Niger State government has called on the Federal Government to expedite action and ensure completion of the Suleja-Minna dual carriage road before the rainy season sets in.
It said that the deplorable condition of the road was robbing the state of immeasurable wealth.
“Abandoning the road is not only discouraging prospective investors and others interested in partnering the state for socio-economic benefits but a death trap dreaded by motorists plying the road,” the state commissioner of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa, said.
Vatsa stated on Wednesday that the state government was concerned over the delay in completion of the road, adding that the condition could be worst if not completed before the rains set in.
On the federal government’s choice of
Kaduna instead of Minna Airport which is closer to Abuja while rehabilitating the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport runway, Vatsa said that it was because the Minna-Suleja road was in very bad shape.
“Niger State lost out to stand in the gap not because Minna Airport is not spacious with or has good runway far better than that of Kaduna but because the link road between Abuja and Minna which if good would have been just less than two hours drive for travelers, is in bad shape”.
Vatsa said that the government and people of Niger State felt cheated that Minna Airport was not considered as it would have required less to put the road in good condition than what has been set aside for the upgrading of the Kaduna domestic airport.
Aside other variables that will invariably discourage foreign airlines from landing in Kaduna Airport, the commissioner said that he was not happy the state was being denied the opportunity to showcase some of its socio-economic, culture and tourism potentials to the outside world.
Vatsa argued that the bad condition of the Suleja-Minna road as claimed by the Presidency was not tenable because “more hands would have been deployed to ensure speedy completion of the project which could have taken between two to three weeks to complete.
“We are more worried that the work along the Suleja-Minna road is at a very slow pace and it would be difficult plying the road during rainy season hence the call by Niger state government on the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatude Fashola (SAN), to give priority attention for completion before the rains set in”.
With considerable support from Governor Sani Bello in ensuring that the road is completed on time, Vatsa said the level of work on ground was not encouraging hence the need for the federal government to compel the contractors to hasten up its completion.