Nigeria’s Multi billion Naira Roads That Commuters Approach With Caution, As El-Rufai Assures On Safety
The Oasis Reporters
May 14, 2019
One of Northern Nigeria’s most voluble and visible Senators with the wittiest gift of the garb, Senator Shehu Sani sent out a humorous tweet about the lugubrious conditions of Nigerian roads, constructed with billions of naira that has been abandoned by commuters because numerous armed kidnapping gangs occupy them, milking captives daily of millions of naira, unhindered.
The Senator tweeted @ShehuSani that
“After coming to Kaduna yesterday to give a powerful prayer to Drivers plying the Kaduna-Abuja expressway,the Imam took a train back to Abuja today”.
So rib cracking, that between May 12, 2019 when he posted the tweet and now, it has garnered a record 5.3K likes on Facebook with Retweets of 11.5K
ajebo pickin🇳🇬💿 @digitalbotNG replied @ShehuSani and said
“Chai….
You should consider writing a book about Nigeria, make it with a mixture of comedy”.
But then, “Train operators need prayers too, I guess the imam knows this”, replied AD:10 @AdioDirty while Rebecca Sako-John @SakoRebecca, in Replying to
@ShehuSani said the Imam “did not demonstrate faith that his prayers had been answered”.
It takes much more than faith to embark on journeys, plying the Abuja Kaduna Expressway, or so it seems. Hence the Imam, going by the Shehu Sani tweet, decided to go in the security of numbers as Nigeria’s trains are currently overloaded, leading to a black market boom in the sale of tickets at inflated prices.
After coming to Kaduna yesterday to give a powerful prayer to Drivers plying the Kaduna Abuja express way,the Imam took a train back to Abuja today.
— Senator Shehu Sani (@ShehuSani) May 12, 2019
The tweet may have increased the popularity rating of Senator Shehu Sani who will not be going back to the legislature because his State governor, Nasir Ahmad El Rufai was reported to have objected to a return ticket for him on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, preferring another Sani, Mr. Sani Uba who won the senatorial election in Kaduna Central, beating Shehu Sani that contested on the platform of the People’s Redemption Party, PRP. The case though, is still in court.
Senator Shehu Sani’s tweet obviously did not amuse the Kaduna State governor, Nasir el Rufai who says that Kaduna road is now safe for travellers as it has been rid of criminal elements especially kidnappers and bandits.
The governor spoke to State House correspondents on Monday after a closed door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to him, with the current security system in place, people should be confident to drive on the Abuja-Kaduna road without any fear.
He said “I came to see Mr President to brief him on the general security situation in Kaduna which I do from time to time and also to update him on the various initiatives by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the SSS, and the Armed Forces with a view to improving the security situation in Kaduna in general and particularly along the Abuja-Kaduna road.
“I want to say that the initiatives put in place have made the road quite safe now. I can say confidently that anyone get in that road because I don’t want to go into details of the measures that have already been put in place but I am confident with the security system in place now, people can be confident to drive on the Abuja-Kaduna road without fear.
On claims by the senate describing the Kaduna-Abuja expressway as the most dangerous highway in Africa, El- Rufai accused the lawmakers of playing to the gallery.
“If you believe everything that comes out of the Nigerian senate, you will have serious mental health problems. There are things that are said there that are just for the gallery, for the media. I don’t know what statistics that were used to determine that the Kaduna-Abuja road is the most dangerous anywhere.
“I like facts, I like using figures. I wish the people that said that would use figures. But I am saying that no matter what anyone said, last week, I am assuring Nigerians that the Kaduna -Abuja road is quite safe now and would be so long as the initiates put in place by the various security agencies, details of which I am not willing to disclose.
“Only God can guarantee total safety. But I am saying as the governor of the state based on the security measures put in place, I am confident that the road is safe and I drive on that road”.
Governor El Rufai has stated it all, that only God can guarantee total safety. And that about sums it all up, therefore commuters on the said Expressway should put that in view that there may not be total security from the package human security can provide on the road.
The nation awaits clerics with a greater demonstrable faith in their prayers, or everyone should be his or her own prayer warrior as a cleric who prays over the road and opts for the alternative does not give commuters enough cause for cheer.
