primary, secondary, or tertiary healthcare system,” Governor Mbah added.

According to him, the administration had already identified deficits in infrastructure, shortage of personnel or workforce, among other factors, as the major challenges facing productivity in the health sector in the state, saying the government was stepping up efforts to use technology and its already designed developmental template to address the problems and make the system not only attractive but also effective, efficient and functional.

“We have also a robust developmental plan to address the issues of fees. As we are dealing with the infrastructural deficits that we have identified, we also know that we have the same deficits in manpower, and just few minutes ago, before you arrived, we were already handling some tension with resident doctors who were also concerned that the lack of manpower was also affecting their productivity, and something needed to be done in that regard.

“We are also glad that technology has a role to play. We welcome also with delight the news about how we can grow the number of manpower we are producing, at least double the manpower we are producing in the country. That is indeed, heartwarming,” he said.

The governor, however, lamented the mass exodus of medical personnel from the country in pursuit of greener pastures abroad saying, “It is really a challenge, this japa syndrome. I don’t think there is anywhere, any sector that has suffered the most as the medical sector in terms of the migration syndrome. So, I am glad that the federal government is rising to the occasion. They are taking steps to ensure that we raise more medical professionals.

“We are sure that is one way to go, working assiduously in the area of technology, looking at telemedicine and how we will be able to get the data we are gathering, so that we can have health reports, the electronic health reports of patients.”

Speaking further on the Universal Healthcare Coverage, the governor said, “That is an area we have been working with the federal government to ensure that, even before the enactment of National Health Insurance Act, we already had our own state health insurance law. We started the implementation of Universal Healthcare Coverage, and that is still in progress. Our aim is to ensure that everybody here in Enugu has access to quality healthcare.”

Earlier, the minister had told the governor that he was in Enugu to witness the graduation of students of Federal School of Dental Technology, Enugu, disclosing that the institution is in affiliation with the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, and now a degree-awarding institution. “Today, they have over 2000 students in that school. They will be graduating about 300 students on Thursday. Besides that, they had built a lot of capacity. It’s actually the model we are using for all other institutions of ours. We did a lot of diagnoses to know what needed to be done.”

He assured that despite the difficulty in the healthcare sector, the President had concluded plans to revamp the sector.

“To me, it is difficult, but he did that in Lagos when he was a governor. That’s what he wants to do at the federal level, to revitalise the health system in the country.

“Now, when we got in there, we did our diagnosis; we got a lot of review; we got international consultants and we talked with the entire staff of the federal health ministry. We got in all the medical directors; we talked; we looked at the challenges to know what we wanted to accomplish . Unfortunately, the indicator in Enugu might be good; the one in Niger State might be good, but when they aggregate it together like the infant maternal mortality is not in good some places, but then, we must fix it. We came up with four pillars of how we will proceed.”

He said accountability, improvement in infrastructural growth, unlocking of value chain across the healthcare industry, and ensuring social and national security would help to achieve the core target of government in the system.

The minister also said that the federal government was addressing the challenges of migration by health workers with the right academic environment where more students would be admitted and trained and have better welfare package,adding that they would be graduating about 60,00 nurses very soon.

“Whatever you think we can do for you as a state at the national level, it’s also part of out agenda; better collaboration, better coordination of resources,” he said.

Enugu gov’t acquires additional 200 hectares of land for cassava cultivation in Nkanu East LGA

The Enugu State government has acquired additional 200 hectares of land for the cultivation of cassava in Nkanu East Local Government Area of the state.

This was made known by the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Mr Patrick Ubru during an inspection tour of cassava farmlands in Amagunze, Nkanu East local government council, on Wednesday.

Mr. Ubru, who was accompanied by the Chairman of Nkanu East LGA, Hon. Sydney Okechukwu Edeh, expressed delight over the fertility of lands for the cultivation of a variety of crops in the area, saying the state was working towards achieving food security, as well as for export.

He said the Peter Mbah administration was aiming at becoming one of the top three economically viable states in Nigeria through massive agricultural rebirth.

