Afenifere Tackles Buhari over State of Infrastructure in S’West

* Says president not in touch with reality

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan and Amameh Gabriel in Abuja

A Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, yesterday said the position of President Muhammadu Buhari on the infrastructure his administration provided for Nigeria is nothing but another indication that those in the corridors of power did not seem to be in touch with the present reality in the country.

President Buhari had said if not for the intervention of his administration especially, on rail and road projects, “people, especially, those from the South West, could have been trekking from Lagos to Ibadan”.
He stated this when he received in audience, a delegation from Kaduna State, led by the Emir of Zazzau, Ahmed Bamalli, and the state’s Deputy Governor, Hadiza Balarabe, at the State House, Abuja.

The president while acknowledging the primacy of road, rail and power in the growth of a business or country, said this was why his administration focused on the development of infrastructure, pointing to Abuja-Kaduna and Ibadan-Lagos lines.

But Afenifere while taking the president up on the claim, said although the resuscitation of Lagos-Ibadan railway was appreciated, it was the height of an unpardonable exaggeration to say that without it people in the South West would have been trekking.

The group, in a release by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi, submitted that the number of people using the rail transport was very small compared with people using the road that not many felt the impact, when it was not available.
“In any case, assuming without conceding that the rail transport is so significant in the life of the people as painted by Mr. President, what about several other routes in the South West that have no rail system.

“So, why has the government not provided the rail transport in all these areas so that people would not have to trek? And on the road that the President lamented its absence, whose responsibility is it to provide the road; is it not the government?” the group said.

Recalling the President’s speech at the 6th Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Summit in Doha, Qatar, where he was represented by the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, Afenifere said Nigerians were hardly impressed by the President’s disclosure that his administration is now “embarking on different initiatives, projects, and policies to enhance the performance of the oil and gas sector. Why is the administration just embarking on these initiatives when it has just about 14 months left in office?

“If the government truly believes in the pivotal roles oil and gas play in the lives and economy of the people, why should the prices of these commodities be all-time high now? Why are the refineries not working? Why not license modular refinery operators so that the commodities can be widely available? The reality on ground forces one to doubt the sincerity of the administration in its policies, vision and claims,” it added.

Afenifere posited that the declaration by President Buhari that by the time he would beleaving office in 2023, he would be leaving a legacy for a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria also flew in the face of the present reality going by the rate of inflation, rate of unemployment, the level of mistrust and ethnic clashes, unprecedented insecurity being experienced in various parts of the country now.

“How can we describe Nigeria as ‘prosperous when 74 per cent of its earnings go into debt servicing, electricity supply is less than six hours in a day, new businesses are not springing up and cost of living is rising daily?”