By Favour Nnabugwu
The Minister of Transportation, Mr. Chibuike Amaechi said government had done a lot to improve the economy of the country
Amaechi said a lot is being done to improve the economy, create jobs for Nigerians and build more infrastructure to push the overall growth of the country in different sectors.
“We have done a lot in Infrastructure development and employment. The massive infrastructural development in the Railway sector has employed so many Nigerians. Also don’t forget that in 2011/2012, the out of school children In Nigeria was 10 million which has now been reduced to about 3 million.
“In 2013, the cost of Tomato was extremely high, and the then Minister of Agriculture invited me for a meeting and he said to me, ‘can you provide railway transportation from Kano to Lagos?’ I called the MD of Railway to make the trip from Kano to Lagos more regular, and in one week the price of tomato crashed”, he said.
The Minister for Transportation further gave insight on the connection between economic development and defence, in the light of security challenges.
Amaechi stated this when he delivered a lecture to participants of National Defence College Course 29 in Abuja, Friday.
“The only way the army can rest and the police can do their job effectively is when the economy begins to grow. When people are properly engaged with different activities, they won’t think of engaging in criminal activities.
“The Army is not supposed to give internal security but the Police is overwhelmed by the level of crime rate, hence the Army has consistently been rescuing Nigerians.
“Economic growth reduces crime and when there is no crime, the Military and police can rest”, Amaechi added.
As Minister of Transportation, Amaechi said a lot is being done to improve the economy, create jobs for Nigerians and build more infrastructure to push the overall growth of the country in different sectors.
“We have done a lot in Infrastructure development and employment. The massive infrastructural development in the Railway sector has employed so many Nigerians. Also don’t forget that in 2011/2012, the out of school children In Nigeria was 10 million which has now been reduced to about 3 million.
“In 2013, the cost of Tomato was extremely high, and the then Minister of Agriculture invited me for a meeting and he said to me, ‘can you provide railway transportation from Kano to Lagos?’ I called the MD of Railway to make the trip from Kano to Lagos more regular, and in one week the price of tomato crashed”, he said.
The Minister for Transportation further gave insight on the connection between economic development and defence, in the light of security challenges.
“The only way the army can rest and the police can do their job effectively is when the economy begins to grow. When people are properly engaged with different activities, they won’t think of engaging in criminal activities.
“The Army is not supposed to give internal security but the Police is overwhelmed by the level of crime rate, hence the Army has consistently been rescuing Nigerians.
Economic growth reduces crime and when there is no crime, the Military and police can rest”, Amaechi added
Responding, the Commandant, National Defence College, Abuja, Real Admiral M.M Kadiri, expressed the Defence’s appreciation for honouring their invitation and for enlightening them on the role of economic and infrastructure development in curbing crime.
