The Minister of Works, David Umahi has urged representatives and supporters of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to communicate with Nigerians through facts, projects and records.
David Umahi gave the advice when he received a report in Abuja on road inspection tours carried out by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).
He said the scale of infrastructure development projects provides sufficient material for public engagement and that the students’ inspection project validates the government’s infrastructure revolution.
“We have bragging rights under President Bola Tinubu to campaign with. But our mouth will not be shut. We have to let people know what is happening now that never happened before.
“I’m proud of what the President is doing in infrastructure. I’m proud of other gains we have made in various sectors of the economy. So we have to tell our stories. If you don’t say it, nobody may tell you.”
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He urged stakeholders, including student leaders and community engagement officials, to continue taking citizens to project sites so they could see the work for themselves.
To project the government’s road revolution more effectively and provide first-hand information to young Nigerians, he said the ministry intends to mobilise 4,000 social media influencers to showcase its infrastructure projects and achievements to Nigerians.
“We have to fight this social media war. So, we have to launch 4,000 social media influencers to tell our stories. I want you to advise me on how to do it. I am proud of what the President is doing in infrastructure. I am proud of the quality he has brought to various sectors of the economy. So, we have to tell our stories,” he said.
The NANS delegation, led by its President, Babatunde Akinteye Afeez, had embarked on a nationwide Federal Roads Project Tour in the North West and other areas of the country aimed at assessing the quality, progress and impact of Federal Government road projects on students, tertiary institutions, businesses and surrounding communities.
Presenting their findings, the NANS President, Comrade Babatunde Akinteye, said the students deliberately embarked on the inspection to establish the condition of the roads themselves and understand how the projects are affecting education, mobility, safety and economic activities.
The student leadership commended the Government for the pace and quality of work, such as durable pavement technology, improved drainage systems, road expansion and the integration of safety infrastructure such as solar-powered street lighting.
The Minister of Works, responding to the students, commended them for their independent approach to the inspection, explaining that it demonstrated a responsible leadership quality.
“They want to see these projects we talked about. I think this is effective leadership, and I pray that this is responsible leadership.
“They were tired of hearing the success story of the infrastructure revolution in Nigeria, and they ventured on their own to go and see for themselves how it positively impacts the lives and safety of their students,” he said.
Mr Umahi further explained that roads and bridges were the backbone of economic activity and a major determinant of how freely people can move, trade, work, study and access opportunities.
He further promised that the ministry would explore the construction of spur roads leading to university campuses where necessary as part of future road projects.
“Let me tell you, it is the road and bridges sector, the works sector, that grows the GDP of every nation. And it is the backbone of all other GDP.
“When people cannot move from one point to another, it is tantamount to imprisonment. And a man that is imprisoned has no freedom. But while we are doing this beautiful infrastructure revolution in Nigeria, it is freedom we are giving to our people,” Umahi said.
Also linking the road programme to national security, the Works Minister explained that improved roads, street lighting and CCTV surveillance would reduce isolation along highways and improve the ability of security agencies and citizens to monitor and use the routes safely.
Umahi said this was the thinking behind the Federal Government’s focus on major highways and strategic road corridors across the country.
On the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, he said the main pavement covering 105 kilometres of the section under construction was expected to be completed by November.
