Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said on Saturday that there is nothing bad in borrowing as long as the loan was invested in infrastructure improvement.
He said the loans secured by the federal government around the world were not meant for services or for overhead expenditure.
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Mohammed spoke during the inspection of the Lagos-Ibadan standard gauge with the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.
Daily Trust reports that there have been misgivings in recent times over the increasing foreign loans especially the ones are taken from China.
More so many Nigerians expressed fear over the sovereignty clause contained in the loans secured from China for the railway modernisation projects of the federal government.
Speaking with newsmen after the inspection, the information minister said he was inspired with the project, stating that there is no better way to respond to those criticising the loan than to showcase what has been achieved with the loan.
Mohammed said: “There is no better way to answer Nigerians as to what we have done with the money we borrowed all over the world than this trip.
“You have seen first-hand yourself the stations, the people at work. This is a project that will outlast virtually all of us here.
“Please come and see for yourself what we are doing with the money we have borrowed. We didn’t borrow money on services; we didn’t borrow for overhead expenditure. We borrowed money for capital projects – rail, road, bridges, and power infrastructures.
“There is nothing bad in borrowing if that borrowing is going to create jobs and create an enabling environment for the environment.”
Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi said there is enough money for the Lagos-Ibadan project, noting that the government was only awaiting the approval of the Chinese government for the $5.3bn loan meant for the Ibadan-Kano train.
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