Nigeria Needs Alternative Funding To Maintain 35,000km Of Federal Roads – Minister
By Alice Etuka, Abuja
The Minister of State for Works, Muhammad Bello Goronyo has noted that over 35,000 kilometres of the Federal Government road network across Nigeria could not be funded through Annual Budgets alone, hence the need to source for alternative funding outside the government’s coffers.
Director, Press and Public Relations of the Ministry, Mohammed Ahmed disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Ahmed Goronyo stated that the Minister said this on Monday, 17th February, 2025, while addressing the Management and Staff of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Kogi State Field Office at Lokoja during a maiden visit alongside the MD/CEO, Engr Chukwumeka Agbasi.
He reaffirmed that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is determined to fix all the roads to ensure a drastic reduction in the level of unemployment, rate of crimes, and insecurity.
According to him, “Let me commend President Tinubu, GCFR for his determination. I have never seen a President so committed to sustaining physical assets nationwide. The administration gives priority to various road projects scattered across the country. This shows that he is a patriotic Nigerian.
“He is undertaking these projects so that our economy can be improved, and the rate of unemployment, poverty, and crimes will be reduced. We are seeing the Super Highways from Ilelah to Sokoto to Badagry and another from Lagos to Calabar.”
Goronyo, who commended the staff of FERMA for their resilience and hard work over the years, noted that despite insecurity, and inadequate funding, Nigerians have been commending them for their excellent work.
Speaking further on funding for the maintenance of roads, Goronyo stressed that, “about 35,000 kilometres of roads cannot be funded and maintained overnight. We have to look for alternative sources of funding so that we can continue to maintain our physical assets, which are the roads. We have to create new ways of funding and new alternatives”.
He assured that the Government is focused on ensuring that projects are completed in a timely and efficient manner with robust oversight and contractors’ compliance.
“I am calling on all of you to support us to ensure that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu succeeds in his mandate to deliver on the 8-point Renewed Hope Agenda. We must put Nigeria first before our interests. Let us fix our roads, we must think positively”, he said.
Earlier, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of FERMA, Engineer Chukwumeka Agbasi commended the Ministry of Works for its determination to ensure that the 8-point agenda of President Tinubu are realised, especially road projects across the country.
In his remarks, Engineer Muktar Abdurahim, the Officer in charge of the Kogi Field Office, informed the Minister that the office has thirty-seven (37) staff with 25 permanent and twelve (12) casual workers. He disclosed that Kogi State has sixteen (16) Federal Government roads with a total of 1,263 kilometres, emphasising that the 2024 nationwide flood incident did not affect any of the roads in the state.
Engr. Abdulrahim revealed that out of six (6) roads under construction in the state, five (5) have been successfully executed, while one (1) is at 60% completion. He informed the Minister that they are facing challenges such as insecurity, and hyperinflation on the cost of construction materials, amongst others.
