The Minister of State for Works, Muhammad Bello Goronyo, has said the annual budget cannot fund over 35,000 kilometers of the federal government road network.....CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
Naija News reports that Goronyo stressed the need to source for alternative funding outside the government’s coffers.
He stated this on Monday while addressing the Management and Staff of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Kogi State Field Office at Lokoja.
He reaffirmed that President Bola Tinubu’s administration was determined to fix all the roads to ensure a drastic reduction in the level of unemployment, rate of crimes, and insecurity.
“Let me commend President Tinubu, GCFR for his determination. I have never seen a President so committed to sustaining physical assets nationwide. The administration gives priority to various road projects scattered across the country. This shows that he is a patriotic Nigerian.
“He is undertaking these projects so that our economy can be improved, and the rate of unemployment, poverty, and crimes will be reduced. We are seeing the Super Highways from Ilelah to Sokoto to Badagry and another from Lagos to Calabar,” he said.
Goronyo, who commended the staff of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) for their resilience and hard work over the years, noting that despite insecurity, and inadequate funding, Nigerians have been commending them for their excellent work.
Speaking further on funding for the maintenance of roads, Goronyo stressed that “about 35,000 kilometers of roads cannot be funded and maintained overnight. We have to look for alternative sources of funding so that we can continue to maintain our physical assets, which are the roads. We have to create new ways of funding and new alternatives.”
He assured that the government was focused on ensuring that projects were completed in a timely and efficient manner with robust oversight and contractors’ compliance.
“I am calling on all of you to support us to ensure that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu succeeds in his mandate to deliver on the 8-point Renewed Hope Agenda. We must put Nigeria first before our interests. Let us fix our roads, we must think positively,” he stated.
Earlier, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of FERMA, Engineer Chukwumeka Agbasi, commended the Ministry of Works for its determination to ensure that the 8-point agenda of President Tinubu was realized, especially road projects across the country.
In his remarks, Engineer Muktar Abdurahim, the Officer in charge of the Kogi Field Office, informed the Minister that Kogi State has sixteen (16) federal government roads with a total of 1,263 kilometers, emphasizing that the 2024 nationwide flood incident did not affect any of the roads in the state.
Abdulrahim revealed that out of six (6) roads under construction in the state, five (5) have been successfully executed, while one (1) is at 60% completion.
He informed the Minister that they were facing challenges such as insecurity, and hyperinflation on the cost of construction materials, amongst others.