December 01, (THEWILL) – The Honourable Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi, has reiterated the determination of the Renewed Hope administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to fix the ailing road infrastructure across the nation.
He stated this when the Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, and the newly elected governor of the State, Ahmed Usman Ododo, visited him in his office at the Ministry’s Headquarters, Abuja, on Thursday, November 30, 2023.
According to him, the President’s intervention in the road infrastructure deficit in the country was part of his roadmap towards revamping the economy of the nation.
He thanked the Governor for his willingness to seek the Federal Government’s intervention in the road infrastructure challenges in his State and his passion to work for the good of the State.
A press statement by Hon. Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji, Chief Press Secretary to the Works Minister, reads: “We inspected roads from 11am on my first day in office and I got back to Abuja by 2am. It shows the passion I have for the State. It is not by chance that my first working day was in Kogi State and I saw the acceptability and show of true love among the villagers. Your people are people of gratitude. I remember the ovation that greeted our inspection visit to Murtala Muhammed Way bridge in Kogi State.”
The Hon. Minister assured the Governor that the Kogi Federal Highway was part of the Federal roads listed for palliative intervention by the President.
“I want to assure you that Mr President has instructed our Ministry to go and start that portion of the road and you will soon see a lot of concrete structures on a number of sections of that road that are challenged,” he said.
Sen. Umahi also thanked the Governor for his commitment to the ideals of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and for his doggedness that saw the Party through in the recently concluded governorship election in Kogi State and said the victory was a testimony of the good works of the Governor and the acceptability of the ruling Party by the people of the State.
He praised the Governor for his sense of inclusiveness and nationalism in his affairs as Governor of Kogi State. “I thank you for being nationalistic. I know a lot of South Easterners that have made your Cabinet. I also know a lot of people that had security challenges; that were kidnapped far away but you helped in rescuing them even across State,” he stated.
He further used the opportunity to congratulate the Governor-elect and charged him to be magnanimous with victory, cultivate leadership virtues, remember his route and remain steadfast with his Party.
“Every young man entering a very high position like this is open to a lot of temptations. One admonition that guides me, which I will share with you today, is the fact that anyone who pays evil for the good done to him, evil will not depart from his house.
“The teeth and the tongue often have misunderstanding but they live together. The Governor made a lot of enemies because of you, let these enemies reconcile with him through you. All that the Governor looks for from you is not money or position, all he looks for is respect and honour because to whom God has honoured man must honour the person.
“Mr President has suffered all kinds of betrayals and if you have suffered betrayal you would feel it, and when Mr President sees a man that is on the path of betraying another, he will not be happy with such a person. If you follow the Governor, he will guide you. If he trusted you to enthrone you, who else will he now trust again? He is a unique man and he is a man to emulate.”
Speaking earlier, the Kogi State Governor extolled the Hon. Minister for the transformation and innovation he has brought on board to accomplish the Renewed Hope road infrastructure agenda of Mr President and the extra-ordinary passion, which is in tandem with Mr President’s directives on road revolution.
“The very first day you resumed office that was the day you hit the ground running. You have been inspecting roads ever since then, you are not resting, there was no budget, no money for you, yet we see work going on across the country. Contractors have returned to sites, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) is working, you are also responding to calls and messages and you are so responsive, you are a leader that all of us are proud of.
“I am here to principally show an appreciation to God Almighty and to show appreciation to my wonderful brother, His Excellency Distinguished Senator David Umahi, the former Governor of Ebonyi State and Minister of Works, for all the assistance he rendered to us physically, spiritually, financially and in fact, in every way.
“I am introducing my next successor, Hon. Ahmed Ododo, to His Excellency. Ever since I joined the club of Governors you have been so distinguished. I came in as APC Governor, you were PDP Governor then, irrespective of our political parties you proved to be an elder statesman.
“You are a politician but you are an elder statesman. You are always uniting the Governors across party lines that was why it was easy for me to predict that you were going to join us because your mind is progressive; your mind is always progressive, and that was why you were able to govern Ebonyi State. With the little and meagre resources you turned the State around and Ebonyi is wearing a new look today.
“Today, you are in the Government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as a Minister of Works with his Renewed Hope agenda, we are saying a very big thank you to you and may the good Lord protect you in the discharge of your responsibility as the Honourable Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he concluded.
About the Author
Sunday Ogbu is a professional journalist with eight - twelve years experience that had worked with various print and online media. Sunday specializes in news reporting with the aim of educating his readers on current social, political and economic occurences within his area of coverage. Sunday is a strong force to work with in the media industry and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Sunday is inspired daily by his wife and their four children. In his free time, Sunday likes sight-seeing, reading and discussing issues of societal interest.
