Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara has flagged off federal roads projects worth over N50 billion in Bauchi state.
The Speaker, who disclosed this recently at Dass Local Government Area of the state, said the federal roads include Bauchi-Gombe, Bauchi-Tafawa Balewa, Bogoro and Dass, Bauchi- Plateau State, Bauchi-Kano, which will be completed within a period of two years.
The Speaker said the flagging off of the road projects was in tandem with the promise which he made to the people of the state to give a good representation to the people at the National Assembly. According to him if the roads were to be done by the state government, it would take 10 years.
Dogara said: “I want to tell you that these are not the only roads we will do; there are other roads projects and by the grace of God, we will finish them in the next 2 years. We have a contractor here who is charged with the responsibility of doing the road which has been awarded and it will be done. The road from Bauchi – Gombe has been awarded and will soon be done.
“The highway being built from Kano-Bauchi North-Bauchi Central down to Maiduguri, we are ensuring that it attracts the appropriate funding to finish it in no time within the period we are representing the people of Bauchi state. We will be able to attract federal projects across Bauchi State.
“The value of all the roads across the state that we are doing is over N50 billion. If we were to rely on the State government only to do that work, it cannot be done in 10 years. So who says there’s no benefit in representation?â€
The Speaker, who was accompanied to the event by Members of the both arms of the National Assembly from all the zones of the country, said the road projects he was flagging off would be completed by 2019.
He said the roads to be constructed are Burga – Plateau, Pankshin – Tapshin – Sara – Mangu which will also connect Lere – Jos. He called on the Plateau state governor to complete the road from Zwall – Mai Juju, which is at the boundary between Bauchi and Plateau States.
Dogara further said the contractor handling the road construction projects was the same contractor who did the Bauchi-Tafawa Balewa road, pointing out that he has never collected any kickback from him; contrary to insinuations in some quarters.
Dogara added that two blocks of two classrooms are being constructed in all 40 schools across the state.
He said any constituency that replaces its representatives every four years will not get such dividends of democracy like the Dass/Tafawa Balewa/Bogoro Federal Constituency are enjoying. He thanked his constituents, saying that their prayers and support were responsible for the projects being flagged off.
“Apart from the road projects, we have constructed three blocks of classrooms in three schools in all the twenty local government areas of the state and these projects are testimonies of the work we doâ€, Dogara said
On security, Dogara said he would establish a police transit camp worth N300 million and an Army Barracks in his constituency to improve security in the state, pointing out that Tafawa Balewa local government was a national flashpoint of ethno-religious crisis before the inception of the APC administration.
The Speaker warned the people of the state against replacing their elected leaders every four years, saying such a development would make the state backwards as they would not enjoy the continuity of the federal projects in the state.
