Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, says the construction of the multi-billion naira Second Niger Bridge has reached 80 percent completion.
He listed it as one of the five legacy projects to be bequeathed to the country by the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration.
According to a statement by his media team, yesterday, Ngige enumerated the other legacy projects of the current administration as Lagos-Ibadan-Ilorin-Kaduna road, East-West Road, Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road and the Mambilla Project.
Ngige, who blamed APC’s defeat in the last Anambra governorship election on the controversial primary that produced the party’s flagbearer, allayed fears that the setback would affect the ruling party in the South-East during the 2023 general elections.
According to him, the scenario would be different as the infrastructure revolution of the Buhari government has touched the zone tremendously.
He recalled that the Second Niger Bridge had been a campaign item for successive presidents from 1999, starting from President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“When President Buhari came in 2015, I campaigned with him all over the South-East zone and even beyond as the zonal campaign coordinator, from Abakiliki to Aba, Akwa Ibom, Uyo, Awka and Enugu. In these places we talked about the Second Niger Bridge.
“That bridge has been built. It is now at 80 percent completion. Before it was being built by Public Private Partnership (PPP) but now, it is being built from the Sovereign Wealth Fund as one of the five legacy projects that this President is leaving for the country.
“The Southeasterners have seen that the Second Niger Bridge is being done. He (Buhari) has completed the Zik’s Mausoleum. Many Nigerians don’t even know that President Buhari is a Zikist. I know because we had visited Zik’s son, Chukwuma (now late) who was his friend. We visited that tomb before he was elected president.”
On why the feeling of marginalisation still thrives in the South-East, Ngige noted that the people of the zone love appointments and felt that the President did not treat them well in that area.
He explained that the president felt he could empower and make the people of the South-East happy through giving them fertilizer plants in Ebonyi State and extending credit and grants to farmers in Ebonyi, Imo, and farming areas of Anambra State.
“But these are people who love appointments. They know and I say it to them. We have seen presidents appoint people from their zones or even other zones for a four-year term. They come and go. We had plenty of appointments during the Obasanjo and Jonathan administrations. When I say it, some people are not happy.
“For example, the Enugu Airport has suffered dilapidation over the years but we had four Aviation ministers, namely, Kema Chikwe, Fidelia Njeze, Osita Chidoka and Stella Oduah. How come that airport remained dilapidated while they were in office? The tarmac was pronounced as the worst in the whole of Nigeria by an Ethiopian Pilot who flew us one day. But a Hadi Sirika from Katsina State discussed with the president and some of us in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the president brought N10 billion special fund and renovated the airport, giving us a new tarmac, rated as one of the best in Nigeria, if not Africa.”
