The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has stated that the remaining sections of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano highway will be completed by November.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by Executive members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Umahi disclosed that more than 80 per cent of the N752bn for the project has been paid.
Umahi said the government was also installing solar-powered streetlights along the highway and would deploy what he described as ‘superhighway guards’ to protect the road from vandalism after observing attempts by some people to remove sections of the concrete pavement.
According to him, the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano route covers 375 kilometres in one direction, translating to 750 kilometres when both carriageways are considered.
He explained that the Federal Government had previously spent more than N200bn on the portion of the road handled by Julius Berger, with the contractor completing 240 kilometres on each carriageway, amounting to 480 kilometres.
Umahi also disclosed that 118 kilometers of concrete pavement has been completed on the Abuja-Kaduna Highway with 164 kilometres, 82 kilometres by 2, left to complete the job, adding that the government has paid 80 percent of the N752bn the project would cost.
He urged the NANS to see themselves as future leaders and begin to get involved in the running of Nigeria by clearly taking stands rather than standing on the fence.
Umahi also vowed that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will be completed regardless of the attacks, stressing that over 50 percent of the entire stretch has already been completed.
Earlier the President of NANS, Comrade Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, who named the minister of works, Engr. Dave Umahi as the Grant Patron of the association said the award was in recognition of his hard work and commitment to excellence.