Buhari names railway complex after Jonathan

President Muhammadu Buhari has named the railway complex in Agbor, Delta state, after former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Rotimi Amaechi, minister of transportation, announced this while inspecting the Warri-Itakpe rail line on Saturday.

He also expressed satisfaction at the quality of work at the various stations, saying the Warri-Itakpe standard gauge rail line is set and ready for inauguration.

“It is the duty of the Ministry to convince the Presidency that we are ready for Commissioning, I won’t Commission. It is the president that will Commission but we are thinking about virtual commissioning,” he said.

“When you see a good job, don’t ask questions. The camera will show that this is a good job, this is the Goodluck Jonathan station, which is the Agbor Station which incorporates the railway facilities.

“It was named after Goodluck Jonathan and the President approved it. Agbor station and the yard was named after president Jonathan.

“Both Julius Berger, CCECC and Team have all done a good job. We will know if NRC has done a good job when they manage it properly because the issue is Maintenance. I don’t want to come here in the next four, five years and it looks worn out.

“ If you break anything, replace it or repair it. I think we should learn to maintain the infrastructure that we inherit.”

The railway complex in Agbor is the centre of operation which connects the Itakpe-Warri rail line. It is joined by Benin to Onitsha rail, among other segments of the country.

On resumption of Abuja-Kaduna train service, he said there is a need to maintain social distancing and ensure that COVID-19 is not transmitted among passengers.

He explained that up to 4,000 passenger ply the Abuja-Kaduna route daily, hence the need to take precautionary measures.

“In fact, this is more like a test run. I told them I want only 30 persons and I’m sure we are more than that, so imagine what happens when you have to deal with passengers,” he said.

“This test run will make us go back to the drawing board and the first thing we will put in place when we get approval is that the cost of Transportation from Abuja to Kaduna will double.

“This is because each coach takes 88 passengers but we will reduce it to 40 and the price will increase but we will need to talk to the President before we move on.”

On compliance, he said everybody must obey the COVID-19 rules of three metres distance, adding that it was the reason why the number of passengers would be reduced from 88 per coach to 40.

“Every body must come with his own hand sanitizer, government won’t buy for you and it has to have minimum of 90 per cent alcohol. Next thing is that you must come with your face mask without which you won’t enter.”