


FG Completes and Hands Over Internal Road Project at Akanu Ibiam -Fed Poly …. School Filled with Excitement and Commendation The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing has rehabilitated and handed over a 2-kilometre internal road to Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana Afikpo in Ebonyi State, to ease movement and make teaching and learning conducive for lecturers and students on campus. Fashola who was represented by the Federal Controller of Works Ebonyi State, Engr. Steve Oluwadun said that the intervention work aimed at improving quality of education was gradually bridging the gap of our infrastructure needs in our tertiary institutions. ‘’ The gap of our infrastructure needs is steadily being bridged by a gradual process of repairs, renewal and construction on major highways and it has reached the school”, he said. “The quality of education will be impacted by the quality of infrastructure and the learning environment and those who doubt it should simply listen to some of the feedbacks from students in the schools where this type of intervention has taken place. He disclosed that during the reconstruction of the road at Akanu Ibiam Federal Ploy, 35 persons were employed, thus contributing to the job creation initiative of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. Fashola urged the institution's authorities to ensure proper use of the road, while embracing a proper maintenance culture. Earlier in his address, the Rector Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Uwana Afikpo, Dr. Felix Attah, expressed appreciation to the Federal Government and described the road intervention as laudable and commendable. The Rector added that it would ameliorate the suffering of staff and students, improve the quality of education, more so the learning environment. Represented by the Deputy Rector Academics, Dr. Ezichi Kalu also requested for more interventions on the deplorable roads in the campus and pledged to provide the needed co-operation and environment during such intervention works to accelerate the smooth movement of people as well as reduce accidents rate within the polytechnic community. During an interview session the Public Relations Officer of the Institute, Mrs. Samuel Nwamaka who was full of excitement thanked the Minister for considering the school among the beneficiaries of internal road infrastructure across tertiary institutions in the country. She noted that the road has given aesthetic value to the school and made trekking into the school less tasking. Delivering the Vote of Thanks, the Dean School of Environmental Design and Technology, Surveyor, Iduma Aka Ibiam expressed gladness over the road intervention project by the Federal Government, saying that the road construction has brightened and bloomed the school environment. He described the road intervention as a wonderful and brilliant intervention that gave the school a beautiful look.
Speaking at the official handover ceremony of the rehabilitated road to the school management in Afikpor, the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN revealed that the ministry had successfully intervened in 64 internal road projects in various federal tertiary institutions across the nation as at January 2023 and a total of 38 numbers still on going and at different stages of completion.
The Minister described the project as an investment in education and noted that over 46 of such internal road projects have been handed over in some other universities and tertiary institutions across the nation.
FG Completes and Hands Over Internal Road Project at Akanu Ibiam -Fed Poly …. School Filled with Excitement and Commendation The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing has rehabilitated and handed over a 2-kilometre internal road to Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana Afikpo in Ebonyi State, to ease movement and make teaching and learning conducive for lecturers and students on campus. Speaking at the official handover ceremony of the rehabilitated road to the school management in Afikpor, the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN revealed that the ministry had successfully intervened in 64 internal road projects in various federal tertiary institutions across the nation as at January 2023 and a total of 38 numbers still on going and at different stages of completion. Fashola who was represented by the Federal Controller of Works Ebonyi State, Engr. Steve Oluwadun said that the intervention work aimed at improving quality of education was gradually bridging the gap of our infrastructure needs in our tertiary institutions. ‘’ The gap of our infrastructure needs is steadily being bridged by a gradual process of repairs, renewal and construction on major highways and it has reached the school”, he said. The Minister described the project as an investment in education and noted that over 46 of such internal road projects have been handed over in some other universities and tertiary institutions across the nation. “The quality of education will be impacted by the quality of infrastructure and the learning environment and those who doubt it should simply listen to some of the feedbacks from students in the schools where this type of intervention has taken place. He disclosed that during the reconstruction of the road at Akanu Ibiam Federal Ploy, 35 persons were employed, thus contributing to the job creation initiative of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. Fashola urged the institution's authorities to ensure proper use of the road, while embracing a proper maintenance culture. Earlier in his address, the Rector Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Uwana Afikpo, Dr. Felix Attah, expressed appreciation to the Federal Government and described the road intervention as laudable and commendable. The Rector added that it would ameliorate the suffering of staff and students, improve the quality of education, more so the learning environment. Represented by the Deputy Rector Academics, Dr. Ezichi Kalu also requested for more interventions on the deplorable roads in the campus and pledged to provide the needed co-operation and environment during such intervention works to accelerate the smooth movement of people as well as reduce accidents rate within the polytechnic community. During an interview session the Public Relations Officer of the Institute, Mrs. Samuel Nwamaka who was full of excitement thanked the Minister for considering the school among the beneficiaries of internal road infrastructure across tertiary institutions in the country. She noted that the road has given aesthetic value to the school and made trekking into the school less tasking. Delivering the Vote of Thanks, the Dean School of Environmental Design and Technology, Surveyor, Iduma Aka Ibiam expressed gladness over the road intervention project by the Federal Government, saying that the road construction has brightened and bloomed the school environment. He described the road intervention as a wonderful and brilliant intervention that gave the school a beautiful look. ...
