My Candid Opinion Of Ministry Of Works And Housing In 2019

The year 2019 was a remarkable one for Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. During this year, Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, was reappointed as the Minister For Works and Housing by the President Muhammadu Buhari after demerging the Ministry which in his first tenure included the Ministry for Power. No sooner had he resumed, he swung into action. This culminated into impressive accomplishments in terms of construction, rehabilitation, repair and maintenance of roads and bridges.

Among these accomplishments recorded in 2019 are the ongoing   reconstruction works on major bridges, arterial roads and rehabilitation, which includes:

* Emergency Repairs of Existing Niger Bridge at Onitsha/Asaba; Owerri Dual Carriageway (close to Madonna) in Anambra State ; Construction of Ojutu Bridge on Erinle River, Ilobu,. Osun State.
* Emergency Repairs of Failed Section of Ijora - Apapa Flyover and Approach Road by Leventis in Lagos
* Reconstruction of Ohan & Moro bridges in Ilorin - Igbeti Road
* Emergency Repairs of Washout at Kwaita Bridge along Abuja - Lokoja Expressway
* Reconstruction of 3No. Insurgent damaged Bridges in the North East

In addition, another feat achieved by the ministry is the collaboration with the Federal Government in the expansive spending on Federal projects across the nation, which has not left any state in Nigeria today without a Federal Government visible road project. Recently , officials of the Ministry  works ,  took a tour the erosion control project at the Ekpoma stretch of the dual carriageway from Obajana to Benin City.

It is also pertinent to note that the Ministry of Works and Housing with its critical stakeholders ;  the  Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and some road contractors handling national projects,  in  one of the organizational sublime strides, prepared a document which contained the action plan to fix failed portions of federal highways and arterial roads in respect to the recently celebrated yuletide. The document contained 123 roads billed for rehabilitation or already undergoing repairs.

These rehabilitation projects cut across the 6 geo-political zones of the country. Among the roads billed for rehabilitation  were the Abuja-Kaduna road at Km 4,5,15,16,18 and 30, Gombe-Biu, Wukari-Benue, Benin-Asaba, Benin-Sapele, Ibadan-Ogbomosho, Onitsha-Owerri dual carriage way to mention but a few.

In the Housing sector, the Ministry brought to the fore, the Pilot National Housing Programme. This has led to a nationwide Housing construction currently at various completion stages in 34 states of the Federation.

In addition, 1000 certificates of occupancy in respect of Federal Government landed properties nationwide were approved and signed and  the beneficiaries were duly informed in four national newspapers; Thisday, Leadership, Nation and Daily Trust.

The Ministry is not resting on its oars in terms of effective delivery of its duties and mandates to the states as well as accountability to the people of Nigeria.

Okere Grace Onyinyechi
IT Student with Federal Ministry of Works and Housing

Road Infrastructure, A Necessary Factor for Nigeria’s  Unity :   Mohammed Bukar

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mohammed Bukar has disclosed that road infrastructure was a necessary factor for the unity  of our geographically vast and culturally heterogeneous nation, Nigeria.

He made the disclosure today at the ongoing meeting of Federal and State Permanent Secretaries  at the 25th National Council on Works in Calabar Cross River State. The theme of the Council Meeting is ‘’ Infrastructure as the pathway for prosperity’’ which according to him was ‘’Apt and deliberately chosen  to address issues of job creation , poverty alleviation and wealth creation.”    Bukar who was ably represented by the Director Highways, Planning and Development, Engr, Chibike Uzo maintained that ‘’ In spite of  the present  improvement in GDP growth , road infrastructure deficit and its attendant adverse effect on the transport sector remained  a major impediment to future economic prosperity of Nigeria , especially in the area of food supply, employment generation and wealth creation.

The Permanent Secretary assured Nigerians that his Ministry was committed to integrating and developing  Nigerian roads infrastructure through the completion of projects with positive impact capable of providing  more conducive  environment for local and foreign investments.

While welcoming all Stakeholders to the Council meant to look at the issues raised  during the Technical Meeting which took place on Monday_ Tuesday(25th_26th November, 2019), Bukar expressed immeasurable  gratitude to the Government and good people of Cross River State, especially, the Executive Governor, His Excellency, Prof, Ben. Ayade for providing the conducive environment for stakeholders in the Works Sector to deliberate on the myriad of infrastructure challenges in Nigeria.

In her address, the Permanent Secretary, Cross River State Ministry of Works, Dr. ( Mrs) Ihort  Achu , commended  the  Directors  from various MDAs for patiently brainstorming  on issues of roads infrastructure which according to her were  crucial to the economic development of Cross River State in particular and Nigeria in general. Achu happily welcomed the Permanent Secretaries from the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory and enjoined them to feel at home and enjoy the hospitality of Cross River State.