The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has assured Nigerians that dilapidated federal roads will be fixed within two years.
He said this at the inauguration of the members of the board of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency in Abuja on Thursday.
The minister noted that good road networks would help reduce the country’s current high inflation rate.
According to Umahi, road infrastructure is critical to the socio-economic development of the nation, noting that the critical sectors that drive economic growth rely greatly on road infrastructure development.
He said, “We have a very critical situation with our roads all over the country and for me, the number one thing Nigerians need is durable roads. Road is everything and if we fix our roads today, we will bring down inflation in this country because bad roads affect every aspect of our economic activities. Is it transportation of petroleum products, agricultural produce, trade, or movement of tourism?
“A rich man can send his children to private schools or hospitals, but we can never have private roads in this country. So, this is a common denominator for every one of us.
“Mr President understands the plight of our people as far as road infrastructure is concerned. He is doing everything within the budget and outside to fix our roads. I want to assure Nigerians that our roads will be fixed within the next two years; we will see very serious tremendous transformation on most of our roads.”
He asserted that contractors that bid for that process would soon receive their award letters and many would be going to the site afterward.
Umahi further charged the newly inaugurated members of FERMA board to brace up for the challenges of road infrastructure maintenance facing the country.
“For FERMA, the President has directed a review of your activities. This review is to give authority to some of the directors that represent the zones. What we have today on our roads are boreholes and they develop from pinholes because no one takes care of them.
“The story of FERMA is not very sweet and we will not blame you but we are going to do things differently. There is no improvement on our roads without passion. The day we become patriotic and begin to take public things as if they were our own then we will see tremendous changes.”
He urged the board not to stay in Abuja but to go around every section of their zones, and meet weekly with zonal workers.
“Of course, Mr President will not hesitate to remove any of you that would witness the kind of things we are witnessing now. When people are staying on the road for seven or ten days, why will the price of goods not escalate? So, I charge you on behalf of Mr President…show commitment for our people,” the minister stated.
He maintained that the enhanced budgetary provision for road infrastructure under the current administration showed the President’s commitment to changing the narrative of the country’s decayed road infrastructure.
In his acceptance speech on behalf of the new board, the Managing Director of FERMA, Chukwuemeka Agbasi, thanked the President for finding them worthy to be appointed as board members of FERMA.
He pledged that they would discharge their responsibilities with the fear of God and align with the policy of the current administration.
The new members of the FREMA board are Agbasi, lbi Manasseh, Dr Kenneth Ugbala, Senator Timothy Aduda, Babatunde Daramola, Honourable Preye Oseke, Aminu Papa, Abubakar Bappa, Shehu Mohammed, and Yusuf Othman.
