
With about three weeks to go, President Goodluck Jonathan is yet making promises of developing certain infrastructure in the country. This is just as his inspection of certain projects in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) yesterday, caused hiccups in vehicular movement in parts of the city as major roads leading to the city centre were blocked.
The ensuing traffic snarl caused many commuters to spend several hours in the traffic jam created by the arrangement, which was to ensure that Jonathan, his team and those of the FCT Administration (FCTA) had a smooth inspection of the projects.
While inspecting the Musa Yar'dua expressway, the president stated that though his tenure would end on May 29, his administration would make sure that the projects, which have attained 98 per cent completion would be completed before he leaves office.
According to him, "This project is a project that all my colleagues, the Heads of State that visited Abuja always appreciated. I remember the president of The Gambia the last time we had the centenary anniversary, he said anytime you are coming to Abuja, you see something different, that he cannot recognise Abuja again because this road really changed the face of Abuja.
"Be rest assured that this project will be completed before the 29th of May. When you visit a country, the airport and the roadblocks leading to the airport give you the first impression of the country and that's why we are quite passionate about it, and we want to do a similar thing in Lagos".
While inspecting the rail project, Jonathan expressed satisfaction with the level of completion, which he noted was dear to him, and insisted that without a functional rail system in any nation, "you cannot talk about mass transit".
"Mass transit cannot be built on taxis, small buses and even the big buses are too expensive, they are for short runs. But for real effective mass transit where commuters are meant to pay very low rate, then of course the rail system is key," he added.
The president explained further that that was why the government has plans for city rails like this and inter-city rail system, stressing that the target was at the national level, and to make sure that every state capital is linked up by the railway system.