THE ABANDONED GWAGWA-AIRPORT RAILWAY CORRIDOR

I am deeply concerned by the apparent abandonment of the Abuja rail project being handled by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), Nig Ltd.

It is particularly worrisome that a multinational company that prides itself on technological expertise for timely delivery would abandon a project of such strategic importance midstream.

We the residents along the Gwagwa-Airport axis, which hosts three railway stations out of the 12 from the Central Business District station to the Airport, feel let down. This is happening at a time when the entire nation is commending the infrastructural drive of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.

There is no gainsaying the massive road and rail interventions currently ongoing across the FCT and the country under this administration. That is why it beats our imagination that a critical segment involving railway stations would be left to rot.

For over one year and five months, work has stalled on the corridor. The installation of power supply infrastructure and other critical components to the stations has been abandoned by CCECC Nig Ltd.

Worse still, the prolonged abandonment has exposed the installations to vandalism. Residents have watched helplessly as critical materials are stripped away daily.

We call on the relevant authorities to call CCECC Nig Ltd to order. If completed and connected to the national grid, this rail corridor would save the federal government huge sums of money currently spent on diesel to power the stations. If urgent action is not taken, residents will be forced to question the sincerity of the much-lauded infrastructural strides of this administration. If a project can be abandoned in Abuja, the seat of power, one can only imagine what obtains in other parts of the country.

Abubakar Rilwan, Gwagwa, Abuja