By Samuel Akpan
President Bola Tinubu has inaugurated construction of two service carriageways on Abuja’s Southern Parkway, declaring that his administration’s infrastructure drive is laying the foundation for a new Nigeria built on shared prosperity for all citizens.
Speaking through the All Progressives Congress National Chairman, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, during Tuesday’s event in the Federal Capital Territory, Tinubu acknowledged that the reforms pursued over the past three years had been challenging yet essential.
He pointed to visible outcomes across sectors and urged continued public backing for the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“The results are here – the roads, the bridges, the rails, and housing. We are laying the foundation for a new Nigeria that works – and works for all and for our common prosperity.
“Stay with us, support us, and stand by the Renewed Hope Agenda. The best of Abuja and the best of Nigeria are still ahead of us,” Tinubu said.
The new service carriageways, running from Arterial Road S20 (Oladipo Diya Way) to Ring Road II, align with the Abuja Master Plan.
Once completed, they are expected to improve traffic flow in the Southern districts, create stronger links between Phase I and Phase 4, and complement the already opened main carriageway named Bola Ahmed Tinubu Way.
Tinubu highlighted daily congestion affecting residents of Duste, Gudu, Gaduwa, Duboyi and a Phase II housing estate along S2 (Abdulsalami Abubakar Way) and S20 during peak hours.
He said completion of the service roads would bring relief, allowing smoother traffic movement, shorter travel times, reduced business costs and more family time.
“That is the dividend of democracy, and that is the renewed hope that you can feel and you can touch every day,” he added.
He also noted ongoing transformation across the FCT, citing the upgrade of Arterial Road N20, now Prof. Wole Soyinka Way, the N16 Interchange connecting Jahi and Gwarinpa, as well as road works in Kuje, Gwagwalada and Mabushi.
Tinubu praised FCT Minister Nyesom Wike for his delivery record, saying: “You have earned your name, ‘Mr Project’. Most people thought that it was only in Rivers, but you’ve shown clearly that it’s your DNA to do projects always.
“Through your action, and not just talk alone, you’ve shown that truly, you are Mr Project. Since you assumed office, you have awakened the abandoned projects, you’ve set clear targets, and you’ve delivered them in record time.”
Wike acknowledged that the newly awarded contract could face political pressures ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He, however, pledged that the FCT Administration would press ahead with changing the capital’s landscape in line with presidential directives.
The minister said the project would be completed and inaugurated in January 2027 and assured the contractor that financial obligations would be met.
“I want this job to be inaugurated before we go for the general elections in 2027,” he said.
Wike also issued a stern warning to land grabbers who had started unauthorised developments along the road corridor.
He directed the Acting Director of Development Control to demolish all illegal structures and instructed coordination with the Director of Land to ensure that only properly allocated plots proceed.
“We have found out that each time we want to carry out construction, people who have not been genuinely allocated land will go in, forge documents, and begin to develop. It will not work. We will bring it,” Wike said.
Acting Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority, Mr Richard Dauda, described the Southern Parkway as a key artery of the Southern Development Corridor.
It runs from the Inner Southern Motorway in Phase I through the Central Area and ends at the same motorway in Phase 4 of the southern corridor.