Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, has disclosFASHOLAat the past administration failed to develop the nation when it had the resources to do so.
Fashola said this on Wednesday during a courtesy visit to the Niger state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, at the Niger state Government House, Minna.
He recalled that years back the country had money but those at the helms of affairs failed to develop the country.
According to him, “It just tells you the situation in which this administration inherited the country and what we failed to do at the time when the nation was earning over $100 per barrel of crude oil a day, and what we failed to do then, we now have to do a lot more with less resources”.
He lamented the poor state of roads in the country and assured that the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is committed to fixing the roads and then shift focus to maintenance on timely bases.
He said, “We are making 60km journey that should take 40 minutes, now we are making it at between two to three hours”.
The Minister, particularly expressed concern over the deplorable state of Ilorin-Jebba highway and decried time being wasted and the increasing rate at which goods are damaged along the high way due to its bad state of the road.
“As I said to those truck drivers along Ilorin-Jebba road that staying there for four days, but if they have the opportunity for a way where they will pay toll it would have been better than losing four days and their perishable goods there. We will fix the roads first and we must go back to maintenance,” he said.
He added that indiscriminate parking of trailers and heavy-duty trucks on the road shoulders was also responsible for the quick depreciation of the roads, insisting that the trailer drivers must get a place to park their trailers off the road.
The former Lagos state governor further said that the water dams in the state should be made to support irrigation farming system.
Fashola, while commending Gov. Abubakar Sani Bello for intervening in the compensation settlement that had stalled work at the Zungeru Hydro Power Dam construction for the past two years, expressed his delight that work has now commenced again.
The Minister said that with the engagement of 886 persons to work in the dam site construction, the economic activities of the state will also get a boost.
Governor Abubakar Sani Bello told the minister that the state has the longest federal road network in the country but lamented that the roads have suffered neglect over the years.
He appreciated the minister for looking into the irrigation farming system especially the support the Federal Government intends to give the state.
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