Elder statesman and South South Leader, Chief Edwin Clark has written President Bola Tinubu, congratulating him on the recent award of the coastal road which will stretch from Lagos State down to Calabar, Cross River State, saying that this is a landmark project that when completed, would help the landscape of infrastructural development in Nigeria.
In a letter he wrote Wednesday and made available to Journalists, the Leader of Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF urged the President to give priority to the very important project which will no doubt cater for the security and welfare of our people having regards to the role of the the region in supporting the economy of the entire country.
Clark who called for the Immediate extension of Warri- Itakpe- Lokoja- Abuja rail line and the people will be very grateful to him, just as he urged the President to break the jinx which has been following the historic East-West Road, adding that the Calabar-Itu Road is in an appalling state of disrepair even months after its takeover by NNPC Ltd. The journey from Uyo or Ikot Ekpene to Calabar on this very road used to take about one hour, but today, it takes about four hours due to the collapsed of the road.
The leader of Southern, Middle Belt Leaders Forum, SMBLF said that the Benin-Sapele-Warri Road is not anything different and that recently, women and youths protested over the deplorable state of the road and what followed was devastating calamities where the tankers plying on the same route fell with the content inside and burnt over a hundred vehicles and many people lost their lives.
On the Bodo- Bonny Road Project, Clark asked thus, “if one may ask, what is the status of the US $333m Bodo-Bonny Road, a project expected to open up opportunities for rapid socio-economic development of the areas, even with a reported contribution of US $167m by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Limited, Bonny, which is yet to be completed.”
The letter read, “I bring to you my fatherly greetings during this holy season in which both Lent and Ramadan are being observed by a lot of our citizens. I am writing you, as I have always done, to raise a number of issues relating to infrastructural development of the Niger Delta region, and the country at large.
“COASTAL ROAD FROM LAGOS TO CALABAR
I congratulate you, your Minister of Works and former Governor of Ebonyi State, His Excellency, David Umahi, for the recent award of the coastal road which will stretch from Lagos State down to Calabar, Cross River State. This is a landmark project which if completed, will change the landscape of infrastructural development in Nigeria. It is particularly pleasing to note that this project is being executed as a Public/Private Partnership (PPP). This means that a substantial portion of the funding, which is over ₦1trillion, will be coming from the private sector. I assure you that we will not only endorse this project but will fully extend our support to ensure its completion especially at the areas of the Niger Delta where it will pass through.
“Like Oliver Twist, the Niger Delta people are seriously requesting Mr. President to give priority to the very important project which will no doubt cater for the security and welfare of our people having regards to the role of the the region in supporting the economy of the entire country. The Coastal Road, therefore, could not be a substitution to our immediate requirement. It is estimated that the portion being constructed by the contractor from the Lagos end, may take at least two years to complete before moving to the second phase.
“THE DEVELOPMENT OF LAGOS-CALABAR RAILWAY
“I, however, want to remind Your Excellency that this new coastal road from Lagos to Calabar, as welcome as it is, raises issues as to why the related coastal railway running through the same axis has been abandoned. This made the headlines recently and we applauded it as it will open up all the communities in the west to east axis. That west east coastal rail line which was supposed to have a length of 1,402 kilometres at the time when it was conceived, had a budget of $11.17 billion and was even passed by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in 2021 under President Muhammadu Buhari. I am sure Mr. President not only me but many Nigerians will like to know what has happened to this very important coastal rail line project. This is especially as we know that other rail projects including to neighbouring Niger Republic are going on very well as recently reported by the Minister of Transportation.
I have also looked into the internet and the available information there about Lagos-Calabar Railway project is shown below;
“Lagos-Calabar Railway also known as West-East Coastal Rail Line is a 1,400 kilometres standard-gauge coastal railway from Lagos to Calabar. Connecting Lagos State in Southwest to the Southern Coastal cities in the south.
“The Lagos-Calabar Railway Line Project was conceived by the administration of Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 with approval from the Federal Executive Council. However, the project never sees the light of the day.
In February 2016, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari agreed with the Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China to finance part of the project.
In April 2017, the project plans were approved and announced by the Federal Government; however, by September of the same year, the Exim Bank of China communicated its inability to fund the Lagos-Calabar rail project.
“In March 2021, Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of transportation, insinuated plans (loan) for alternate funding options, leading to the Federal Government entering into a counterpart funding with Standard Chartered Bank for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal rail with US$11bn out of the US$14.4bn needed for the implementation of the project.
By August 2021, the Federal Executive Council approved the ratification of the award of a contract worth US$11,174,769,721.74 for the implementation of the project”.
