After about six years of retrogressive criticisms of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government by President Muhammadu Buhari in defence of the failures of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government in Nigeria, the APC government has admitted relying on the legacy policies of the PDP in running the Buhari administration. As the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, revealed on Friday, the APC government is implementing the rail line development policy as approved by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Invariably, the Transport Minister covertly revealed that President Buhari is living on the legacy of former President Obasanjo.
Amaechi on the “Good Morning Nigeria” programme on the Nigeria Television Authority International monitored by National Daily from Lagos, in defending the federal government’s construction of narrow gauge rail line on the Eastern corridor from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to Maiduguri, Borno State, while standard gauge rail system is being constructed in several parts of the northwest into Niger Republic, said that the Transport Ministry under the Buhari administration is implementing the rail development policy as approved by former President Obasanjo. The minister said that Obasanjo ordered the ministry to rehabilitate the narrow-gauge rail line, then construct standard gauge rails.
“We are implementing the narrow-gauge policy as approved by Obasanjo. We are not going out of Obasanjo’s policy.
“Obasanjo directed, first, rehabilitate the narrow-gauge rail lines, then, construct the standard gauge,” Amaechi declared.
The Minister, however, explained that the cost of constructing the narrow-gauge rail line is cheaper than the cost of the standard gauge rail. He further explained that the difference between the standard gauge and narrow-gauge rail line is speed, noting that the standard gauge is a mere modernization of the rail line system.
Amaechi said that the narrow-gauge rail system is still functional in the United States of America (USA), China, United Kingdom (UK), and other parts of Europe.