FG Committed to Tackling Security, Corruption, Economic Challenges -Fashola

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has stated that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government is committed to confronting the challenges of security, corruption and dwindling economic fortunes being faced by Nigeria.Speaking at the inaugural media briefing of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing with the theme, “Setting the Agenda for Delivering Change,” Fashola noted that, “We are not unmindful of the huge expectations of the Nigerian public who voted for the All Progressive Congress’ message of change and elected President Muhammadu Buhari to office.“But I must say that all of us, government functionaries and citizens whom we serve, owe no less an obligation to be fully mindful of the commitments of Mr. President which earned him the mandate of Nigerians.“This is the heart of the social contract, because this is what Nigerians voted for. To hold the government to a higher commitment at this point is to seek to vary the social contract.”The minister made reference to some media reports which argued that an agenda is being set for the ministry as to what must be done.Fashola said, “At this point, we can have no agenda other than the ones Nigerians voted for, namely security, corruption and the economy.“We admit that our three ministries have an enormous role to play in meeting this agenda. We commit all our skills, energies, and collective integrity unreservedly to playing our part, but how much success we deliver is dependent also on the citizens’ commitment to their own part.“If our understanding of our mutual commitment under the social contract is united, our purpose will be united and no task will be too big within that agenda, that will defeat our commonality and unity of purpose.”Explaining that good roads will aid the expansion and growth of the Nigerian economy, reduce travel time, cost of transportation of goods and services, and restore jobs that have been lost to transport dependent services, Fashola added that these will see to the improvement of safety of lives and property, including the country’s security index.The minister noted that, “Predictable, stable and ultimately uninterrupted power supply will be a critical and defining component of our economic renaissance, job creation, GDP growth and reduction of income inequalities.He added that “Construction of houses will complement the economic growth drive by direct and indirect jobs in the housing value chain from construction companies, to artisans, labourers, vendors and many more.“As I have had cause to say before, the budget is the article of faith of every serious nation and government and our resolve to do more capital spending with less resources must be indicative of our seriousness to reflate this economy.”On the issue of roads, the minister pointed out that available records indicate that the last time the country had to budget over N200 billion in a year’s budget for roads was in 2002, just as he added that, “It seems that as our income from oil prices increased over the last decade, our spending on roads decreased. As far as status reports go, the Federal Government budgeted N18.132Billion in 2015 and the Ministry of Works got N13Billion for all roads and highways in 2015, although it has contracts for 206 roads, covering over 6,000km with contract price of over N2 trillion.“Our ability to achieve connectivity of roads depends on capital spending in 2016 to pay contractors and get them back to work. Our short term strategy will be to start with roads that have made some progress and can be quickly completed to facilitate connectivity. We will prioritise within this strategy by choosing first the roads that connect states together and from that grouping start with those that bear the heaviest traffic.“As at May 2015, many contractors have stopped work because of payment, and many fathers and wives employed by them have been laid off as a result.”Fashola therefore noted that for the roads to be made safer, the Federal Government has the intention of reclaiming what he termed the full width and set back of all Federal roads, which represented 16% and about 36,000km of Nigeria’s road network by immediately requesting that, “All those who are infringing on our highways, whether by parking, trading, or erection of any inappropriate structure to immediately remove, relocate or dismantle such things voluntarily.“This will be the biggest contribution that citizens can offer our country as proof that we all want things to change for the better.”While stating the need for Nigerians to have a clearer understanding of, “Where we are, what our role is, and what to expect of us,” Fashola explained that FG owned all power assets in Nigeria with the exception of a few independent power plants until November 2013.The minister also expressed sadness over challenges that have befallen the country’s gas sector which according to him include the environmental issue and the availability of gas infrastructure.Fashola further stated that the most complex challenge is the problem of tariff.“It is complex because it is more in the hands of citizens than in the hands of Government,” he said.“The role of Government is to set the tariff and in doing so, Government has committed to what is called a Multi-Year Tariff Order.“This was done in order to attract investors to the market, otherwise we will not have achieved the privatisation if the price of the product is not attractive to the investors.“The tariff is the price of producing power. It covers cost of generation, gas purchase, transportation, transformers, staff costs and so on, disaggregated and charged per kilowatt/hour to make the business of power profitable.”The minister said the housing sector remains an avenue for enormous opportunity to impact positively on the economy and promote not only growth but also inclusion.