We are investing in infrastructure to save Nigeria from poverty – Fashola

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said the federal government is making heavy investments in infrastructure to save the country from poverty.

Speaking at the inauguration of the 15th National Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (NIMECE), Fashola stated that Nigeria’s road to prosperity and comfort is being built through the policies of the Buhari administration, especially through an unprecedented investment in infrastructure, ranging from digital communication capacity expansion to rail, roads, bridges and airports.

“If we do not have choices in the quantity and quality of infrastructure available to pursue our legitimate aspirations, we will have an unwelcome and unhappy relationship with poverty. 

“If it takes us three hours to travel 100km and another jurisdiction can do it in one hour, that jurisdiction will be more efficient, more productive and inevitably more prosperous than us.”

He added that it would be difficult for the country to compete with other nations that have various means of transportation if Nigeria is limited to one or two modes.

Represented by the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Mu’azu Sambo Jaji, Fashola stressed that the provision of options and choices of infrastructure is vital for national prosperity.

I am privileged to head the Ministry of Works and Housing which is one of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies responsible for implementing President Buhari’s infrastructure programmes. Currently, we are managing over 1000 contracts of roads and bridges construction and rehabilitation covering over 13,000km,” he said.