He assured that the state would establish cassava processing clusters in the three local governments of Uzo-Uwani, Nkanu East, and Aninri for cassava production for bioethanol and others purposes in the cassava value chain.

“I commend the Chairman of Nkanu East LGA for keying into this wonderful initiative of the governor who is very passionate about transforming the agricultural sector of the state, creating jobs and eradicating hunger. Our initiative is Cassava to Bioethanol Value Chain Development, and with this, the governor hopes to unlock the rural areas, create employment opportunities for the people, and make Enugu the food basket of the country.

“We already have markets for our produce, most of which we want to be exporting to Europe and other parts of the world,” Ubru said.

Also speaking, the Nkanu East council chairman, Hon. Sydney Edeh said the target given by the state government to the council was 50 hectares of land, adding that they had already cultivated and planted over 60 hectares of cassava, while looking forward to upscaling to 200 hectares in no distant time.

Commending Governor Mbah for zeal agriculture and food production in the state, Hon. Edeh restated the council’s willingness to partner with the state government in realizing its objectives, stating that the 6 council areas of Enugu East senatorial district had earmarked 100,000 hectares of land for the cultivation of different crops as their contribution to the total 300,000 hectares of land for agricultural projects across the state.

“These agricultural projects will not only generate employment for our people but will also help in reducing insecurity in Nkanu East because some of the forests we have in Nkanu East, especially in Akpawfu. The forests, which served as hideouts for criminals, have totally been turned to cassava farms. So, with the assistance of the state government, we have been able to curtail insecurity by embarking on a good project like this.

“Remember that the governor traveled to Indonesia recently to woo investors. It is our duty to assist the state in making sure that the environment is suitable for business to thrive,” Edeh said.

Some of the officials present at the occasion were the Deputy Chairman of Nkanu East, Hon. Ndubuisi Agbo, Secretary to the local government, Mr. Emeka Nnamene, Supervisor for Agriculture, Sunday Ogbu, Chairman Committee on Agriculture, Chief Sam Udeh, amongst others.

Nigeria’s Federal Government has restated its commitment to outstanding quality, value for money, innovation, responsiveness, fast deliveries and technical expertise in road infrastructure development in Nigeria.

This was contained in the message of the Honorable Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi made available to Pacesetter and signed by Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji the Minister’s Chief Press Secretary, when the national leadership of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) led by its President, Engr. Tasiu Sa’ad Gidari Wudil paid him a courtesy call in his office in Abuja on 23rd November, 2023.

The Honourable Minister emphasized the importance attached to quality delivery of construction works by the Renewed Hope administration of Mr President stressing that the ‘business as usual’ syndrome in road construction was no longer tenable under the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

He reeled out the new policies on road infrastructure to include:

•Good stabilized and tested subgrade, sub-base course before pavement placement.

•Expose subgrade, sub-base and base course to 60 days vehicular movement and continuous sheep-foot rolling before pavement placement.

•Introduction of reinforced concrete road pavement in most roads carriageway and shoulders.

•Continuous maintenance of all roads under construction throughout the life of the project under contract.

•Effective design of road infrastructure anchored on detailed report of environmental site conditions and geotechnical report.

•Community relations in terms of keeping roads motorable under the period of the contract.

He said that supervision was necessary in the actualization of quality delivery of road construction whether concrete pavement or asphalt, noting that each of the two models has its own attendant conditions.

“When you start to compare asphalt and concrete, it is if all things are equal. Here all things are not equal, there are many factors why we are talking about concrete”.

He noted that the stand of the Ministry was not about comparing asphalt and concrete pavement but “that if you are using either of them, there are conditions attached to them”.

He said, “There are certain terrains on our roads that make it imperative for concrete pavement to be used. You cannot put asphalt in water but you can put concrete in water”.

The Minister explained that the rate of increase in the cost of materials for construction of the two models is alarming and argued that the cost of materials for asphalt is in geometric progression while the cost of materials for concrete pavement is in arithmetic progression.

He reiterated that prudence and value for money were the watchwords of the Ministry of Works under him, and this involves getting materials at the minimum purchase price and maximum efficiency and effectiveness of the product. He urged the leadership of Nigerian Society of Engineers to consider retraining of members of the society and enforcement of discipline and strict standards of ethics in the practice of Engineering in Nigeria in the interest of public safety and for the protection of the economic investments.

