WEDNESDAY COLUMN BY USSIJU MEDANER
info@medaner.com, justme4justice@yahoo.com
The current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari government is quite unlucky to be deprived of the due recognition it deserves from its decisive stance on national infrastructural revival of the country. It is without doubt, that like never before, the nation, under the current government, has witnessed huge spread of infrastructural development that defies comparison with what was obtainable in the country over the last few decades.
Globally, the measure of national development has been a measure of the combination of the nation’s economic growth and its infrastructural development; since independence, the problem of Nigeria has been the cumulative non-development of the country infrastructure. Government after government, regardless of income windfalls of several times, has failed to meet the infrastructural requirements of the nation; we had ended up pilling up over the decades uncompleted infrastructural projects across the country, that left the country permanently with the infrastructural gap and economic underdevelopment that cumulatively accompanied it and become our greatest nemesis.
The list of much needed but abandoned projects across the country grew to an alarming level until we lost count and accept the anomaly as part of our failures as a people. Countless number of abandoned road constructions; the Ajaokuta Steel, several notable strategic rail projects, among an unending list. The nation Airports were internationally rubbished and rated unsafe by all aviation standards; this is as much as development in agriculture and many other critical sectors were beautifully crafted on papers but never transform to physical realities for the gains of the country.
By some unexplainable reasons, we refuse to acknowledge that on infrastructures, Nigeria today is a better place than it has ever been. Though there are insecurities and untold hardships caused by the very many agony of the absence of trusted safety in the country, but, in reality, the reason why we chose to blanket the massive infrastructural plus for the country, is because we prefer to hunt for what is not working; for faults that allow us the opportunity to criticize; because ours is the choice to see and speak nothing good about a government we are not in tandem with. Someone in America; in the fold of the Republican said, if we acknowledge it, it would be our doom and I suddenly realize while the opposition would go to all length to rubbish all the good works of the government to stay relevant and probably electable.
Every day we see progress on the second Niger Bridge; yet we would prefer it is never discuss as a positive for the government or the nation because that discussion would rob positively on a person and a party we wouldn’t want anything good to be associated with. After all the theoretical paper work of a much needed bridge that was never done, commitment and obvious results glare us all in the face and we wouldn’t accept it or praise it.
The nation’s international airport were once sidelined by international aviation body and labeled unsafe. The abject lack of quality and conscious practices that guarantee quality assurances made them an eyesore as we travel around the airports in those days. Today, our airports are not only up to date in standardization, but have become a haven for all who use them. Yet, there has been no praises or recognition of good work done from quarters and individuals who specializes in finding faults and criticizing the government for doing nothing.
The Abuja light rail; and a lot of rail networks are been opened across the country. the Lagos-Ibadan rail passage, the Itakpe-Warri corridor, the ongoing work on the Ibadan-Kano corridor, and work on the corridors linking the south-south to the core north that is about to begin are all testament of the gains in the sector, but which we all refused to acknowledge. We are having huge reliefs taking safer and cheaper trips via rail in places we had long given up hopes of the same. The railway passage has reduced considerable tension on road movement of huge commodity goods over the last one year. And works are ongoing across several other corridors that would be joining the trail soonest. Unfortunately, the only thing we see in the entire boost in the nation’s railway transportation system is the huge loans from China and the need to join the trail of those that propagate the indebtedness of the country to China.
Not only is the Muhammadu Buhari led government doing the unexpected in the railway transportation sector, but apart from going into an agreement with China to train selected Nigerian youths in transportation Engineering which curriculum include train assembly and servicing, the government has embark on the construction of a train manufacturing plant in Ogun state to produce railway stocks including coaches. We are looking at an investment that would most likely define the future of the nation’s transportation industry efficiency as much as a broad job creation outlet for thousands of Nigerians.
The great boost in electricity generation and supply has not been as good as it is in today Nigeria in recent time. the government bold engagement of Siemen, the German power giant is about to fully redefine the nation electricity configuration; we are already fixing the generation, distribution and metering problems simultaneously to evolve an efficient power system for the country. Complaints about non-availability of electricity has been on a considerable decreasing over time; several strategic markets and institutions of learning have been equipped with self power plant to permanently solve power problems that cripple activities in such locations. This, a lot of markets across the country and universities are already beneficiaries of while others are on the line. Someone, rightly deserve kudos for this jobs, but none is forthcoming.
This and many more are happening at a time when national revenue dwindles. We have had good times when our crudes sold as high as $100 per barrel and never went down below $70 over a ten year period. We have had the times when the country was financially comfortable; when we had the capacity to embark on infrastructural development spree, but we prioritize sharing of national wealth and completing national projects only on papers. That was the same time when despite huge incomes we still borrow in the names of projects that are never to be done only to fight over the sharing of the money in our respected places. It is different in the last six years, crude price had crashed to as low as $20 dollars at some points and has consistently remain as low as below $50 dollars for the entire period of the years on the average; yet, this accompanied by the unfavorable dollar –naira exchange rate has not been able to deter the development we have seen in infrastructure in the last six years. Borrowed money has been put to good use and for the purpose they were secured.
The abiding insecurities across the states have done this government more disservice than any other dynamic, including the hatred of the opposition. The Muhammadu Buhari led government must become more resolute in it assaults against the forces behind the national insecurities, sparing no one and no means, regardless of what the die-critics would invent tomorrow. Until there come some respite for Nigerians from the bites of insecurities, the oppositions, PDP, and groups sworn to discredit the government, would continue to have a field day in Nigeria and it would remain immaterial what the gains are in other sectors because PDP would not allow the people to see and appreciate them.
But someday, security or otherwise, history will lay bear the truth, and Nigerians will see the truth, recognize the truth and praise the truth; however, from me kudos to the architect of good works.
GOD BLESS THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA !
