Tinubu Deliberately Spreading Infrastructure, Economic Opportunities Beyond Major Cities – Shettima

Vice President Kashim Shettima says the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is deliberately expanding infrastructure and economic opportunities beyond major cities to ease congestion, create jobs and promote balanced development across Nigeria.

Shettima stated this on Thursday while inaugurating the 33.5-kilometre Elele-Umudioga-Egbeda-Ubimini-Akpabu-Ikiri-Omoku Dual Carriageway in Rivers State on behalf of President Tinubu.

In a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, the Vice President said the project was consistent with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda and its commitment to improving security, welfare and economic opportunities.

The road traverses Ikwerre, Emohua and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas and connects communities along an important agricultural, commercial and oil and gas corridor leading to Omoku, popularly known as the state’s “Gas City.”

Shettima said expanding infrastructure to communities would help take economic opportunities closer to the people.

“A nation becomes congested when opportunity is congested. People move because roads, markets, jobs and services have not moved far enough towards them,” he said.

The Vice President described roads as critical drivers of development, saying their impact extends beyond transportation.

“Roads are among the most democratic instruments of development. They serve the farmer carrying produce to market, the trader seeking customers, the worker travelling to employment, the student going to school and the patient seeking care. When a road works, society moves,” Shettima said.

He said the completed road would enable farmers to transport their produce more efficiently, reduce post-harvest losses, lower logistics costs and stimulate economic activities along the corridor.

“Public infrastructure must be judged by the lives it improves. A road earns its value when a farmer earns more, a child reaches school earlier, and isolation no longer punishes enterprise,” he added.

Shettima commended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara for completing the project, describing it as an example of state-led infrastructure development that supports the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

He also stressed the importance of continuity in governance, saying successive administrations must build on existing projects for the benefit of citizens.

“One administration lays a foundation, another strengthens it, and the people remain the final beneficiaries,” the Vice President said.

Shettima urged residents of communities along the road corridor to protect the infrastructure from vandalism and other activities that could reduce its lifespan.

“Our next responsibility is to protect this asset from vandalism, reckless use and every practice that shortens the life of public infrastructure,” he said.

Earlier, Governor Fubara said the road, which includes a river-crossing bridge, would improve security and ease the longstanding difficulties faced by residents of the three benefiting local government areas.

The governor said the corridor had previously been associated with kidnapping, oil bunkering and other criminal activities but expressed confidence that the completed road would significantly improve security.

“In this project, we have lights from the beginning to the end. So, even in the night, insecurity is totally eliminated. This won’t have been possible without the support of the Federal Government and the good people of Rivers State,” Fubara said.

“I want to thank you for this special support that you have been giving to us for us to come here to say, to the glory of God, that promise made is a promise kept,” he added.

Fubara also expressed appreciation to Tinubu and Shettima for their support, describing the commissioning as a significant moment for Rivers State.

“I am a bit emotional today because for a very long time, I felt maybe we were not part of this country, but today I feel very happy that our country is also standing by us, ably represented here by no other person but distinguished Senator Kashim Shettima, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. You can see why I feel emotion,” he said.

The Rivers State Commissioner for Works, Prof. Temple Nwofor, said the project represented another step towards providing durable infrastructure to improve connectivity, mobility and economic activities in the benefiting communities.

Similarly, the Chairman of Emohua Local Government Area, Dr Chidi Lloyd, said the road would open up communities, ease transportation and boost economic activities across the affected areas.

Lloyd described the project as more than a road, saying it represented reconciliation and prosperity for the people.

“This day is significant not because we are commissioning the Elele-Omoku road but because of what it represents,” he said.

“We sincerely appreciate the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We also thank the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory for his fatherly intervention and for standing with Rivers people on this journey.”