The Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi says the federal government has included Akure the Ondo state capital in the railway route.
The Minister on a Channels TV programme “Sunrise Daily” on Tuesday monitored in Akure said “we have included Akure in the railway route. Akure was not part of the initial design but it has been included based on the directive of the President.”
The rail project of the federal government was supposed to go from Lagos to Ore- Benin to Calabar.
Akure and Ondo will now benefit from the project,which will be from Lagos to Ore to Ondo to Akure to Owo to Benin to Calabar.
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Ondo West, Ondo East, Akure South and Akure north councils from Ondo state will benefit.
It would be called that opinion leaders, the state government and traditional rulers across the state had kicked against the bypassed by the Nigerian Railway Corporation, NRC, in the construction of rail lines across the states in the South- West.
They submitted that the economic implication of such massive alternative transportation cutting through the heart of Ondo State is thus better imagined.
The people of the state, who observed that the NRC feasibility report leaves out the key economic and population centres of Ondo State, said it was unacceptable and should be corrected.
The Deji of Akure, Oba Aladetoyinbo Aladelusi had faulted the perceived marginalisation of the state in the construction of the rail route.
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