The Minister of State for Works, Bello Goronyo, has said that the over 35,000 kilometres of the federal government’s road network across Nigeria cannot be funded through annual budgets alone, hence the need to source for alternative funding outside the government’s coffers.
Goronyo stated this while addressing the management and staff of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Kogi State field office in Lokoja during a maiden visit alongside the Managing Director, Chukwumeka Agbasi.
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, a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Ahmed Mohammed, said.
“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 stated.
Goronyo, who commended the staff of FERMA for their resilience and hard work over the years, noted that despite insecurity, and inadequate funding, a lot of work was still ongoing nationwide.
He urged them to bear with the ministry of works over their entitlements, disclosing that their requests for adjustment and increment in consequential salaries have been forwarded to the Salaries, Income, and Wages Commission for consideration and approval.
Speaking further on funding for the maintenance of roads, Goronyo stressed that about 35,000 kilometres 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 said.
He assured that the government was focused on ensuring that projects are completed in a timely and efficient manner with robust oversight and contractors’ compliance.
He added: “I am calling on all of you to support us to ensure that President Bola Tinubu succeeds in his mandate to deliver on the eight-point Renewed Hope Agenda. We must put Nigeria first before our interests. Let us fix our roads, we must think positively.”
Earlier, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FERMA, Agbasi, commended the Ministry of Works for its determination to ensure that the presidential agenda is realised.
He informed the staff that before the end of the year, there would be an increment in their salaries and appealed to them to continue to support and partner with the Ministry to achieve their targeted goals.
Also in his remarks, officer in charge of the Kogi Field Office, Muktar Abdurahim, informed the minister that the office has 37 staff with 25 permanent and 12 casual workers.
He disclosed that Kogi State has 16 federal government roads with a total of 1,263 kilometres, emphasising that the 2024 nationwide flood incident did not affect any of the roads in the state.
Abdulrahim revealed that out of six roads under construction in the state, five had been successfully executed, while one is at 60 per cent completion. He also informed the minister that they were facing challenges such as insecurity, and hyperinflation in the cost of construction materials, amongst others.
Besides, the Director, North Central Zone I, Omotayo Awodun, commended the federal government’s commitment to fixing all the federal roads across Nigeria, especially those in his zone.
