Nigerian students touring federal road projects across the Northwest have received a fresh pledge from the Minister of Works that every ongoing project nationwide will be completed, as the government pushes back against critics of its infrastructure record.
Engr. David Umahi gave the assurance in Abuja on Tuesday while hosting leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), who had just wrapped up an inspection tour of federal road projects across Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna and Sokoto states.
The minister said the Tinubu administration has made substantial progress on road infrastructure since taking office in 2023, and urged critics to be constructive rather than dismissive of the government’s work.
He also called on people in the South East to voice support for President Tinubu, arguing no previous president had done as much for the region in appointments and infrastructure.
Separately, Umahi warned against vandalism of public infrastructure, particularly manhole theft, and disclosed plans to recruit 4,000 social media influencers to promote the administration’s achievements.
Presenting NANS’s findings from the Northwest leg of its Nationwide Federal Roads Project Tour, association president, Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, said the group representing more than 40 million Nigerian students, inspected roads including the Kano-Maiduguri Road, the Kano Northern Bypass, the Kano-Katsina Road, the Mando-Birnin Gwari Highway and the Zaria-Funtua-Sokoto Road, among others.
Afeez said the tour was designed to verify firsthand how federal road projects affect student access to campuses, noting that several inspected routes lead directly to institutions such as Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology, Federal University Dutse and Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education.
NANS praised the scale, spread and construction quality of the projects, calling the pace of work “unprecedented,” and recommended a pedestrian bridge near the Federal Co-operative College in Kaduna for student safety.
The association said it plans to continue the inspection tour in other regions of the country.
