Igbo youths reject eastern narrow gauge rail project
President Muhammadu Buhari has commended Governor Hope Uzodimma for developing infrastructure and improving the welfare of the people of Imo State.
During a virtual inauguration of two roads in Owerri, the capital, completed within the first year in office of the governor, the President applauded Uzodimma on the completion of the Assumpta to Hospital junction road and the World Bank to Federal Secretariat highway.
He described both projects, commissioned on his behalf by the governor, as “quite symbolic and strategic.”
His words: ‘”The first road, the Assumpta to Hospital junction road, is the gateway to the South-South from the South-East.
![[FILES] gunmen. Photo: AA](https://www.afriupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/gunmen-1-1062x598-1.jpg "Gunmen abduct catholic priest, kill two police officers in Imo 2")
“The second road, the World Bank to Federal Secretariat road, is an important access way to the Federal Secretariat and a major connecting link road between the residents of the densely populated World Bank area of the state and the rest of the state capital.”
Buhari said he was aware that in the first year in office, the Imo State government embarked on an ambitious target of executing 46 road projects.
He continued: “I am glad to learn that significant strides were being made towards their completion, and a number of them are among those being commissioned as part of the events in honour of the one-year anniversary.
“I must commend the state government, under the leadership of Senator Hope Uzodinma, for setting ambitious targets, and within just one year in office, using this moment to evaluate the journey thus far.
“It clearly demonstrates the commitment of the government to the welfare of the people.”
The Nigerian leader noted that the infrastructure would better the lot of the people and visitors alike.
He urged the governor to sustain the momentum and accelerate the pace of good governance in the state.
“I feel happy to learn from Governor Uzodimma that the policies of our administration and the manifesto of our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), have greatly influenced his resolve to make a difference in Imo State. I pray that you will keep the flag flying,” he added.
MEANWHILE, the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) has rejected the offer by the Federal Government to construct the Eastern Narrow Gauge Railway line traversing Port Harcourt to Maiduguri.
In a statement yesterday by its President General and Secretary General, Goodluck Egwu Ibem and Kanice Igwe, the body described the project as an “insult to Igbo people.”
The statement read: “The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), the umbrella body of all the youth organisations in the South East geopolitical zone, rejects in its entirety the Eastern Narrow Gauge Railway line billed for Port Harcourt to Maiduguri railway line. It is an insult to Ndigbo for the Federal Government to build a Standard Gauge Railway line from the West to the North down to Maradi in the Niger Republic another country entirely and the eastern part of the country will get a second class railway line (Narrow Gauge).”
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