The Minister of Works, David Umahi, on Thursday argued that the many bad roads in the country were contributing to Nigeria’s soaring inflation, which hit 28.2 per cent in November.
Speaking at the inauguration of the new Federal Emergency Road Management Agency (FERMA) board in Abuja, the minister stressed that if Nigerian roads improve, the prices of goods and services will fall.
Describing Nigerian roads as being in very critical conditions nationwide, he stated that the bad roads were affecting everything from the transportation of petroleum products, agricultural produce as well as trade and commerce.
While the rich could afford to send their children to good private schools and private hospitals, Umahi argued that one thing linking both strata of the society was the massively deteriorating road infrastructure in Nigeria.
“We have a very critical situation with our roads all over this country. For me, the number one thing that Nigerians needed as early as on Thursday is good roads. Good roads are everything.
“If we fix our roads today, we will bring down inflation in this country because bad roads are affecting every aspect of our economic activities, including transportation of our petroleum products, agricultural produce, trade, industry and even tourism, education and hospitals,” he stated.
He explained that projects worth over N260 billion have now been approved by the president as palliatives on the roads, stressing that contractors were already receiving their award letters pending the release of the money.
Within the next two years, Umahi stated that Nigerians will begin to see serious transformation in the country’s road network, disclosing that President Bola Tinubu had directed a review of the powers of the zonal FERMA officials to be able to tackle smaller road jobs.
“What we have today are boreholes which developed from pin holes on our roads, but nobody took care of it, now we have potholes to boreholes,” he added.
He charged the newly inaugurated members of the governing board of FERMA to rise up to the challenge of road infrastructure maintenance facing the country.
He also thanked the president for approving the 2023 supplementary budget which provides for interventions on federal roads.
The minister added that President Bola Tinubu understands the plight of the people as far as road infrastructure is concerned, explaining that the president is doing everything within and outside the budget to fix the roads.
The president had on October 13, 2023 approved the appointment of members of the governing board of FERMA who had already been confirmed by the senate.
They include, Dr. Chukwuemeka Chijioke Agbasi (Managing Director) as well as lbi Terna Manasseh; Dr. Kenneth Ugbala; Senator Timothy Aduda; Babatunde Daramola and Preye Oseke as members.
Others are: Aminu Adamu Papa, Abubakar Bappa, Shehu Mohammed and Yusuf Lawal Othman.
Earlier the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works, Mahmuda Mamman, described the newly appointed members of FERMA board as people of proven competence and experience and expressed hope that they would perform in their new assignment.
In his acceptance speech on behalf of the newly constituted board, the Managing Director of FERMA, Agbasi, pledged that members will discharge their responsibilities and align with the policy of the ministry on road infrastructure.
He promised that along with his team, federal roads will get a new lease of life, insisting that travelling costs must be reduced to boost economic growth.
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
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