Motorists plying the Lagos- Ibadan express way will soon begin to smile, as Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola announced that work on the road will commence next week.
His counterpart in Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed also reassured Nigerians that the Muhammadu Buhari led administration was on track.
The duo spoke Thursday at the Inaugural town hall meeting in Abuja they assured Nigerians that while there is still much work to be done, this Administration neither lacks the political will nor the discipline and the determination to fulfil its electoral promises and take Nigeria to greater heights.
Other ministers at the event included Ministers of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma; Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh and Environment, Amina Mohammed.
Fashola also said that government is working out on formalities and standards for the smooth implementation of its mass housing plan.
Fashola, who lamented the ongoing vandalization of the oil pipelines, expressed the determination of government to deliver on steady power supply in the country.
He stressed that what the government was working on was to ensure gradual and steady power supply in the country.
Information minister on his part thanked Nigerians for their perseverance and patient with the administration; adding that the Government will not shy away from its electoral promises.
He announced that the first rollout of the 500,000 Social Intervention Scheme of the present administration will start this Saturday
The minister said, “I believe that my only sin is talking too much before the elections and I now have to pay the price.
“The first one was held in Lagos. Any meaningful assessment must be situated within the right context.
“We campaigned on three broad areas, corruption, revamp the economy and security. Have we met our targets? If you ask me, I will say we are on track.
“When we came in, many local governments in the north-east were under the control of Boko Haram. They hoisted their flags, they were even collecting taxes, but today not even a single local government is under the control of Boko Haram.
“We have been able to liberate 16,000 captors from the enclave of Boko Haram.”
‘‘In order to prove that this administration neither lacks the political will nor the discipline and the determination to fulfill its electoral promises and take Nigeria to greater heights, Mohammed assured that the Change they promised is real.
The Minister noted that the administration campaigned on three broad areas: to tackle insecurity, fight corruption and revamp the economy and boasted that the promises had been met to a great extent, insisting that the administration is on track.
‘‘We acknowledge that the nation is passing through a very difficult situation at this time, with the loss of over 60 per cent of our national income due to the crash in the price of crude oil.
‘‘Though Nigeria has faced the challenges of ethno-religious violence, armed robbery, cattle rustling, kidnapping for ransom, militancy and violent agitations, the most daunting security challenge faced by the country when we assumed office on 29 May 2015 was the Boko Haram insurgency.
‘‘The Administration is also tackling other security problems with the same decisiveness, whether is it cattle rustling, herdsmen/farmers’ clash, militancy and regional agitations. We are not only desirous of communicating to Nigerians, we are actually taking practical steps to address issues.’’
The Minister of Budget and national Planning on his part, said that his ministry had put a mechanism in place to track the efficient implementation of the 2016 budget in tune with the Change agenda of the government and appealed to Nigerians for patience.
The forum was meant to allow the government to give account of its stewardship to the citizens and also engage directly with them on burning national issues.
It is also expected to strengthening democracy help in bridging the communication gap between the government and the people.
The first edition of the town hall meeting under the present administration was held in Lagos on April 25th 2016, over a month to the first year anniversary of the Administration. It had since held the town hall meeting in Kaduna and Kano.
The next edition is slated for Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital on Monday June 13th 2016 before Enugu state.
