THE Presidency on Monday pushed back against what it described as false narratives suggesting that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has neglected the North West region, insisting that the administration has embarked on significant investments in infrastructure, transportation, health, and road development across the zone.
News Point Nigeria reports that the rebuttal came during a pre-tour media briefing held in Abuja by the Renewed Hope Ambassadors (RHA) ahead of a nationwide project showcase tour scheduled to commence in Kaduna and other states in the North West.
At the briefing, the Presidency highlighted several ongoing projects in the region, including the $2 billion Kano-Maradi standard gauge railway project linking Kano State to Maradi in the Niger Republic, which officials said has reached 60 per cent completion.
Speaking at the event, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Special Duties, Tunde Rahman, who also serves as Director of Media and Publicity for the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, said the media tour was specifically designed to counter widespread perceptions that the President had failed to fulfil promises made to the North.
“A lot of people are saying that the President has not kept his promise with the North. This is not correct,” Rahman stated.
“You will see for yourselves the projects put in place by Mr President. He started in the North in the area of works, road networks, health facilities that have been built and transportation, like the rail system from Kano down to Maradi,” he added.
Rahman explained that the project showcase initiative was being organised under the platform of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, which he described as the principal vehicle for President Tinubu’s re-election campaign.
“We are not reinventing the wheel. We are putting together all the achievements of Mr President and presenting them to the whole of Nigeria so that Nigerians can see that a lot has been done in the last three years,” he said.
Also speaking during the briefing, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the media tour became necessary due to what he described as an information gap that allowed scepticism and misinformation about the administration’s achievements to thrive.
“If we don’t blow our trumpet, no one will blow it for us,” Onanuga said.
“We are carrying the media along so they can see for themselves the many projects being done across the country, projects that have a direct impact on our people.
“Someone posted about a completed road on social media and said, ‘I didn’t know such a project existed.’ That is why we are doing this,” he added.
The event also featured a technical presentation by the Director of Rail Transport Service at the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Mr Finbarr Zirra, who provided detailed insights into the ongoing railway projects under the current administration.
Zirra said the North West was gradually becoming the geographic centrepiece of a broader national rail integration programme being implemented by the Tinubu administration.
Tracing the history of Nigeria’s railway challenges, the official explained that the rail system inherited from the colonial administration was not designed to support national integration or economic development.
“The plan at that time did not intend to integrate us or make our resources available for national development,” Zirra said.
“Towards the 1970s, the railway sector degenerated to a point where government investment declined and was essentially replaced by road infrastructure,” he added.
According to him, the 25-year Railway Master Plan adopted in 2002 was intended to rehabilitate and modernise the sector while positioning it for long-term sustainability.
He stated that substantial progress had been achieved within the last three to four years under the present administration.
On the Lagos-Kano standard gauge railway corridor, which he described as the backbone of Nigeria’s evolving rail network, Zirra said the Abuja-Kaduna segment was already operational, while the Lagos-Ibadan section was also functioning effectively.
He added that work on the Kaduna-Kano segment had reached an advanced stage.
“The part to Kano has been completed,” he confirmed, adding that the Kaduna-Abuja connection was expected to become operational before the end of the year.
Speaking further on the Kano-Katsina-Maradi extension, Zirra described the project as the largest ongoing rail investment in the North West.
The project stretches about 400 kilometres from Kano through Katsina to Jibia before extending another 40 kilometres into the Niger Republic.
According to him, the project has attained 60 per cent completion, with major earthworks substantially completed.
He explained that once the earthworks phase is finalised, mechanised rail laying would significantly accelerate progress.
A separate branch line connecting Kano to Dutse, covering approximately 100 kilometres, is also under construction as part of the same rail package, he disclosed.
“The total length of this package is about 400 kilometres, and work is progressing. By the end of the year, Kano to Katsina is expected to be completed,” Zirra stated.
He further stressed Kano’s strategic importance to the entire national railway programme, noting that the city would eventually become a major multi-modal transportation hub where four major rail lines would converge.
The lines include the Lagos-Kano main corridor, the Kano-Maradi international line, the Kano-Katsina branch line, and the Kano-Dutse route.
According to Zirra, the Kano railway station, once completed, would become the largest in Nigeria in both design and operational capacity.
“One movement of a fully loaded train will take approximately 30 trucks off the road,” he explained.
“If we are able to do that consistently, the impact on road maintenance, logistics costs and the cost of goods will be enormous.
“The multiplier effect of a functional rail corridor is felt in every other sector,” he added.
The rail transport official also disclosed that a privately funded high-speed rail initiative estimated at N200 billion was currently being proposed, with plans to cover the Lagos-Kano and Lagos-Port Harcourt corridors.
Monday’s briefing came just days after the Renewed Hope Ambassadors unveiled a new website and digital repository documenting key milestones and achievements of the Tinubu administration.
Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, who chairs the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, said the platform would serve as a verified information hub aimed at deepening public understanding of the administration’s reform programmes while actively countering misinformation and false narratives.