Nigerians will have free train travel in the country’s capital for two months, according to a Thursday announcement made by Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, or FCT.
As part of the celebrations for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s first year in office, he gave a speech in Abuja at the Ministerial Sectoral Updates.
The Minister of FCT, Mr. Nyesom Wike; Minister of Youth Development, Dr. Jamila Ibrahim Bio; Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu; Minister of State for FCT, Dr. Mariya Mahmud; Minister of State Petroleum, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri; and Minister of State for Youth Development, Mr. Ayodele Olawande, are present at the first session of the Sectoral Briefing.
With the amount of infrastructure improvements underway in the Federal Capital Territory, the Minister stated that “by this time next year, Abuja can compete with every other city of the world in terms of road network.”
He said that given the successes the FCT achieved under his direction, President Tinubu’s acceptance of the FCT’s departure from the Treasury Single Account, or TSA, had been extremely strategic.
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He emphasised that what had previously been commissioned was a building and disclosed that President Tinubu would launch the commercial operation of the Abuja metro line.
“We are discussing business operations, not building commissioning.
The metro line’s ability to function was hampered by the lack of access roads to the stations.
On Monday, May 27, the President will go via the metro; starting on Tuesday, Nigerians will have their chance.
“And as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda, free rides will be provided for two months in an effort to lessen the suffering of our people.”
While enumerating the government’s accomplishments under the FCT, Wike took his time and stated that infrastructure, security, and education had gotten significant attention.
How had Abuja been earlier? Kidnapping was happening every day—one chance, that kind of thing.
However, as soon as we joined the team, we went to each of the six Area Councils and engaged with the locals. They added that security agencies lacked access to any highways.
We followed up on it, and as all the Area Councils can verify, we will have up to 120 km of roads in service by December of this year.
“Unlike before, we have also given security agencies all the logistics they require. The logistics are made available as soon as they wish to proceed with an operation.
You can now go to sleep with your eyes closed. Is the situation any different, even if no community is completely free from crime? Indeed, you can confirm that things aren’t the same as they once were,” he revealed.
The Minister further mentioned that the FCT civil service was seeing the effects of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He claimed that once in power, it was found that there was little hope for the FCT’s government servants.
He said, “The civil officials were stagnant at the director level; they could not advance in rank, and they were not in a position to give it their all.
“As soon as we took office, we reviewed the 2018 law that had been passed and ratified. We emailed the President to request his approval to put the law into effect right away.
They now have optimism thanks to the establishment of the FCT Civil Service Commission, Permanent Secretary, and Head of Service. Regarding the structure, the President has offered people optimism.
“More than 19 schools in the field of education are undergoing rehabilitation.”
Wike promised that the Tinubu government’s Renewed Hope Agenda will affect every area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), including the satellite towns. Wike claimed that the current administration has done more to support the indigenous people of Abuja than previous ones.
