By Dele Ogbodo
President Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday pledged federal government’s commitment to link Northern and Southern Nigeria with standard rail gauge by 2021.
He said the present administration is committed to rebuilding infrastructure that supports the means of transportation from the ports to the hinterland.
President Buhari, made the disclosure while declaring open the Africa regional conference of ports and harbours in Abuja.
According to him, the inter-connectivity between the North and South will improve the country’s economic competitiveness as targeted under the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).
He said: “So for starters, I have directed that every port must have the complement of rail infrastructure. Our projection is that by the end of year 2021, we will have standard gauge railway across the main North-South trading route.
“The same level of serious attention is being given to the improvement of road infrastructure.
“At the moment, 25 major highways and 44 roads are under construction across the six geo political zones of the country.”
According to him, the major inland river channels are being dredged with adequate channel markings for ease of navigation through the Eastern and Northern parts of the country, stressing that, that is the best way to go if we plan to remain competitive in the maritime industry.
African countries, Buhari, said are facing the same developmental challenges as well as being endowed with large human capital and natural resources, adding that there is need to work together towards confronting those challenges.
“One of the resources that we can proudly speak about as Africans is our maritime endowments. A situation in which at least 39 of the 54 countries on the continent are either littoral or island states makes the formulation of policies for the effective utilization of our waters to our economies expedient.” He said.