“I went to China and I saw their roads, there was no evidence of any maintenance in nearly 30 years . And I asked them what is the reason, and they said that if you build a road in China and within your lifetime, the road fails, they will come for test and if there is any evidence of compromise, the person responsible goes to prison for life”, Umahi said.

The Hon. Minister offered partnership with the NSE in the area of supervision and consultancy.

In his statement earlier, the President of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Engr. Tasiu Sa’ad Gidari Wudil said the aim of the courtesy call was to seek areas of collaboration with their own and described the Hon. Minister as a round peg in a round hole.

“Since after your assumption of office, we have been monitoring your progress, and I must tell you we are not surprised. What you did as governor in Ebonyi State is amazing. We visited you when you were the governor of Ebonyi State…Infact Your Excellency, we are proud of you”.

The President said that the Society which is an umbrella organization for Engineering profession in Nigeria is committed to best Engineering practices.

He enumerated the achievements of the Society and the prospects of their smart office project, and expresssed hope that it would be an innovation hub of the nation.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) on Wednesday said it has made a robust plan for the supply of petroleum products sufficient to last beyond the ember months and the New Year festivities.

Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has charged Nigerians to emulate the selflessness, hard work and sense of excellence of the emeritus Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Most Rev. Anthony Okonkwo Gbuji.

This was even as Pope Francis lauded the pastoral works and spiritual fervour of the retired clergy.

He gave the advice on Wednesday during a holy mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Parish in Emene, Enugu, to mark the episcopal golden anniversary of the bishop.

Mbah, while congratulating the 92-year old clergy said that Enugu was fortunate to have benefitted from Gbuji’s sacrificial and impactful journey as a priest, thanked the bishop for a lifelong dedication to duty and service.

“Let me on behalf of the government and the good people of Enugu State, join His Lordship, the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Most Rev. Calistus Onaga, to also express our profound gratitude and our heartfelt congratulations to the celebrant.

“We must continue to draw inspiration from the celebrant’s life and his sparking episcopal accomplishments. The Church and humanity can never forget his Lordship’s immense contributions to the society. His lordship has never been selfish with the deep knowledge he has been privileged to gather.

“Taking advantage of his various postings, first as a teacher at the St Paul’s Minor Seminary in Benin and subsequently as a Principal at St. Paul’s Grammar School, Ebu, Delta State, he imparted his knowledge in the younger ones.

“From Issele-Uku, His Lordship continued to blaze the trail through the Diocese of Enugu, where he, among many other things, laid the foundation for an initiative like the Godfrey Okoye University that is today one of the leading private universities in the country.

“Another example of His Lordship’s evident penchant for hard work is the New Evangilisation, which has gained him the sobriquet of the Father of New Evangilization.

“So, on behalf of the government and people of Enugu State, I express deep appreciation for the pathfinding roles he has played throughout his life, and the effort he continues to make for the Church and the society at large. His legacies will continue to inspire us” the governor stated.

In his goodwill message, Pope Francis described Gbuji as an outstandingly dedicated servant of God.

“We remember the profound magnanimity of his spiritual fervour, spirit of Evangilisation, active pastural solitude as well as zeal for the aforementioned diocese, his outstanding dedication to the clergy and people of God”, the Pope said.

In his homily, the emeritus Catholic Archbishop of Abuja Diocese, Cardinal John Onayeikan, described Bishop Gbuji as one very dedicated to the building of both the Church and society, a social critique even in the military era, and “a rallying point for peaceful co-existence among priests, religious, and people of God”.

Meanwhile, in his remarks, Bishop Gbuji thanked the Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Most Rev. Callistus Onaga, clergies, and people of Enugu, among others, for celebrating him, pledging to continue to give his best to the Church and society.

The event was graced by many political and spiritual leaders, among them the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi; former governors of Enugu State, Mr Sullivan Chime and Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, seven Catholic Cardinals and 20 bishops.