College Provost Commends FMWH for Another Intervention .....Says College's Staff quarters built by FMW in 1974 Provost of the Federal College of Education, Pankshin, Plateau State, Dr A.B Cirfat has commended the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing for yet another intervention in the College. The provost, spoke during the formal handing over of 1.04 km internal road rehabilitated by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in the Federal College of Education, Pankshin. Dr Cirfat revealed that it was the same Federal Ministry of Works and Housing that built the College’s Staff quarters in 1974 when the College was established. " The major intervention when the College was established in 1974 was by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing that built the Staff quarters. The buildings still carry the inscriptions of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing " he said In his hand over address, Works and Housing Minister, Babatunde Fashola stated that, the importance of infrastructure to learning environment and quality of education cannot be under estimated, hence the Federal Government has remained committed to bridging the infrastructure gaps in the country, including those of institutions of learning. He said " It is undebatable that the quality of education will be impacted by the quality of infrastructure and the learning environment" Fashola was represented at the occasion by the Federal Controller of Works in Plateau State, Engr Usman Abubakar Accordingly, the Minister explained that government was steadily bridging the infrastructure gap by a gradual process of repairs, renewal and construction on major highways, which had now reached the schools. He revealed that the Federal government has provided 83 internal road intervention projects in various Federal tertiary institutions across the country and the completed ones were being handed over now, of which FCE Pankshin is among. The road projects according to Fashola, benefited not only the students and the institution's community but also provided jobs for youths, stating that 34 people were employed in the process of the rehabilitation of the road in the FCE Pankshin. The College Provost who was represented by Deputy Provost, Dr (Mrs) Christiana Zumyil appreciated the Ministry of Works and Housing for always remembering the College, saying that, the entire College Community were excited with the project. " The entire College staff and students are grateful to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. We appreciate the Ministry for always remembering the College by coming to our aid whenever we needed it" he said Dr Cirfat said that the rehabilitated road has now given the College a new good look, urging the Ministry to still come to the aid of the College by building shoulders of the main road across the main gate in order to stop further damage of the road during the raining season. In his remarks, the College Director of Works, Arc Miri Gofer commended the speed with which the rehabilitation work was carried out, saying that the work has really eased traffic in the college. He also commended the first major intervention, building of staff quarters by the federal Ministry of Works when the College was established in 1974, urging that the remaining internal roads in the college would also be considered in the next intervention Master Betfa Innocent, an NCE 2 Student of Business Education described the road intervention in the College as face saving for the College Community, saying that movement in and out was now much easier. Master Innocent thanked the federal government and the Minister of Works for such great concern and action in the College The 1.04 km road in the FCE Pankshin links the Academic area in the College with the administrative block, Convocation square, staff quarters and student’s hostel. ...
