Nigerians will have free train travel in the country’s capital for two months, according to a Thursday announcement made by Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, or FCT.
As part of the celebrations for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s first year in office, he gave a speech in Abuja at the Ministerial Sectoral Updates.
The Minister of FCT, Mr. Nyesom Wike; Minister of Youth Development, Dr. Jamila Ibrahim Bio; Minister of Steel Development, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu; Minister of State for FCT, Dr. Mariya Mahmud; Minister of State Petroleum, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri; and Minister of State for Youth Development, Mr. Ayodele Olawande, are present at the first session of the Sectoral Briefing.
With the amount of infrastructure improvements underway in the Federal Capital Territory, the Minister stated that “by this time next year, Abuja can compete with every other city of the world in terms of road network.”
He said that given the successes the FCT achieved under his direction, President Tinubu’s acceptance of the FCT’s departure from the Treasury Single Account, or TSA, had been extremely strategic.
He emphasized that what had previously been commissioned was a building and disclosed that President Tinubu would launch the commercial operation of the Abuja metro line.
“We are not talking of commissioning buildings but the commercial operation.
“There were no access roads to the stations which impeded the operation of the metro line.
“The President will ride on the metro line on Monday, 27th May; it will be your turn, Nigerians, as from Tuesday.
“And there will be free rides for two months, to reduce the pain on our people, that is what is called Renewed Hope Agenda.”
While enumerating the government’s accomplishments under the FCT, Wike took his time and stated that infrastructure, security, and education had gotten significant attention.
“How was Abuja before? Every day was kidnapping, one chance and all of that.
“But when we came on board, we visited the 6 Area Councils and interacted with the people. They said there were no roads, security agencies had no access roads.
“We took it up from there and all the Area Councils can attest to the fact that by December this year, we will commission up to 120 kilometres of roads.
“We have also provided security agencies with all the logistics they need, it’s not like before. The moment they want to go for an operation, logistics are made available.
“You can now sleep with your two eyes closed; even though no society is 100 percent crime-free, but is the situation different? Yes, you can attest to the fact that it is no longer what it used to be,” he disclosed.
The Minister further mentioned that the FCT civil service was seeing the effects of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
He claimed that after taking office, it was found that there was little hope for the FCT’s government servants.
According to him, “the civil servants were not in a position to put in their best; they could not grow in rank; they were stagnated at the director level.
“When we came in, we looked at the law passed and assented to in 2018; we wrote the President and he approved the immediate implementation of that law.
“Today, we have the FCT Civil Service Commission, Permanent Secretary, and Head of Service of FCT; so they have hope now. As far as structure is concerned, Mr President has given them that hope.
“In the area of education, over 19 schools are being rehabilitated.”
Wike promised that the Tinubu government’s Renewed Hope Agenda will affect every area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), including the satellite towns. Wike claimed that the current administration has done more to support the indigenous people of Abuja than previous ones.
