The Minister of State for Works and Housing, Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu has urged Nigerians to engage the Ministry on the state of the highways in the country with a view to improve their condition to ease movement challenges.
Engr. Aliyu who spoke in Abuja when he hosted the Niger Delta Activist Forum, charged Nigerians to seek necessary information and clarification from the Ministry in order to be properly guided on infrastructure put in place by government to make life more meaningful for the citizens.
A statement by the Ministry’s Deputy Director Press, Mr. Stephen Kilebi said the Minister noted that the President Muhammudu Buhari led government is serious, responsive and listens to the yearnings of Nigerians and has shown commitment in providing the necessary infrastructure by raising the budget on roads from 16 billion in 2015 to over N300 billion in the 2020 budget.
He told the Niger Delta Activist Group that, there was no opportunity in the past for people to interact with decision makers in the Works and Housing sectors.
He pointed out that the Executive Order No. 5 signed into law by President Buhari was mostly about the local content and it was being observed at the Federal Executive Council in the award of contracts.
He disclosed that roads that had reached 80% completion level would be given priority for completion in 2020, adding that on-going roads and projects would not be abandoned.
He therefore enjoined the pubic to keep engaging the controllers and directors in the Ministry on the state of the highways in the country.
On the request made by the activists on the reconstruction of Calabar-Odukpani-Itu road, Engr. Aliyu stated that the Federal Government was taking necessary actions to fix the bad portions of that road.
Earlier the President of Niger Delta Activist, Comrade Success Jack said that his association is a Pan Niger Delta Group committed to ensure that the policies of Federal Government get the right support and also to foster the spirit of peace and understanding between the Federal Governments and the people of the Niger Delta region
The President noted that their mission was to draw Federal Government attention to the bad state of the Calabar –Odukpani –Itu road with a view to fix it in order to reduce the plight of commuters on that road
Comrade Jack also spoke on the need to fix other roads in the Niger Delta Region that need attention.
