There are indications that the 2nd Niger Bridge named after President Muhammadu Buhari, amid strong opposition from the the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is causing disquiet in the south-eastern flank of the country.
As he did last year to incite comments from IPOB, Mr. Bashir Ahmed, the Special Assistant on Digital Communication to Buhari, on Tuesday, announced that the 1.6 km long bridge had been named after the president.
IPOB has not spoken since the latest announcement.
The president, during the commissioning, however, said he was not consulted before the bridge was named after him.
Everyday.ng learnt that the federal government’s seeming quiet posture is to forestall igniting violent repercussions from the renegade group, operating in the South-East, especially out of Anambra State, where three staff of the US Embassy and four policemen were killed last week.
Ahmad said in a social media post, “The name is now being officiated. Thank God for our brand new Muhammadu Buhari bridge. Thank you, President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The second Niger Bridge is to officially be called/known as Muhammadu Buhari Second Nigeri Bridge.”
Last year March, the proscribed IPOB, rejected the naming of the bridge after Buhari.
IPOB said the bridge should be named Achuzie or other accomplished Igbo patriots, and not Buhari.
The IPOB’s statement by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, then, read: “The attention of the global movement and family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) under the command and leadership of our great leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been drawn to the laughable plan by the Fulani-controlled Federal Government of Nigeria to name the second Niger Bridge after President Muhammadu Buhari by Fulani-controlled Federal Government.
“We wish to restate our position on this and reject naming the second Niger bridge after the name of a Fulani man who came to power and completely sidelined our people. Under his watch, our youths have been slaughtered by security agents with reckless abandon. Under his watch, terrorists masquerading as Fulani herdsmen have invaded our communities killing innocent men and women after destroying our farms with their cows. These jihadists have raped our mothers and sisters and spread insecurity across our land. How can a man who supervised all these pains on our people be rewarded with immortalising his name among us?
“IPOB is vehemently opposed to naming the second Niger Bridge after Buhari. The bridge should rather be called ACHUZIE BRIDGE or other accomplished Igbo patriots. No Igboman has been named after any big project in the north.”
While virtually inaugurating the bridge alongside others he named after former President Goodluck Jonathan and two other prominent Nigerians, the president stated his innocence over the naming of the bridge.
But he boldly announced the naming of others like the Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Federal Secretariat in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State; Ebele Okeke Federal Secretariat in Awka, Anambra State; and Malam Yahaya Gusau Federal Secretariat in Gusau, Zamfara State.
Speaking at the virtual commissioning of three bridges, three secretariats and one road project undertaken by his administration, the President defended criticisms of the debt profile of his administration saying, “we do not act on infrastructure by accident. It has been a deliberate choice for our government as a tool to fight poverty, to create economic growth and employment and to open the path of prosperity for our people.”
He emphasized that while he shared the concerns of Nigerians, the debts are tied to projects that have been executed in very transparent circumstances and are there for everyone to see. He added that the wealth of other nations is traceable to their investments in infrastructure made possible by debts redeemed over decades.
“As we look at the debt profile, I urge us to also look at the assets and investment profiles, some of which were paid for by debt and some by investment income.
“In 8 (Eight) years, I am proud to say that we have doubled Nigeria’s stock of infrastructure to GDP from about 20% to over 40% and that is no small undertaking.
“The projects that we hand over today apart from others such as rail, sea and airports, gas pipeline projects that have been previously completed, symbolise our country’s sharp focus on delivering prosperity,” he said.
Elaborating on the significance of the projects, which he described as frontal efforts to address multi-dimensional poverty as well as improve business efficiency and service delivery time, President Buhari said of the 3 (three) Bridges:
“The Ikom Bridge is meant to boost trade in and around the Calabar Port and Free Zone and facilitate transport connectivity from the South-South, through the North Central to the Northeast. This is a bridge across the Cross River itself.
“The Second Niger Bridge, which has been long in the making, and is certainly now a reality, is a bridge of choice across the River Niger to bring relief to those crossing from the Southeast to the Southwest.
“The Loko-Oweto Bridge, across the River Benue will provide a shorter connectivity for those traversing from Benue to Nasarawa and the Federal Capital Territory. It cuts off travel through Lafia and provides connectivity to Keffi and to Abuja.”
President Buhari also commissioned 200 kilometres out of the 365 kilometres Abuja-Kano highway noting that the road, the Second Niger bridge and the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway were all funded partly from dividend income earned from investment in the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), repatriated funds from overseas, and recoveries from proceeds of crime successfully prosecuted at home.
“This is an example of the change that we promised; to invest dividend income in visible assets that last for generations and to put proceeds of crime to public and enduring use for the country.
“Our anti-corruption approach does not end in courts. Stolen and recovered assets are utilized for the common good,” he stressed.
The President also commissioned three Federal Secretariats in Anambra, Bayelsa and Zamfara States, believing that they would “reduce the cost of governance by bringing federal civil servants under one roof for efficient service delivery,” thereby reducing expenditure on rent for office spaces.
He also named the Secretariats after distinguished Nigerians as follows:
In his remarks, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola said the construction of the infrastructure generated economic activities around them, providing means of livelihood for hundreds of thousands who worked there.
According to him, “travel time is reduced by more than 50% in many of the places we surveyed; Property values of landowners have appreciated by up to 30% in the surveys conducted on land values where we have delivered infrastructure.”
The Minister added that these are some of the attempts by Government to push back against multi-dimensional poverty.
In his remarks, Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta said that the bridge would help boost the nation’s economy and in the ease of doing business between the two states.
Okowa, represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr Ovie Agas, said that the bridge would also create jobs and enhance economic growth within the states.
Also in his contributions, Gov. Charles Soludo of Anambra, commended Buhari for keeping to his campaign promises of completing and delivering the bridge to the people of South East.
Soludo said: “I am personally over joyed; today is a day of joy, we’ve come to express our gratitude, history is being made today.
”The people of South East have agitated and we’ve complained about five key infrastructural projects.
“These five key projects are supposed to be game changers to the economy of the South Eeast, one of these projects is the dredging of the River Niger.
”The next happens to be the second Niger bridge, the third is the expressway that will lead from here directly to Lokoja , the fourth is the gas pipe line, while the fifth obviously is the railway line.
“Of these five, it is our pleasure that we have come to tick good to one of them and a major one at that, and that is the second Niger bridge,” he said.
Earlier, the Managing Director of Julius Berger, Dr Lars Richter, said that it was an honour for them to be part of the success story of delivering the bridge to the people of Delta and Anambra.