Minister replies North-east govs on Maiduguri-Enugu rail rehabilitation

Minister of Transportation, Senator Ahmed Saidu Alkali , has responded to appeal by the North east governors requesting the federal government to consider the reconstruction of the Maiduguri-Enugu-Port Harcourt rail track in order to open up economic activities in the corridor.

He said he will visit Port Harcourt next week to inspect the narrow gauge corridor and interact with the contractor.The North-east Governors’ Forum (NEGF), comprising of the governors of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Yobe, Gombe and Taraba had at its 8th meeting in Maiduguri, Borno state last Saturday, September 9th called on the federal government to consider the reconstruction of the basic infrastructure along Enugu-Maiduguri Economic Corridor, especially the rail line.

In a communiqué signed by the host governor of Borno state and Chairman of NEGF, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, the forum noted with dismay the seeming neglect of road and railway infrastructure, especially along the economic corridors that links the North-east sub-region to the rest of the country.

The communiqué noted that “the roads from Enugu to Maiduguri are in deplorable state. Equally worse is the railway from Enugu up to Maiduguri which has been destroyed. The forum is calling on the federal government to look into the situation and consider the reconstruction of these basic infrastructures along Enugu-Maiduguri Economic Corridor.

This is a major route for regional trade and very important for integration, peace building and improving national unity. This is a major route for regional trade and very important for integration, peace building and improving national unity.”

Responding to inquiries by our correspondent in Lagos during a tour of railway facilities in the South west, the minister said, “On the Maiduguri-Port Harcourt line, I have just started the visitation in continuation of my efforts to revamp the rail sector after I took over as Minister of Transportation, by the special grace of God, I will be in Port Harcourt next week to inspect the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri segment, after the interaction with the contractors, then I will be fully briefed and then I can give the situation report.”