“THE IMMEDIATE EXTENSION OF WARRI-ITAKPE-LOKOJA-ABUJA. The Ujevwu Railway line, Warri which runs through many towns and villages in Delta, Edo, and Kogi States and was earlier built for the purpose of transportation of steel materials from Delta Steel Company (DSC) Aladja, Warri, to Ajaokuta Steel Mill, Kogi State, was abandoned when DSC Aladja, Warri was no longer functioning. We were all very happy when the services of the railway line were converted to commercial enterprise which enable Delta, Edo and Kogi states to travel through the rail line. The services had been very successful and the most popular, secured and reliable means of transportation in Nigeria at the moment, and people are now demanding for the extension of the rail line to Abuja as a matter of urgency, particularly at this time when our roads are not only collapsed but insecure posing as death traps to commuters.
“Your Excellency, we are pleading with you to choose this extension of this rail line to Abuja as a matter of urgency and the people will be very grateful to you.
“THE UNENDING EAST-WEST ROAD. The other matter that bothers me is the jinx which has been following the historic East-West Road. This road which is supposedly 419 kilometres covers from the extreme west of Warri in Delta State to Oron in Akwa Ibom State. Unfortunately, each administration that comes into power and each minister that have been in charge of the project have vowed that they would complete the project during their time. As a matter of fact, both Godsday Orubebe who was Minister of Niger Delta during the Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and Senator Godswill Akpabio openly declared to Nigeria that the finishing of the road will become a thing of the past during their tenures.
Unfortunately, this turned out to be a wild dream. None of these two Ministers who are sons of the soil pay serious attention to the development and completion of the road. So many prominent and competent international contractors were awarded the contract including Julius Berger, Cetraco, Ghitto, RCC etc. The Ministers in charge made no effort to deal with the insecurity of the road project leading to the pull-out of Julius Berger, and there was no replacement but the portion of the road earlier allocated to Julius Berger was again shared among the existing contractors, and this affected the construction and completion of the road. In fact, it was during this period the Managing Director of Ghitto Construction Company, an Italian, died in the office of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs while he was discussing with the Minister in his office.
“Senator Godswill Akpabio, who is now our President of the Senate, was made Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs at a time when Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) which was under the portfolio of the Presidency has been transferred to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. Instead of Senator Godswill Akpabio to concentrate on the East West road, he devoted most of his time to the administration of the NDDC including the completion of the 11 storey building of the NDDC. He almost assumed the role of the Managing Director of the NDDC leading to the involvement of National Assembly Committee which had a long drawn battle with Senator Godswill Akpabio and the member of the interim management leading to the accusation and counter accusation involving corruption.
“As a leader, I am aware that the sum of ₦20b was made available by the Federal Government to repair the road between Yenagoa junction and Kaiama where the road has not been passable. According to Senator Godswill Akpabio, the sum of about ₦75b later made available by the Federal Government to complete the East West road, Mr. President later directed that the money should be transferred to the Federal Ministry of Works, and Senator Godswill Akpabio said his Ministerial colleagues from the south-south were already seated with Mr. President when he summoned him. Today, the East West road which is one of the important economic routes in Nigeria has not been completed after 11years.
“The East-West road remains an ugly stain on Nigeria’s Political Administrative logic, especially for something considered a Signature Project, because of its economic significance. No substantial inch of construction work has been added in the 8 years of the Buhari Administration. Sections of the road supposedly constructed were washed away like whitewash on walls by the 2022 floods, obviously due to the poor standard of work done.
“Finally on East West road, I am disappointed and embarrassed to say that President Goodluck Jonathan did not pressurize the completion of the East West road, but he allowed the Ministers to do what they like on their own. I still remember the clash between Godsday Orubebe and Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi over the East West road. As the Chairman of the occasion at the event, I called on President Goodluck Jonathan not to leave the Niger Delta poorer than he met it through my address in 2011.
“I went further to states that from the available information, in terms of kilometres (length of the roads), the South-South has the least with only 52.2 kilometres. The North Central had 1,479.9 kilometres; North West had; North East had; South-East had 122 kilometres and South West had 119 kilometres. The question we asked at the time was what were the reasons for such an absurd distribution? What was the yardstick?
“Finally, it is at this juncture I want to urge you Mr. President, for you to use your authority and stamp your name in gold by completing these priority roads and make it a thing of the past.
This also has a moral implication because this is where the wealth of the country i.e. Money from oil comes from and it is a matter of equity and fairness that we have a good road on which people can pass.
Once more, Mr. President, I want to assure you that on such noble effort, you can count on my support and that of the entire people of the south-south.”
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