2024: KTSG seeks completion of dualization of Kano-Katsina Road

The Katsina State Government has called on the Federal Government to consider the completion of the abandoned dualization of Kano-Katsina Road to tame the recurring auto crashes along the highway.

The State’s acting Governor, Malam Faruk Lawal-Jobe, made the call in a keynote address at the opening of the North-West Zonal Conference on Transportation, in Katsina on Tuesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the conference was organized by the Chartered Institute of Transportation Administration of Nigeria (CIOTA).

The conference was themed: “Promoting Ethics and Professionalism in Transport: A Key to Economic Development”.

Lawal-Jobe said, “We are calling on the Federal Government to kindly consider completion of the dualization of Kano-Katsina Road.

” This is in order to mitigate the frequent accidents along the road and ease vehicular movements.

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“We also want the government to consider extending rehabilitation and upgrading of rail lines from Zaria to Funtua so that the Funtua Dry Inland Port can operate at optimum level,” he appealed

The acting governor commended the Federal Government for the project on the expansion of Umaru Musa Yar’adua International Airport, Katsina.

He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to consider the completion of the expansion works at the airport to enhance economic activities.

Lawal-Jobe said that the government was providing transport infrastructure to promote economic development and prosperity.

He commended the General Manager of the state-owned public transportation services, ‘Katsina State Transport Authority (KTSTA)’, Alhaji Haruna Musa-Rugoji, for the efficient management of the agency.

According to him, the government had purchased 40 additional buses since the inception of the administration to boost its operations.

Lawal-Jobe said that the government had laid the foundation for the construction of a new motor park terminal in Katsina, which would gulp N1.5 billion.

He said, ”The administration is modernising sub-stations of its transport services and constructing new ones within the state.”

In his remarks, the Director-General, Nigerian Institute of Transportation Technology (NITT), Zaria, Mr Bayero Salih, urged state governments to intensify efforts in deploying technology to bolster their transportation systems.

Salih, who was represented by Dr Joshua Odeleye, Director, Transport Technology Centre, said the transportation sector was facing challenges sometimes leading to the loss of lives and property on the nation’s highways.

Salih said that technology could be deployed for vehicle speed management, traffic control and security, among others, all in effort to reduce road crashes. (NAN)