WIKE FLAGS OFF CONSTRUCTION OF 7.2 KILOMETER RURAL ROAD IN BWARI

…WARNS CIVIL SERVANTS AGAINST SABOTAGE

…SAYS EACH AREA COUNCIL WILL GET THREE ROADS THIS YEAR

1. Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike on Friday, February 2, 2024, flagged off the construction of the 7.2-kilometer Gaba-Tokula road in Bwari Area Council of the Territory.

2. in his address during the exercise, Barrister Wike said that the road is a part of the 30-kilometer road project that he was directed to construct in the six Area Councils of the FCT, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

3. The Minister said aside the Gaba-Tokula road, the FCT Administration will also construct two additional rural roads in the Bwari Area Council before the end the year.

4. Barrister Wike who was also informed by the Chairman, Bwari Area Council, Hon. John Gabaya, about some abandoned road projects in the Area Council under the Federal Capital Territory Development Authority, FCDA, assured that those roads would also be completed.

5. According to the Minister, “All your requests of abandoned projects, which were initially to be carried out by the FCDA, I can assure you, by the directive of Mr. President, go home and sleep with your two eyes closed. Those projects must be started again. I can assure you that.”

6. The Minister, while blaming the problem of insecurity and rural urban migration in the FCT partly on the lack of basic infrastructure in the rural parts of the FCT, assured that the FCT Administration is ready to change the narrative by providing the needed infrastructure, in line with the renewed hope agenda of Mr. President.

7. The FCT Minister recalled that he had earlier directed the six Area Council Chairmen of the FCT to nominate roads for construction in their Area Councils, as instructed by the President, adding that provision was also made in the 2023 National Supplementary budget for the construction of these roads.

8. He said, “As I speak to you, all the Area Councils, apart from the one we are flagging off today, this year, will have two more roads. In essence, in this year, each Area Council will be having three roads, which has never happened since the creation of FCT as the Federal Capital Territory.”

9. The FCT Minister who also noted that job creation is a priority of the administration of President Tinubu, equally urged the contractors working on the projects to give opportunity to the youths, including men and women who are willing and able to work on the construction sites, to enable them fend for their families.

10.He also appealed to the traditional rulers and youths to take ownership of the projects and support the efforts of the government, saying it would encourage the government to provide them with many more projects.

11.Speaking on the availability of funds for the projects, the Minister reiterated that the FCT Administration under his leadership will not award any project without cash backing, and assured the contractors that their funds would be paid as at when due.

12.The Minister however warned against any form of bureaucratic sabotage in the execution of the projects by officials of the FCTA, saying that he will not tolerate such.

13.He charged Directors in the FCTA to expediate action on payments of contractors working on the various projects in the FCT to avoid unnecessary delays in the execution of the projects.

14.Barr. Wike said, “This is not a period where you bring bureaucracy into what we are doing. They minute a file to you to pay contractors, the file will stay in your office for two weeks. Woe be unto you that will do anything that will not make this project to go on well because you will become enemy to the people.

15.“So, take it seriously so that when the file comes to you, do it immediately and see that the payment of contractors are being processed and paid to them because when you keep the file, you suffer the payment and who will suffer, the communities will suffer. I’m not going to tolerate that. Anybody who sabotages our efforts will also be sabotaged. So have it at the back of your mind”.

16.Also speaking on the efforts of the FCT Administration to address the security challenges in Bwari Area Council, the Minister assured that every measures are being taken to fight insecurity in the Council.

17.He said, “Whether the criminals are here, whether they are not here, whether their relatives are here, go and tell them to be ready. If you are an informant, go and be ready. The time for you to go has come. We will do everything possible to make sure you will not sleep. Anywhere you are, we will come to you. We have all it takes to fight you back now. Yes, you may have succeeded yesterday, yes you may have succeeded today, but tomorrow, you will not succeed and when we catch you, forget it. Gone are the days where you will go back to say that they released you. Nobody will release you.”

18.Also collaborating the position of the Minister on the road projects, the Minister of State, FCT, Dr Mariya Mahmoud said the FCT Administration is making efforts to reduce infrastructural deficit in the rural parts of the FCT by providing them with motorable roads.

19.Dr Mahmoud reiterated that the provision of rural roads will enhance connectivity, reduce the challenge of insecurity and open opportunities for trade and commerce in the rural communities.