Federal Government Commissions National Housing Programme in Enugu State .Enugu State Government Commends FG for project.. The Federal Government as part of its developmental agenda has commissioned 70 housing units Comprising of 16 units of three-bedroom, 24 units of two-bedroom, 24 units in condominium and 6 units of one -bedroom apartments in Enugu State. The commissioning ceremony took place at Amankpaka Autonomous Community, Ugwogo Nike in Enugu East Local Government Area of the state under Phase One of the National Housing Programme of the Federal Government. President Muhammadu Buhari represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Geoffrey Onyeama expressed delight over the completion of the housing project as a fulfillment of the promise of change this administration made to the people at its inception. President Muhammadu Buhari appreciated Enugu State Government for the intergovernmental collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing through the provision of the land for the project, which was once left fallow, but today has come alive to shelter ordinary Nigerians. He described it as “One of the developmental approaches across levels of governments to improve the human condition." Buhari reiterated that the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which drive our economy, won the contracts to build these houses. Not only did their successful bids offer an opportunity for these companies and their employees both skilled and unskilled workers through them, and we have also unleashed a value chain of economic activities that has improved the conditions of the ordinary Nigerian." "These are some of the people our country remains committed to move towards prosperity and away from poverty and we are already reaching them by providing opportunities for employment for those who were hitherto unemployed”, he added. He directed that in the fulfillment of promise of change made by this administration that 22 units of the houses be reserved for the 1994 Olympic medalists in fulfillment of a pledge made to them 28 years ago by the then Federal government to encourage others that wish to sacrifice for their country. In his goodwill message, the Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi , commended President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN for the laudable initiative of providing these houses for the teeming rural communities in the state which he said was the first ever National Housing Scheme in the state “. Represented by the Commissioner of Works Enugu State, Engr. Gregory Nnaji, the Governor noted that provision of shelter anywhere brings development and improve livelihood and for that they appreciated the government of President Buhari for providing the houses. While making his remarks, The Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN who was represented by the Director Housing of the Ministry, Arc. Iquo Lucy Uzodinma, stated that the 70 housing units under Phase 1, comprising 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom units, completed and being commissioned were the outcome of a survey conducted throughout the federation. "In terms of design, this project is the outcome of a national survey conducted by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to find out the type of houses Nigerians desire," he said. Fashola explained that the survey revealed a preference for bungalows in Northern Nigeria and flats in Southern Nigeria, adding that the survey also showed the need for space which, according to him, “Is why the one-bedroom units are 60 - 70 square metres and two-bedroom units 76 - 103 square metres while three-bedroom units are110 - 137 square metres." Fashola also disclosed that the housing units are offered to the public through the National Housing Portal at https://nhp.worksandhousing.gov.ng to ensure that interested buyers are not inhibited by any “artificial obstacle and allocations are made on the basis of those who apply and pay on a first-come- first-served basis." The Minister added that Nigerians would witness many more commissioning of completed projects across the nation as President Buhari's tenure wines down, adding that many more projects would soon start to bear fruits. The Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Bashir Nura Alkali who was represented by the Federal Controller of Housing, Enugu State, ESV Emmanuel Eijie, stated that the Ministry was promoting local content in building construction in line with Executive Orders 3 and 5. According to Alkali, at least 1,200 building contractors have been engaged under Phases I, II and III of the housing programme since 2016 and over 14,500 and 50,140 direct and indirect jobs have been created. “During this period, the Ministry has been undertaking the construction of at least 6,000 housing units at 45 sites out of which 2,465 units have been completed in 34 States and the Federal Capital Territory,” he said. In a goodwill message, His Royal Highness, Eze Akpata 1 of Amankpa Nike Autonomous Community Ugwogo, Enugu, Engr. Damian Ikechukwu Edeh thanked the Federal Government for the project and the State government for siting the project in his domain. He added that the physical infrastructure has developed the area. The royal father noted that the area which used to be a hideout of robbers and kidnappers has been cleared. The President General of the Amankpa Community, Hon. Joseph Onu added that the community needs employment for their unemployed youths and urged the community to rejig the existing infrastructure for the betterment of their community. One of the beneficiaries under the Federal Government fulfillment of the promise made to the 1994 Super Eagles Team members who won the African Cup of Nations in Tunisia 1994, Mr. Christian Chukwu while delivering the vote of thanks expressed profound gratitude to the Federal Government for this unforgettable gesture. He said he is delighted to have taken full possession of his own semi-detached three-bedroom bungalow. The housing estate has internal roads, drainages, water reticulation and a central borehole with overhead tanks and electricity. ...
Oyo People Eulogise FG For Infrastructure Development
The people of Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state were full of joy and gratitude as the Federal Government commissioned and handed over a 0.75 kilometre internal road to the National Centre for Generic and Biotechnology Agency, ( NACGRAB) located at the National Cereals Research Institute Complex in Ibadan in Oyo State rehabilitated by the Federal Ministry of works and Housing.
Speaking at the occasion, the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, represented by the Federal Controller of Works, Oyo State, Engineer Kayode Ibrahim revealed that Oyo State is benefitting tremendiously from the federal government road projects. He said, " I can testify that a number of roads have received attention, from Lagos to Ibadan and Shagamu to Ibadan roads. We are pushing to finish them before May,2023."
Fashola added that "When you go round the state you will see that work is going on in many places at a great speed." He said that the Ibadan-Ife - Ilesa road was a night mare to road users before now, adding that Iwo road to Asejire to Ife is also presently receiving massive attention .
