Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike says providing infrastructure in rural communities for sustainable growth and development is key in the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Wike stated this in Abuja on Friday, while inaugurating the construction of 7.2-kilometre road, linking Gaba and Tokulo communities in Bwari Area Council of the FCT.
According to Wike, President Tinubu’s administration will touch all rural areas across the country with basic amenities and infrastructure to transform rural economies
Specifically, he said that in the FCT, each of the six area councils would get three rural roads by the end of the year, which, according to him, had never happened since the creation of FCT.
He noted that part of the drivers of insecurity in the territory was the absence of basic infrastructure in rural communities.
Wike said: “When you do not have access to roads, it makes it difficult for even security agencies to carry out their jobs very well.
“It is important to note that, while we are fighting insecurity, we must also provide basic infrastructure.
“All rural areas are agriculture-based, so, if you do not provide access roads, how will they bring the produce to the market?”.
The minister noted that his administration is changing the narrative of project delivery in the FCT, adding that no project would be awarded without the funds to execute it.
He warned civil servants against unnecessary bureaucracy that would delay the timely delivery of the project.
“I will not tolerate civil service bureaucracy to hinder service delivery in the FCT. Anybody who sabotages my efforts will also be sabotaged,” he said.
Wike directed the contractor, Setraco Nigeria Ltd to employ the youths – males and females in the community as part of workforce to execute the project.
He also urged the benefiting communities to take ownership of the project.
The minister pledged that all abandoned projects in the area would be resuscitated and completed.
The FCT Minister of State, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, said that the rural road construction project was part of the Tinubu’s administration commitment to reduce infrastructural deficit in FCT.
“The 7.2 km Gaba to Tokula road may seem like a modest undertaking, but its impact will be far reaching. It will enhance connectivity and reduce the challenges of insecurity.
Earlier, Chairman of Bwari Area Council, Mr John Gabaya, said that the project when completed would touch the socio-economic fabric of the area.
Gabaya said that the road was first graded during Ibrahim Babangida military-led government, connecting about five communities.
He appealed to the minister to complete some other abandoned road projects in the area.
The traditional ruler of the area, Etsu Bwari, Mr Ibrahim Yaro, thanked the minister for the gesture.
Yaro described Bwari as the food basket of the FCT and announced the donation of two cows and tubers of yam to Wike and the FCT minister of state.
The Esu also announced the conferment of a traditional title, “Barde of Bwari” (Warrior of Bwari) on Wike in appreciation of his rural development projects
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that the minister on Thursday inaugurated an emergency construction and rehabilitation of nine-kilometre Paikon Kore – Ibwa Road, in Gwagwalada Area Council.
The community equally conferred the traditional title of “Sarkin Yaki, (Warlord), Paikon Kore on Wike. (NAN)
By Philip Yatai
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