The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Boko Haram insurgency

  • Insurgency stalls work on Eastern rail line

    Insurgency stalls work on Eastern rail line

    WORK on the Eastern rail line passing through the Northeast from Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri has been stalled by Boko Haram insurgency, The Nation has learnt.

    The contractor, China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), has suspended work on the Northeastern route until normalcy is restored. The project was expected to be completed this month end.

    The rail, the second major arterial line linking Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri, the heart of Boko Haram’s insurgency, was abandoned over 20 years ago before it was resuscitated by the present government.

    A source said though the feasibility studies on the Eastern line had long been completed, work  cannot begin on Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states axis because of insurgency.

    The source however said the Port Harcourt-Calabar-Aba-Umuahia-Enugu route, covering 340km, is almost completed, adding that passenger activity would soon resume on the route.

    At the unveiling of the air-conditioned coaches and two Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) locomotives in Lagos in September, the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) Managing Director Adeseyi Sijuwade, said the five locomotives to be delivered before the end of the year, would be deployed on the Eastern line.

    According to the source, the routes on which feasibility studies have been completed and on which construction has reached advanced stage are; the Lagos – Abuja high speed line (615km); Ajaokuta-Obajana- Jakura-Boro-Abuja with additional line extension from Otukpe to Anyingba-Nsukka-Aguleri- Onitsha covering 821km.

    Others are the Zaria-Kaura Namoda-Nnewi-Owerri-Illela- Birni Konni (Niger Republic) covering 520km as well as Benin- Agbor-Onitsha-Nnewi-Owerri- Aba with additional line from Onitsha- Enugu-Abakaliki covering 500km and the Eganyi-Lokoja -Abaji-Abuja line covering 280km have their feasibility studies completed.”

    The 35.4km Kano- Bichi-Katsina-Jibiya route; and the 408km Sokoto-Birni Kebbi- Jega-Yaur-Makera routes is also nearing completion.

    The stabilisation of the railway following increased investment in more modern coaches and wagons would lead to a more service-focused corporation that would be the pride of Nigerians who have been longing for a railway that will be the backbone of the nation’s public transportation.

    When the railway system  comes on stream, it would reduce pressure on the highways and other road networks in the country, he added.

    The source described rail as the most reliable, affordable, and safe mode of transportation patronised by the masses and the middle class and its efficiency may reduce the pressure on housing stocks in urban centres and equally have tremendous effect on other sectors of the economy.

  • How to end Boko Haram insurgency, by Buhari

    How to end Boko Haram insurgency, by Buhari

    Former military head of state, Gen, Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), wants an immediate end to bickering between the federal and state governments over security issues if the ongoing threats to life and property in the country must cease.

    Buhari, reviewing the situation in the country, advocated a holistic approach.

    “Security agencies of the (federal) government need closer cooperation with civilian security infrastructure which is in place but seldom considered as a part of the security effort,” he said against the backdrop of the effort to rescue the over 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram in Borno State.

    He added: ”The local government structure from ward to district to state level is an excellent starting point for an over-all new security initiative. State-wide effort should be carefully coordinated with federal authorities. It should be a bottom-to-top operation. The bickering between Abuja and the states should cease if we are serious in wanting to win the war and end the conflict. All moneys voted must demonstrably be seen to be spent on security.”

    He asked all Nigerians to “come together with unequivocal support to the government and security agencies in this fight against mindless violence and mad-cap ideologies.”

    He said the country should have “one narrative” about Boko Haram, which he slammed as an abhorrent, anti-Islamic, anti-religion and anti-human sect.

    He welcomed the internationalization of the rescue effort but said the command and control of the operation should be led by Nigerians while foreign forces should “respect the country’s sovereignty and be wary of local sensitivities.”

    On the economy,General Buhari ,faulted the recent rebase of the economy which made Nigeria’s the largest in Africa.

    He said the figures “are at variance with the lived experience of our citizens” with poverty,according to him, “so visible, so general and so extreme.”

    Government, he stressed, “must take a serious look at our economic policy priorities and rebalance our policies in favour of agriculture and manufacturing to take people out of poverty and make them consumers for the expansion of the productive private sector and manufacturing.”

    Such policies, he said, must create jobs for millions of young unemployed and create opportunities for the millions entering job market every year.