The Minister also confirmed that the contract for the rehabilitation of Ibadan - Oyo road had been awarded and the contractors are ready to hit the ground running.
He also disclosed that "Reynolds Construction Company, (RCC) is working round the clock on the Oyo Ogbomosho road with the aim of connecting it to the highway at the end of this year." The Minister also disclosed that work is on going at the Ogbomosho road because all obstacles had been removed and funds also released.
Babatunde Fashola in the same vain said that construction work is currently on going in a session at Oke - Ogun called Okerete from Shaki which is about a hundred kilometres, this previous administration had abandoned.
He also said that Isaleadini road that was abandoned for long and Okeohun road are receiving attention while road users are currently plying them freely with ease.
The Minister said other projects implemented by the Buhari administration in Oyo State include, the school of Survey, an internal road at University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan and Moor Plantation.
In his welcome address, the Director of The National Centre for Generic and Biotechnology,( NACGRAB) Dr. Anthony Okere who was represented by Dr. Abisoye Ojo expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for the internal road intervention project. The Director said access road to the Animal Generic Resource and Field in NACGRAB had worsened over the years due to gully erosion and transportion of farm equipments, livestock and their feeds as well as mobility of staff and guests of the Centre had been a nightmare but with the rehabilitation of the road by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing it has become a thing of the past.
Officials of some other Federal organisations such as the National Cereal Institute, Regional Office of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Nigerian Institute of Animal Science with office and residential accommodation within the NCRI Complex expressed appreciation to the Federal Government for the work done.
This road network will benefit about fourteen organisations both state and federal, who are being accommodated within the complex.
Religious And Tribal Tolerance: Panacea to Peaceful Co-Existence in Nigeria - The Rev. Euba Example, Being the Text of The First Reverend William Benjamin Euba Memorial Lecture 110th Founders Day Celebration
Ladies and gentlemen, I wish to thank you all for the honour of inviting me to speak at this year's Founders Day celebration of the Eko Boys High School and in particular for inaugurating this Memorial lecture in honour of the visionary Reverend William Benjamin Euba now of very blessed memory, who founded this school.
I know that in 1955 when the Premier of the Western Region inaugurated the free primary education program across the western region, the prevailing condition was one of mass illiteracy.
While many of our people are now literate in numeracy and letters, and they can now operate a telephone, this literacy that we have come to take for granted, was unthinkable on any scale in the western region in 1955. Large numbers of people simply could not put meaning to numbers and letters talk less of reading or writing.
One of the permanent businesses of that time, was that of a professional letter writer. Yes, in case you did not know or you have forgotten that was a business that once thrived in Nigeria and which happily by the vision and execution of Awolowo, is now history, because the monopoly of knowledge by a few has been democratised by the leadership provided by one man and his team.
But my intervention is not about Obafemi Awolowo but rather about William Euba.
But it is important to put matters in context by emphasising how difficult things were in 1955 when Awolowo intervened, which is just 68 years ago.
You can therefore imagine perhaps how much more difficult the Euba era was, back in January 1913 when he opened the doors of Eko Boys High School to the public to get Educated.
That was 110 years ago today and approximately 42 years before free education started; and interestingly, both events occurred in January.
On a lighter note, and for those who have recently been involved in the debate over who is the greatest of all time between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, I do not intend such a debate between Euba and Awolowo.
Rather, I seek to celebrate the farsightedness of their vision about the importance of education and knowledge to nation building, peaceful coexistence and information management for rational choices.
This school, founded by Reverend Euba, and the many more that have come after it have in my view been the glue that has bound our people together in more ways than we have either acknowledged or appreciated.
This is the background to my discussion of the topic of this lecture: Religious and Tribal Tolerance: Panacea to Peaceful Coexistence in Nigeria - The Reverend Euba Example.
The example of Rev. Euba remains iconic because he set up a school that opened its doors to people from all walks of life, in our diverse country.
The importance of this educational tolerance to peaceful coexistence is easy to miss, if we do not understand how strong identities are, and how even more strongly people cling to their tribal, ethnic, and religious identities.
For those who want to delve into the matter of identity more deeply, I recommend, “IDENTITY: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment” by Francis Fukuyama.
But for the purpose of today, it is simply important to stress how strongly those identities magnify our suspicions about one another, inflame myths about others in our minds and expand fault lines that overshadows the common bonds of humanity that we all share.
It is the very early work and initiative of men like Reverend Euba and other missionaries of the time to open access to formal education for African and Nigerian children on a non-discriminatory basis that has helped in no small way to bridge those gaps that are being widened by manipulation of our ethnic and religious diversity.