The Nigerian Senate has approved the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP).

The Honourable Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi, CON and the Honourable Minister of Steel Development, Shuaib Audu have resolved to synergize and strategize in tapping into the opportunities in Ajaokuta Steel Plant for the development of road infrastructure in Nigeria.

In a statement made available to Pacesetter and signed by Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji, the Chief Press Secretary to the Honourable Minister of Works, this was part of the outcome of their inter-ministerial meeting held on November 21, 2023 at the office of the Minister of Works, Federal Ministry of Works, Headquarters, Mabushi- Abuja and “in keeping with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is doing everything possible to reverse the ugly trend of Nigeria’s developmental history and revolutionize national economic development within the shortest period of time”, a part of the statement read.

Continuing, the statement noted that the far reaching resolutions of the two Honourable Ministers underscored the imperative of coordination, cooperation, coherence and complementarity in the execution of Federal Government’s action plans for national development.

Speaking on the outcome of their meeting, the Hon. Minister of Works said that the Ministry of Steel Development would play a major role in the road infrastructure revolution plan envisioned by Mr President by providing more than 16% of the materials needed for the construction of Nigeria’s roads in concrete pavement.

He said that tapping into the opportunities in the Steel Industry would not only create jobs and wealth for Nigeria’s population, but would also create a global market and encourage industrialization.

“How do we reactive Ajaokuta Steel? We are going into concrete road, in this concrete road, about 16 percent of it is from Steel while 30 percent is cement. We need a lot of money to start but we decided to face it and God has given us an idea.

“We need about 35 billion dollars to start. If we start waiting for the federal government, it might become difficult. We did Return On Investment (ROI), the profit we could have made, part of it will go to bank interest, we are looking at commercial banks but the Federal Executive Council has to endorse it. If this could be done, it means Mr President is actually living to his words and this is going to be possible”.

The Hon. Minister of Works also commended the Hon. Minister of Steel Development for his efforts in developing the steel sector, noting that steel industry is the bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialization and the backbone that stimulates national development and economic boost for the industrial growth of any nation.

He (Umahi) assured the Hon. Minister of Steel Development that his Ministry would work collaboratively in his efforts of enhancing the potentialities of Ajaokuta Steel Plant.

“Mr President never made a mistake in his appointment. I call him a Divine President and the most important thing is that our eyes are on the job.

“One of the renewed hope agenda of Mr President is to think outside the box. Mr President inherited a large chunk of debt from the past administration. The beauty about it is that he is not complaining, he knew how the country was before he took the job and how it is. The good thing is that if you have passion for something, God will give you an idea”, Umahi was reported to have said.

Earlier, the Minister of Steel Development said the meeting was robust.

“My mission is a wonderful one. I had a fantastic meeting initiated by the Hon. Minister of Works.

“We are seriously thinking outside the box to see how we can implement the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President. What we came to discuss here is how to restart Steel production at Ajaokuta Steel Plant. The Hon. Minister of Works has made it very clear that the Federal Government is looking to develop over 30,000 kilometers of road and a large component of that will be from Steel wrought and a large percentage of that Steel wrought will be produced in Ajaokuta.

“We came to have a discussion on how to implement the process for producing it in Ajaokuta within the shortest possible time”.

The Hon. Minister of Steel Development emphasized the importance of the initiative by both Ministers and expresssed hope that it would provide the needed economic boost for the nation, generate revenue and provide thousands of direct jobs for skilled and non- skilled technicians and hundreds of thousands of unskilled jobs in Nigeria.

“We are to achieve two or three things, one is to create job opportunities for Nigerians as a whole, two, to ensure that the corridor around the North Central Zone and around the Ajaokuta Warri axis is busy with activities and thirdly, the plant has been inactive for close to four decades and we are here to restart the plant within the shortest possible time”.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari has justified why the naira redesign policy was introduced during the 2023 general election period.

Buhari made this revelation in his first interview since leaving office, which aired on Monday night on the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA).

