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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has thanked Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesome Wike, for bringing life back to the capital city with the quality of infrastructure he has embarked upon.
This is even as he thanked the minister and his team for completing the Southern Parkway from Christian Centre to Ring Road One, 13 years after the work began and for renaming it after him.
He acknowledged Wike and his team for their “hope and sincere commitment to a shared value.”
The President praised the changes made to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) structure and administration, stating that they have “brought results and endeared them to the heart of Nigerians.”
He referred to the FCT minister as “our dear landlord” and expressed gratitude for “bringing life back to the FCT.”
As a commemoration of his first year in office, President Tinubu expressed the “great joy and challenge” of the “huge job” that lies ahead. He acknowledged that the Southern Parkway project had been an “abandoned project for 13 years” before his administration took it up.
He emphasised that the Southern Parkway not only represents a road network but also “our collective aspiration for progress.” He stated that the road will “not only ease transportation but ease movement within the FCT,” underscoring the project’s role in building a “world-class capital city.”
Tinubu said he recognised that “infrastructure is an enabler of economic development and prosperity,” and he expressed confidence that the nation will achieve these goals. He reiterated that the “needs of our citizens is paramount in our minds” and that “for making our citizens the central focus of our development, we believe Nigeria will succeed.”
Earlier, the Minister of FCT named the road “Bola Ahmed Tinubu”, explained that the project is one of the principal outlets conceived as a free way to provide access and connectivity to the capital development plan of the city as it is in Abuja master plan.
He said the project was completed in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda, 13 years after it began.
He said the road which connects the Northern parkway of the FCT, was awarded in Dec 2010 at the contract sum of N16.2 billion and later revised to N35.7 billion due to changes in scope and economic indices. The FCT said the road will enhance traffic circulation around the city centre thereby reducing delays in travel times.
Wike said his team on assumption of office in 2023 was confronted with several uncompleted projects abandoned for several years in the nation’s capital.
President Tinubu on Sunday embarked on projects commissioning executed by the Federal Capital Territory Administration, upon arrival from Lagos, where he commissioned the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, a pivotal 700-kilometer project aimed at boosting economic growth and development in rural communities.
