The Enugu State government has reiterated its resolve to partner the Federal Government through the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and other stakeholders to construct an ultra-modern terminal and rail transportation in its efforts to remodel the transport system in the state.
   
Governor Peter Mbah, who disclosed the development, yesterday, at the Government House, Enugu, when he received the NRC Managing Director, Freeborn Okhiria, and members of his team, stressed that remodeling the transportation sector would include a multimodal transport system, such as the road, rail and air transportation to enhance the standard of living of the people, grow the economy and encourage ease of doing business. 
  
Mbah, while observing that the existing transportation system in the state had started making lives uncomfortable for residents as most of the infrastructures had deteriorated, leading to gridlocks, said he is determined to engage in collaborative solutions to make the projects achievable. 
   
He said: “We need collaboration with the Federal Government to achieve our goals. We are doing this for the collective interest of our people. It is not right that we came, saw things the way they were, and refused to do anything, because we could also simply take such a defeatist approach to development. But we recognized, as a government, that there must be room for continuous and never-ending improvement. And this is the primary reason we took the oath of office. 

MEANWHILE, Mbah may have braced up to the realisation of his $30 billion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the state with the presentation of over N521.5 billion budget for the 2024 fiscal year.
   
The budget, the first since he assumed office in May this year, according to the governor, is structured to propel growth and bring about a paradigm shift in the way things are done in the state.
  
Tagged: “Budget of Disruptive Economic Growth,” it is 132 per cent higher than the 2023 revised budget of N224 billion and the highest so far by any government in the state since the return of democracy in 1999.
  
While presenting the budget to the State House Assembly for approval, yesterday, which comprised a recurrent expenditure of  over 107 billion and capital expenditure of  over N414 billion, Mbah stressed that the education sector, being the key plank in his government’ s strategy to eradicate poverty, would get N134.5 billion or 33% of the total budget.
  
He stated that the internally generated revenue would provide N252 billion of the estimated amount, while statutory revenue would provide N60 billion; Excess crude and Value Added Tax (VAT) will provide N16 billion and N44 billion, respectively, among others.
  
Other sectoral allocation showed Law and Justice to get N1.2 billion; Health N21.77 billion; Infrastructure (Road construction, maintenance and rehabilitation) N82 billion; Water Sector N28 billion; Agriculture N25 billion, among others.
  
Mbah maintained that his administration’s vision was to place Enugu among the top three states in terms of GDP and achieve zero poverty. He said: “Private sector investment is critical to the growth we seek to achieve; hence, the necessary infrastructures, such as roads and electricity that’s needed to drive this growth must be provided.”
   
He added that reliance on Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) would not help his administration realise its objectives; hence, the need for new revenue sources that include natural resources.
    
The governor, who further reflected on the reviewed 2023 budget, stated that his administration had achieved the ultramodern water scheme at 9th Mile corner with the production of 70 million liters of water daily, as well as for the ongoing construction/rehabilitation of various roads in the state.