May 13, (THEWILL)- The recent promise by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, that respite is coming for motorists and passengers plying the notoriously dangerous Abuja-Kaduna- Kano Expressway is a very welcome development.
The Minister made the promise when the Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sanni, paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja, saying the Federal Government was committed to completing the highway within the next one year.
Many Nigerians are quite scared of travelling along that route as it has become one of the most dangerous roads in the country.
Notorious as a hotspot for bandits and kidnappers, it is also a highway many motorists and commuters fear because of the high rate of fatal accidents along the stretch.
THEWILL recalls that the expansion and rehabilitation of the 375.9 km of the Dual Carriageway from the Federal Capital Territory through Kaduna, excluding the Kaduna bypass, on to Zaria and further north to Kano, was originally awarded to Julius Berger Plc.
Considered to be one of Nigeria’s most important highways connecting the northern part of the country to the South and uniting the people, the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway forms a critical part of a larger highway system enabling the movement of people and products from the North to the South and vice versa.
Disclosing the modalities for the completion of the road that has been under rehabilitation for years, Special Adviser (Media) to the Honourable Minister of Works, Orji Uchenna Orji, said in a statement that the tax credit scheme would be partly deployed to fund the project.
“We are going to have the first section of 38 kilometres by 2, which is 76 kilometres, done by Dangote Group of Companies on Tax Credit and it is going to use concrete to do it.
“We will allow the next 82 kilometres for Julius Berger to handle. And then the last 20 kilometres by 2 (which is 40 kilometres) for BUA to handle and to also use concrete to do that,” the statement quoted the Minister as saying.
Promising that work would begin on the project this May and be completed within a year, the Minister said: “I can assure you that the job will start in these three sections within this month of May.”
We commend the Federal Government for its determination to complete this highly important highway within the shortest time possible as it would bring the much-needed relief and respite to Nigerians plying that route on a daily basis.
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