The Development Agenda for Western Nigeria, DAWN, has said the region will build railway to link 44 cities and towns in the six South-West states.
The Director-General of DAWN, Seye Oyeleye, who said this while speaking with journalists in Ibadan at the weekend said that the 1955 Railway Act, which reposed the to build railway in only the Federal Government is the impediment to this vision; but however, stated that the DAWN had started “engaging the right people” on this.
Although he did not disclose when exactly the project would begin, he said it would be done in no distant future.
He averred that the fact that the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, happened despite the initial objections, was enough to convince anybody that the railway project would also be built in the South-West.
Insisting that revenues from oil were fast dwindling, Oyeleye added that for each region to remain viable and out of the waters, they must think creatively to shore up their earnings.
Oyeleye, while lauding the railway track being built by the Federal Government between Lagos and Ibadan, said that the project would further boost the economy of Oyo State and even the neighbouring states, stating that no investor would likely go to places that were not accessible.
He said, “We need a country that is structured along the line of development. Nigeria needs to restructure in line of development. With the revenue sharing formula that we operate now, the state’s will perpetually be under the Federal Government.
“If railway track is built to connect the South-West, 44 cities and towns will be connected and those that designed it for us said when the project is done, the gross domestic product of this region will rise by over 50 per cent. We need to confront everything that is not making this possible.
“We have tied ourselves to a constitution that is hindering development and this must change. It is in the interest of Nigeria that the South-West region should develop. If the region is developed, the Federal Government will make more money from here.”