As I have had cause to argue on occasion, if our creator has demonstrated the capacity to create diversity, certainly nothing could have prevented him from making us all the same other than his infinite wisdom that our diversity would better enrich us and make our planet a more exciting place.
Regrettably this is what a few people (and I insist that they are few) choose to weaponize and deny us of the richness and excitement that the creator intended for us.
Clearly, Reverend Euba saw through their chicanery many years before it matured. He chose education as his weapon to put those few people in their place.
A place of irrelevance and ignominy, supplanted by the training of a large army of young people who have the understanding of both religions, who accept the minor differences between them and who decide to embrace the fundamentals of a common good and a common humanity.
Those young people, by virtue of the opportunity they got to attend the same school, sit in the same classrooms, eat together and participate in sporting activities together have learned that we are not different from one another even if we speak different languages.
Afterall, as Bishop Desmond Tutu of blessed memory argues in his book "God is not a Christian," that the languages we speak and the faith we profess are not divine; on the contrary they are products of where we were born and to whom we were born.
Those accidental circumstances should not define our essence. They should not be points of discord or discontent. Rather they should serve as sources of strength and richness which in fact they are.
It is to the eternal credit of Reverend William Benjamin Euba and others like him that they saw these sources of strength and richness and exposed young men and women to them through education.
This has turned a generation of young men and women into a large army of adults who have overcome religious and ethnic differences to contribute to national good and development.
Permit me to illustrate this phenomenon, by telling you a story that is only one example of many uncountable stories, which keeps the very few peddlers of division in check in our country.
On the 16th day of December 2022, I was invited to the Church Missionary Society (CMS) Grammar School premises to open an e-learning centre at the school premises in Bariga area of Lagos.
The centre had 300 computers, high speed broadband internet, fully equipped IT lab, for students and many other facilities for librarians and teachers. It was not built by the Anglican mission nor was it built by a Christian.
It was built by a Muslim, Senator Olugbenga Bareehu Ashafa, a two-term senator and now the Managing Director of the Federal Housing Authority.
It was built in part because he was an old boy of that school. The Anglican mission did not shut him out about 50 years ago when he sought admission there, on the grounds that he was a Muslim.
On the contrary, they opened their doors to him, and interestingly while still a student, the school gave him a special permission to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca as his parents wished and he returned to complete his education.
As I said, at the occasion, what is a Bareehu doing amongst Anglicans? Only the farsighted vision of missionaries and men like Reverend Euba could have found a place of comfort for a Bareehu amongst Anglicans, and for me a Raji in Eko Boys High School. Yes, I passed through this school for one year.
Ladies and gentlemen, Reverend Euba’s place in Nigeria’s quest for peaceful coexistence is legendary. We cannot thank him enough. May his kind, generous and visionary soul continue to rest in peace and may his example continue to inspire our nation.
FASHOLA, SULEIMAN, EL - YAKUB, OTHERS AT THE OFFICIAL FLAG - OFF THE DUALIZATION OF THE 132KM KANO - DAURA - KONGOLLAM ROAD IN KANO, JIGAWA AND KATSINA STATES UNDER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT AND REFURBISHMENT TAX CREDIT SCHEME
Hon. Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN (3rd right), Hon. Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu (4th left), Hon. Minister of State, Works and Housing, Hon. Umar El - Yakub (3rd left), representative of the Chairman, BUA Group, Alhaji Kabiru Rabiu(2nd right), traditional rulers and others during the official Flag - off of the Dualization of the 132KM Kano - Daura - Kongollam Road in Kano, Jigawa and Katsina States under the Federal Government Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Tax Credit Scheme on Tuesday, 7th February 2023.
FASHOLA, ZAINAB AHMED, EL-YAKUB, AT THE SYMBOLIC PRESENTATION OF THE 2022 SOVEREIGN SUKUK ISSUE PROCEEDS CHEQUES TO THE IMPLEMENTING MINISTRIES IN ABUJA
Hon. Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola,SAN (2nd left), Hon. Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed (2nd right), Hon. Minister of State, Works and Housing, Hon. Umar El - Yakub (left) and Director General, Debt Management Office, Mrs Patience Oniha (right) during the symbolic presentation of the N110 Billion 2022 Sovereign Sukuk Issue Proceeds Cheque for Construction and Rehabilitation of Road Projects in the Six Geo-Political Zones to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing at the Auditorium of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning in Abuja on Monday, 6th February 2023.