Tinubu taking infrastructure to underserved communities — Shettima

Vice-President Kashim Shettima has said the President Bola Tinubu administration is deliberately spreading infrastructure and economic opportunities beyond major cities to reduce 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.

The road passes through 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, known as the state’s “Gas City”.

The Vice-President said the project was consistent with the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda and its focus on expanding security, welfare and economic opportunities beyond major urban centres.

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

He described roads as critical instruments of development, saying they connect farmers to markets, workers to jobs, students to schools and patients to healthcare.

“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,” he said.

According to him, the completed road will enable farmers to transport their produce faster, reduce losses and logistics costs, while opening communities along the corridor to increased economic activities.