Warri, Itakpe rail gauge will commence operations July – Fayemi

The former Ministry of Mines and Steel Development has revealed plans to commence operations on the Warri Itakpe rail gauge in July.
Speaking at the valedictory briefing of the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi said, “within the next two months, the Warri Itakpe rail gauge which have been completed will commence operations.
The minister stressed that the sector has indeed met its set goals of increasing its contribution to the national GDP.
He added that, “the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics recently affirmed that the revenue from the mining sector has increased more than five folds from the inception of the administration,” saying that the ministry was hitherto dead on his assumption of office.
According to Dr. Fayemi, the support of the President greatly assisted in repositioning the mining sector for better performance, leading to remarkable growth recorded in the sector in the past two and a half years.
Fayemi cited improved funding for the sector, better geological data, improvement in the ease of doing business, security of the mines as well as removal of legal encumbrances that crippled some national assets as some areas the ministry under his leadership recorded huge success.
He pointed out that his other achievements include stronger institutional capacity, enhanced capacity of staffs, improved infrastructure, better cooperative federalism, improvement in productivity, profitable collaboration with international development agencies.
However he expressed confidence that the Minister of State, Hon Abubakar Bawa Bwari, who will now take charge of the Ministry, would forge ahead with the various reforms and innovations that have helped to reposition the sector.
Recall that the minister who officially resigns his position as the minister of the ministry to pursue his political ambition in his home state- Ekiti governorship race on July 14 as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) assumed office on November 11, 2015.