The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, has restated Federal Government’s commitment to bridging the road infrastructure gap in tertiary institutions across the country.
The Minister who spoke in Enugu at the official commissioning and handover ceremony of the 1.0-kilometre road project constructed at the Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy Enugu State by his Ministry said the gap of the nation’s infrastructure needs is steadily being bridged by a gradual process of rehabilitation and constructions and it has reached the tertiary institutions.
Fashola, who was represented at the occasion by the Federal Controller of Works in Enugu State, Engr. Olufemi Oyekanmi explained that the intervention by the Federal Government was to boost the quality of education and renewed hope and enthusiasm with regards to attending classes as defective roads have been restored to motorability.
“It’s undebatable that the quality of education will be impacted by the quality of infrastructure and the learning environment and those who doubt it should simply listen to some feedback from the students of the schools where this type of intervention have taken place,” the Minister said.
He disclosed that under the Tertiary Institutions road Intervention Programme initiated by his Ministry, the Federal Government is currently working on 76 roads projects in selected Federal Tertiary Institutions across the nation.
” We have successfully intervened in the internal Road networks of 46 Tertiary Federal Institutions and handed over 29 as of 2021and we now have another 17 ready to be handed over while we are currently attending to 30 roads in similar institutions across the country, making a total of 76″, Fashola said.
Fashola described the construction of the internal roads by the Federal Government in the federal tertiary institutions as a pointer to President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s progressive ideal of improving the human condition by supporting education.
In his response, the Rector Federal College of Dental Technology and Therapy, Dr John Emaimo thanked the Honourable Minister and Federal Ministry of WorksandHousing for selecting the college to benefit from this laudable Government Intervention in bringing infrastructural development gap saying that it is a dream fulfilled bearing in mind the deplorable state of the roads before the intervention.
According to Dr Emaimo, infrastructure is critical to the progress of stakeholders it can attract.
He added that with this kind gesture from the Ministry, the institution wears a new look making it conducive for both teaching and learning.
The Rector appreciated the Honourable Minister yet for another project currently being executed by the Ministry which he said is the provision of street lights to illuminate the campus during night hours.
Emaimo however, requested for the Ministry’s intervention in the construction of two more roads in the school premises which are in deplorable condition.