Amaechi advocates for long jail term for corrupt public officials
Barth Ndubuwah,Port Harcourt
The Minister of Transportation,Rt Hon. Chibuike Amaechi has sounded it loud and clear that corruption in Nigeria will persist until the country begins to jail thieves of public funds.
Amaechi stated this at the 2021 University of Port Harcourt(UNIPORT)Founders’ Day celebration Tuesday,while responding to a question on the impact of the war against corruption of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration in the country.
According to the Minister, no nation can make a headway when people entrusted with the management of public funds stash them away for private use, stressing that the current administration is forced to borrow money to execute critical infrastructures because there is no money to do so and these infrastructures are critical to the industrialization of the country. The Minister said the situation is more pathetic because previous administrations in Nigeria had all the funds and opportunity to execute such projects, but failed to do so for reasons best known to them.
Amaechi emphasized that the present Federal Government(FG) led by President Muhammadu Buhari has concluded plans to build four new mega seaports in Bonny(Rivers State),Lekki(Lagos State),Warri (Delta State) and Akwa Ibom State to accommodate bigger vessels from overseas.The idea he said is that cargoes can be moved from these mega seaports to smaller existing ones to enhance business in the country. He however explained that the government is still looking for location for the Warri Seaport.
Giving update on the railway projects across the country, Amaechi said Kano- Maradi in Niger Republic Railway line construction would start this week, stressing that the project is strictly for economic purposes. He said the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail has been tailored to include Bonny and Ogoni,linking Ubima to connect Kafanchan.
The Minister dismissed insinuations that the truck owners will not allow the railway project across the country to succeed, pointing out that trucking business is only striving because the current railway system has not effectively commence operations.
“The current trucking of goods across the country is only striving because the standard railway system has not come on stream. I bet you if the standard railway gage line comes on board, trucking will naturally fizzle out,”Amaechi said.
He told the audience that the FG has sent 300 Nigerians to China for training and that another batch will soon be sent to Portugal to understudy the expatriates,with a view to transfering technology to Nigerians.
He reiterated that a composite university will be built in Ubima, his country home to complement the Transportation University in Daura for optimal economic growth.
Amaechi also assured that the coastal railway system earlier proposed by the FG is still in the offing and would be actualized in due course.
The Acting Vice Chancellor of UNIPORT, Prof Stephen Okodudu had thanked the Minister for his incisive lecture, urging him to come again when called upon.
“You are a real ambassador of the University of Port Harcourt. And as a Minister,we are proud of you, please sustain the tempo for the overall interest of Nigerians,” the VC said.
Also speaking, the chairman of the occasion,Prof S.J Cookey applauded Amaechi for remembering Bonny by siting one of the mega seaports there,which he said has been lying fallow for a long-time.
Highpoint of the event was decoration of the Minister with UNIPORT special attire by the University management.
