1 Million Jobs Created In Transport Sector – Minister

Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar said the Federal Government has created over one million direct and indirect jobs from the resuscitation of rail transportation in the last four years.

Speaking on the sidelines of Public Affairs Forum, a programme organised by the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs in Abuja, Umar also said that the rehabilitation of over 90 percent of the entire existing narrow gauge lines throughout the country is almost completed. He said the rehabilitation was the first segment of the government’s 25-year railway strategic plan which encapsulates the vision of President Goodluck Jonathan for the nation’s transportation sector.

“The fundamental goal of the transport sector under the transformation agenda is to develop an adequate, safe, environmentally sound, efficient and affordable integrated transport system within the framework of a progressive and competitive national and international market economy,” he said.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, who also spoke at the Forum stated that President Goodluck Jonathan will run an issue-based campaign ahead of 2015 general elections in view of the “undeniable impact of the President’s transformation agenda on the lives of individuals and communities in Nigeria.

“This President does not believe in showmanship and empty sloganeering. He is committed to building legacies which present and future generations will be proud of. The records are there for all to see and they are a pointer to what he can still do and that will be the focus of his re-election campaign,” he said.