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Trans-Saharan Route: Abuja-Algiers Road Ready In Three Years -Fashola

Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, says the trans-Saharan roads linking Abuja with Algiers in Algeria will be completed in three years.
Fashola said this during a joint inspection visit to the on-going Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Markudi and the Abuja-Kaduna roads which are part of the trans-saharan roads.
The inspection was part of the programme schedule for a 2-day 70th Session of the Trans Sahara Road Liaison Committee which began on November 11 in Abuja.
He said: “What we are concerned with in this committee is the Lagos to Algiers highway.
“The Lagos-Ibadan-Oyo road, the Jebba-Mokwa-Kaduna-Kano road, and the Abuja-Kano road are the major components.
“`So Mali is doing its own, Algeria is doing its own, Niger is doing its own. Every country is handling their own.
”The Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Dual Carriageway of 375.9km has three sections and would all be completed within three years,’’ Fashola said.
He added that part of the project which is handled by China Harbour Engineering Company Limited is the expansion of 5.4km of the Abuja-Keffi Expressway and Dualisation of the Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi road.
The project is located in FCT, Nasarawa and Benue states, with a total length of 227.2km, including the Abuja-Keffi and Keffi-Makurdi sections.
Our correspondent reports that the 5.4km Abuja-Keffi section will have two-lane auxiliary roads on both sides of the existing six-lane section.
The 221.8km Keffi-Makurdi section will see an expansion of the existing two-way two-lane section to a two-way four-lane section.
According to Fashola, the main works to be done in the execution of the project include sub-grade, bridge, and culvert, as well as drainage and pavement.
He added that the road would have an electro-mechanical toll station that would be completed in March 2022.
The Secretary-General of the TRLC, Mr Ayadi Mohammed, said that the inspection of the project provided a good opportunity for the committee members to evaluate the state of the construction of the roads.
According to him, the work the committee members have seen so far is technically sound.
Our correspondent further reports that the roads are expected to serve 37 regions in Africa and connect 74 urban centres as well as 60 million people across the six countries that are members of the committee.
On the local front, the road will pass through Lagos and Ibadan, to Ilorin, Jeba, Kaduna and to Kano where Nigeria shares border with the Republic of Niger.
The committee session holds every four years.
The trans-Saharan road liaison committee is made up of six countries, namely: Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Tunisia, Algeria, and Mali.
The committee was formed in 1966 to establish a road link across the six countries to encourage growth, socio-economic activities, development, cooperation, and trade.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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