Nigeria's Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, says Nigerians have run out of
patience with the current administration because “their pocket is
getting dried”.
He said
most people were more interested in having resources in their “pockets”
than the structural changes that the federal government planned to put
in place.
The
minister, who said there was no money to run the government, said the
All Progressives Congress (APC) government underestimated the challenges
ahead of it.
He also appealed to Nigerians to exercise patience, assuring them that they would have the course to rejoice.
He was speaking in Abuja on Tuesday at a forum organised by NAN.
“We
encountered challenges; were we expecting to encounter those challenges?
Yes; did we think that we will meet the quantum or volume of those
challenges?” he asked.
“We
didn’t anticipate that things were this bad. We thought you go to
government and there would be money for you to run government and
others.
“Now
you have the situation where there is no money to run government. I hate
to use the word difficult; I hate to use the word impossible but we met
things close to difficult and impossibility.
“That
is why Nigerians are impatient; they want to see results and for them,
change is not about change in structure, it is about change in their
pocket.
“Because their pocket is getting dried and they wanted us to put some more resources in their pocket.
“What I
usually say to people is that we beg you to give us time; we will
achieve our objective if you give us time and we will both thank God for
that opportunity.”
Amaechi also said his ministry will in a few years formulate policies that will ensure proper regulation of land transportation.
He said the federal government needs over $50.9 billion in the next five years to develop transportation infrastructure.
“We
need over 50.9 billion dollars in the next five years to develop
infrastructure and 50 billion dollars is not a joke,” he said.
“One of
the infrastructure we are trying to develop is the railway
infrastructure; the president has kindly agreed that he will fund it
because the contract was awarded by Obasanjo, the former president; he
awarded the contract for Lagos to Kano.
“President
Jonathan awarded the contract for Lagos to Calabar, what the president
has agreed to do is to fund it; he said can we fund the ones we have
already awarded; no more awards until we have developed the ones we have
awarded.So we are focusing on the Lagos to Kano railway and the Lagos to Calabar rail line.If
you look at the communities surrounding this rail line; Lagos to Kano
will start from Lagos to Ibadan; it will impact on so many sectors of
the economy including housing; people who ordinarily will not be able to
pay for house rent in Lagos can live in Ibadan, can live in Ogun and
come to work in Lagos.”
He blamed the cause of road mishaps more on poor infrastructure rather than the quality of mass transit buses being used.
Responding
to a question on the payment for the use of trolleys at the airports,
Amaechi said the situation was not peculiar to Nigeria.
“There are so many airports you go to and you have to pay for the use of trolleys,” he said.
“In Washington DC for instance, you have to put your dollar in and pick your stuff; it is not a Nigerian thing alone.
“An
airport runs itself. If it’s viable, somebody will come and say he wants
to supply trolleys because he knows that he will make money from it.
“I am
not saying they are not right, but I am saying it’s a thing that is very
rare. There are areas you go, you get free trolleys and there are areas
you go and you pay and Nigeria is one of those areas where you pay for
their use because an airport should run itself.”
EGBESU 09
alfamohammed
AgainstTheGrain
