{"id":51564,"date":"2016-07-26T15:17:27","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T14:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=51564"},"modified":"2016-07-26T15:17:27","modified_gmt":"2016-07-26T14:17:27","slug":"buhari-commissions-abuja-kaduna-rail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/buhari-commissions-abuja-kaduna-rail\/","title":{"rendered":"Buhari Commissions Abuja-Kaduna Rail"},"content":{"rendered":"<pre>President Muhammadu Buhari has commissioned the first phase of the\r\nAbuja-Kaduna Standards Rail Gauge with a pledge to ensuring that the\r\ncountry has a working rail system.\r\n\r\nTowards this end, his administration would pursue a 25-Year Strategic\r\nRailway Master Plan which is aimed at rehabilitating the existing 3,505km\r\nnarrow gauge rail line as well as constructing new standard gauge rail\r\nlines across the country.\r\n\r\nThough conceptualized by the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in\r\n2006, the actual execution of the project started in 2009 under the regime\r\nof the administration of Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Buhari said the\r\ncompletion and commissioning of the project marked a major milestone in\r\nthe annals of the country.\r\n\r\nAccording to Buhari, \u201cThe construction of the Abuja-Kaduna Standard Gauge\r\nrail track commenced in 2009 and happily, seven years after, we are on the\r\nthreshold of presenting to Nigerians a Standard Gauge Railway Train\r\nService that will be safe, fast and reliable.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe train service will provide the much needed alternative transport link\r\nbetween the Federal Capital Territory and Kaduna State, a corridor which\r\nhas a huge potential for industries, agricultural activities, and a\r\ngrowing labour force.\r\n\r\n\u201cThis project was conceived by a previous administration, started by the\r\nlast government and I am pleased to complete and commission it.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe President recalled that between 1963 and early 1980s, Nigeria had a\r\nvibrant rail system which conveyed agricultural, livestock and solid\r\nmineral resources to Lagos and Port Harcourt sea ports from where they\r\nwere exported.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt is our vision and hope that those good old days will soon be back with\r\nus and indeed in a more prosperous way with the restoration of rail\r\ntransport system which today\u2019s occasion,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\nHe commended the Minister of Transportation Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi and\r\nhis team to have put great efforts in the last few months towards ensuring\r\nthe successful completion of this project under the present\r\nadministration.\r\n\r\nBuhari noted that the commissioning of the project was in line with the\r\nvision of bringing about the desired change to make life easier for the\r\ngenerality of Nigerians through the development and provision of the\r\nnecessary social and physical infrastructure.\r\n\r\n\u201cIn this regard, I wish to assure Nigerians that most State capitals and\r\nmajor commercial and production centres will be linked with railway system\r\nas a way of bringing about rapid socio-economic development and improving\r\nthe quality of life of the Nigerians and promoting social and regional\r\nintegration.\r\n\r\n\u201cFurthermore, I wish to also reassure Nigerians that due attention will be\r\nplaced on pursuing the 25-Year Strategic Railway Master Plan which is\r\naimed at rehabilitating the existing 3,505km narrow gauge rail line and\r\ndeveloping and constructing new standard gauge rail lines across the\r\ncountry.\r\n\r\n\u201cAs we celebrate the symbolic return of rail service today I wish to\r\nreiterate the commitment of this Administration to pursue with greater\r\nvigour and determination rehabilitation and construction of other rail\r\nlines including the major Lagos-Calabar and Kano-Lagos lines.\r\n\r\n\u201cAs we get down to work, I look forward to flagging off many more lines\r\noutlined in our transport policy programme.\u201d Buhari said.\r\n\r\nFormer FCT Minister and Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, under\r\nwhom the project was initiated lamented that the project which was\r\nintended to be completed in only four years had to be abandoned because\r\nthe subsequent governments were not interested in it.\r\n\r\nHe said it was regrettable that only a portion of the project that was to\r\ncost N8 billion was commissioned 10 years down the line. But he commended\r\nPresident Buhari for buying into the vision of the Obasanjo administration\r\nin providing a cheaper and more affordable means of transportation to the\r\nteeming Nigerian population by revisiting the project.\r\n\r\nFCT Minister, Muhammad Musa Bello, in his welcome remarks, said the\r\ncompletion and commissioning of the project would mark a complete\r\nturnaround in the economic lives of residents of the Territory, who are\r\nthe immediate beneficiary of the project.\r\n\r\nThe minister assured that the Abuja intercity rail project being executed\r\nby the FCT was 77 percent completed, assuring that by December 2017, the\r\nproject would be completed and commissioned.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/pre>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Muhammadu Buhari has commissioned the first phase of the Abuja-Kaduna Standards Rail Gauge with a pledge to ensuring that the country has a working rail system. Towards this end,&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Buhari Commissions Abuja-Kaduna Rail - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/buhari-commissions-abuja-kaduna-rail\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Buhari Commissions Abuja-Kaduna Rail - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Muhammadu Buhari has commissioned the first phase of the Abuja-Kaduna Standards Rail Gauge with a pledge to ensuring that the country has a working rail system. 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