The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has knocked President Muhammadu Buhari for saying that he helped stop people in the south from trecking with the Lagos-Ibadan rail project.
Buhari had on Tuesday said if not for the intervention of his administration, especially on rail and road projects, “people, especially those from the South-West, could have been trekking from Lagos to Ibadan.”
Afenifere said the claim on infrastructure provided by Buhari’s administration has shown that he is not in touch with the reality and an indication that those in the corridors of power were far removed from happenings in the country.
The group’s National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, said this in a statement on Thursday.
It added that although the resuscitation of Lagos-Ibadan railway was appreciated, it is a height of an unpardonable exaggeration to say that without it, people in the South West would have been trekking.
The statement read, “In any case, assuming without conceding that the rail transport is so significant in the life of the people as painted by Mr President, what about several other routes in the South West that have no rail system?
“So, why has the government not provided the rail transport in all these areas so that people would not have to trek? And on the road that the President lamented its absence, whose responsibility is it to provide the road; is it not the government?”
Also recalling the President’s speech at the sixth Gas Exporting Countries Forum’s summit in Doha, Qatar, on the same Tuesday where he was represented by the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, Afenifere’s spokesman said Nigerians are hardly impressed by the President’s disclosure that his administration is now embarking on different initiatives, projects, and policies to enhance the performance of the oil and gas sector.
He added, “Why is the administration just embarking on these initiatives when it has just about 14 months left in office?
“If the government truly believes in the pivotal roles oil and gas play in the lives and economy of the people, why should the prices of these commodities be all-time high now?
“Why are the refineries not working? Why not license modular refinery operators so that the commodities can be widely available? The reality on ground forces one to doubt the sincerity of the administration in its policies, vision and claims.”
Afenifere’s spokesman added that the declaration by Buhari that by the time he is leaving office in 2023, he will be “leaving a legacy for a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria” also flies in the face of the present reality going by the rate of inflation, rate of unemployment, the level of mistrust, and ethnic clashes as well as unprecedented insecurity being experienced in various parts of the country.