The Enugu State Government has unveiled the first phase of the Transport Infrastructure Project (TIP) which includes several world-class bus terminals, transport interchanges, logistics hubs, city gates and rail stations across the state, saying they would provide over 11,000 skilled and semi-skilled jobs for the youths and also attract at least ₦47.5 billion investment to the economy.

This development, which was contained in a press statement personally signed by the State Commissioner of Transport, Hon. Obi Ozor, Sunday, added that the state had taken series of ambitious steps in line with Governor Peter Mbah’s vision to reposition and remodel the transport sector and make it one of the leading modern transportation systems in Africa.

“This ambitious undertaking aligns seamlessly with the State’s infrastructure enhancement plan and reflects the Governor’s vision of leveraging transport and logistics to spur economic transportation, drawing inspiration from successful models in Dubai and Singapore.

“This first phase of the project is aimed at optimizing transport efficiency, preserving road assets, and fostering a conducive environment for the growth of transport-related businesses and sustainable logistics to alleviate congestion and enhance connectivity within the state in order to meet the rapidly urbanizing and growing population of the state,” the statement reads in part.

While explaining that the project would be strategically distributed across major hubs in the state for maximum economic impact, the Commissioner noted that the modern transport interchanges and bus terminals would include the Enugu Central Station (Holy Ghost), Garki Central Station, Abakpa Central Station, and Nsukka Central Station, adding that the logistic hubs would be sited at Obollo Afor, 9th Mile Corner and Emene to address the shortages in existing infrastructure.

The statement further revealed that two iconic “City Gates” would be located at the Naira Triangle, Enugu, and 9th Mile, Udi, to enhance the aesthetic appeal and foster a sense of identity and pride among residents, while road markings, junction improvements and bus stop upgrades would streamline traffic management and enhance pedestrian safety.

“Enugu Central Station will commence shortly opposite the Holy Ghost Cathedral. It promises to bring peace, decency, and order to an area that has challenged previous administrations’ attempts at transformation.

“Featuring two terminals dedicated to interstate and intra-city transport for ease of movement of people to the most prominent economic hub in Enugu State, an ultra-modern train station, and a myriad of amenities such as over 1,000 parking spaces, hundreds of lettable spaces for businesses, ticketing halls, external bus shelters, CNG/LNG daughter stations, filling stations, lounges, electric vehicle and a solar farm roof, this comprehensive approach ensures convenience, sustainability, and economic opportunities for users and businesses alike”, the statement added.

Explaining further that the Enugu Central Station is strategically positioned to accommodate millions of commuters, utilizing both road and rail transportation, Obi Ozor said that it holds tremendous potential for the Southeast, controlling about 41% of human traffic in the region, facilitating movement to and from the 2nd largest Southeast market (Ogbete Main Market), and fostering intergroup relations and economic prosperity.

While noting that major stakeholders whose properties could be affected, especially the Nigerian Railway Corporation, had already been engaged by the governor with plans of compensation and assistance by the government, the commissioner said the project would curb criminal activities, enhance security and safety of motorists and passengers, improve sanitation system and eliminate the current gridlocks within the metropolis.

“The current market area has become a notorious hub for criminal activities. The project reconfigure the layout, minimising hidden spaces and fostering a more secure environment to discourage criminal elements”, the statement noted.

Obi Ozor, who disclosed the official signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between his ministry and the China Rail and Bridge Company (CRBC), said the strategic partnership aims to establish a 382km rail infrastructure to foster the integration and economic prosperity of the Southeast.

On the state government’s relationship with the Nigeria Railway Corporation, he refuted rumours of the government’s alleged plan to take over railway properties for commercial development, saying that on the contrary, the state was planning to run intra-state operations in partnership with the corporation.

“The Enugu State Ministry of Transport has been actively engaging with stakeholders, including the Nigeria Railway Corporation, to address concerns and provide accurate information about the interchange project at Holy Ghost. In a series of meetings, including a town hall with Governor Peter Mbah, he reassured them of his commitment to fair compensation and adherence to legal processes”, the statement emphasized.

Stating that a considerable number of stakeholders had expressed support for the interchange project given its potential benefits to the community and the statement at large, the statement assured of the ministry’s commitment to transparent and inclusive process in all its development projects.