By Abdullahi Alhassan, Kaduna
The Concerned Northern Forum has called on Nigerians, especially northern elites to support the Minister of Works, Engineer Dave Umahi and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as they labour tirelessly to achieve the ambitious renewed hope agenda.
The group made this call while reacting to a motion on the floor of the Senate by the former Governor of Gombe State and Senator representing Gombe Central, Senator Danjuma Goje, alleging that the North East has been excluded from the Renewed Hope road projects across the country.
In a press release signed and made available to journalists in Abuja by its spokesman, Comrade Abdulsalam Mohammed Kazeem, the group empathised with the distinguished Senator and other persons who share his sentiments but maintained that it is too early to complain as the administration is just one year in office with a lot of projects on the drawing board.
The release reads in part, “as northerners, we identify and applaud Senator Goje for his impeccable representation. We are however, constrained to point out that it is too early to complain as it is unrealistic to flood the entire country with projects all at the same time in order not to overwhelm the Ministry of Works in it’s oversight functions.
“Aside from that, major legacy projects are currently ongoing in the northern region like the Badagry-Sokoto Superhighway connecting the North West and the Kaduna-Abuja section of the Abuja-Kano-Maiduguri redesigned dual carriageway and many others. Plans are definitely underway to mobilise contractors to site on some parts of the Kano-Maidguri section of the road. It’s just a matter of time”.
The group therefore called on Senator Goje and other agitators to rather support the President and the Hon. Minister of Works to deliver on the Renewed Hope Agenda, adding that the projects are in phases and there’s no way any region will be excluded as the Renewed Hope Agenda is a detailed and pragmatic blueprint for the overall development of Nigeria.
“As core nationalists, there’s no way the Minister of Works or Mr. President will exclude the North East from his legacy projects, moreso that it is the home of Nigeria’s most trusted and loyal Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima. We must understand that these projects are in phases and it’ll get to every region in no distant time as the goal is to holistically develop the whole nation.
“In fact, even without the motion raised by Senator Danjuma Goje, the Ministry of Works has been auditing previous road contracts and plans are already on the way to commence work on the Akwanga-Jos-Adamawa road project that was awarded by the former administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in spirit of continuity of governance.
“As a progressive government that listens to the yearnings of Nigerians, the Calabar-Makurdi-Jalingo-Yola-Maiduguri Highway as suggested by the Senator will be given the desired attention at the right time. All that’s needed at the moment is patience and an unwavering support for Mr. President’s policies and projects”, the statement concluded.