Daura transport university to gulp $50 million

By Albert Akota

The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) is set to commence construction of the Transportation University Daura, which is expected to gulp about $50 million.
The University will also have a primary school especially for the lecturers who will come from outside, as well as a Day Secondary School.
The Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi who disclosed this to Journalists at the weekend after a tour of the site as well as a visit to the Emir of Daura, said that construction will start at the end of September 2020 and hopefully be completed by the end of September 2021.
According to him, “We are here to find out whether they have commenced construction, don’t forget that it is a gift and not a railway contract, so they may not be as dedicated as they would be when it comes to a proper contract.
What they assured us is that, whether a gift or not, they will give it the same attention they give to railway construction. We can’t tie them to a timeline, this is not a federal government contract, it is their own business.
“They just got approval from the state government and proper construction will start at the end of September 2020 and hopefully they should be able to complete it by the end of September 2021.
“The idea is that there should be a primary school especially for the lecturers who will come from outside, there should be two buildings in the primary school, a day secondary school and then the university”, he said.
Speaking on the arrangements for manpower to run the university, he said that CCECC will provide all that for 5 years by which time the Federal government should have been able to get their own technical staff.
During the visit to the Emir of Daura, the Minister thanked him for providing land for the University, adding that the University is free of charge and not part of the railway contract. “We spoke with CCECC and told them that we needed a university to train Nigerians who will take over from them.
“Nigerians will come here from every part of the country to study and those who will teach here will not only come from Daura but other parts of Katsina and Nigeria and like I got to know, this is the cradle of the Hausa civilization. At the site today, TEAM agreed to provide consultancy free of charge”, he said.
The Minister also visited the Governor of Katsina state, Aminu Bello Masari, who disclosed that they will support the company with Security and other things they will need to make their stay safe.
When completed, the university is expected to train Nigerians who will take over from the Chinese especially in manning the railway and other transportation needs of the country.