20.In his welcome address, the Chairman, Bwari Area Council, Hon. John Gabaya, noted that the Area Council was honoured to have the presence of the FCT Minister twice in as many weeks, which he said was the first in the councils’ history and thanked the Minister for his support in the fight against insecurity.

21.Hon. Gabaya, who stated that the Gaba-Tokula road will connect smany villages and improve accessibility of the rural areas to the urban areas, said it will also help to improve the security of lives and properties in the Area Council.

22.In their separate remarks, the Sarkin Bwari, HRH Awwal Musa Ijakoro and the Etsu Bwari, HRH Ibrahim Yaro, noted that the absence of motorable roads was posing a serious challenge to the Bwari Area Council, especially the rural areas whose inhabitants are predominantly farmers and thanked the FCT Administration for the efforts to provide access roads.

23.The Etsu who announced the decision of the people of the council to crown the Minister as the Barden Bwari, also made presentation of gifts of two cows and Yam to the Ministers in appreciation of their support for the Council.

24.Also speaking, the Director overseeing the Satellite Town Development Department, STDD, Olusegun Olusa, assured that the STDD will carry out proper supervision of the project to ensure its timely delivery.


ANTHONY OGUNLEYE

DIRECTOR OF PRESS

OFFICE OF THE HONOURABLE MINISTER

02/02/2024

FCTA/ODP/PR/491

Paraman:
I read on this nairaland that Abuja indigenes are called gwari or something, why do their kings now dress like an emir?

heji:
Wike is working

yarimo:
This is very commendable from the best minister of FCT comrade WIKE

SoNature:
Can Nigerian politicians stop throwing parties because they want to start a new project?

President Bola Tinubu has pulled the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, out of the Treasury Single Account, TSA, effectively paving way for the Nyesom Wike-led FCTA to utilize the territory’s Internally Generated Revenue IGR for the development of the nation’s capital.

At a news conference Friday in Abuja, Wike also disclosed that the President has approved the creation of the FCT Civil Service Commission to allow for staff career progression.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/10/breaking-tinubu-pulls-fct-out-of-tsa/

Shikena:
Keep moving.

To my personal Nairaland friend, what is your state governor doing to improve development level in your town/village so you can return home, so your brothers won't have to jakpa from your state to join you in making Lagos and Abuja more congested?

Tackle the FG but don't feign ignorance on the failure of your governor, mount pressure. If your state and my state get better then Nigeria is getting there.

jeff1993:
Mtscheeeeeeew..... Flag off road na him all these paparazzi dey take place ehn

Wetin other countries dey do without much ado. Politicians don too use our brain well well for this country sha

seguno2:


Was Wike not a governor, like Tinubu, Oshiomhole, Akpabio, Bagudu and others in Abuja now?

If they all made their states better with improved development, then what are Rivers, Lagos, Edo, Cross Rivers, Kebbi etc people doing in Abuja

Do you know?

gaby:
Cavemen mentality.

Only in Nigeria do they roll out red dusty carpets to flag off a road construction.

Road construction wey other climes dey undertake for night when citizens dey sleep.

It is well.

Fortuneed:
we still celebrating fixing roads?

rotadeco27:

They are doing the paparazzi because of people like you who complain that nothing was happening.
If them no work wahala, if them work trouble. How would people in the south know that wike is working without publicizing it on the media? He needs to show his oga his worth also.
Those countries you were referring to are hundreds of years older than Nigeria,go check their history, they all went through probably worse phases in their building processes. We got to know about them when already developed,it never happened overnight. You can not get to where you were not going to , the good thing about wike is that he has a vision and he is going somewhere,so one day with persistent demands of good governance, we shall get there.Stop complaining about everything,rather appreciate the little much they have done and ask for more.

lagonovo:
Considering the current state of most of our roads after several decades of different people in power, I don't have any issue celebrating fixing roads in Nigeria.

Lots of our roads are terrible and anywhere, any corner where this is being addressed should be celebrated so the thieves doing nothing in their states can take note and do something for their people even if it's done out of envy or competition.

CapitalLens:



FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, on Friday 2nd February flagged off construction of the Gaba-Tokula road in Bwari Area Council of the FCT.

Below are photographs from the well attended event