Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, says the massive investments on infrastructure by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration are paying off in economy stimulation and jobs creation.
The Minister said this on Thursday in Ibadan at a Special Town Hall Meeting on Infrastructure organised by his ministry and the National Orientation Agency.
Three other ministers – Power, Works and Housing, Raji Fashola, Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu – gave the score cards of government at the event.
Mohammed said: “This Administration, realizing that no nation develops without massive investment in infrastructure, has made such investment a priority and it is paying off.
“Whether in the area of job creation or stimulation of economic growth, investment in infrastructure is a fast route to development.
“You cannot talk about the developed Western nations without talking about their roads, power, ports and rail system, just to mention a few.
“This is because these nations have invested massively in infrastructure over the years, realising that infrastructure spurs economic growth by enhancing productivity and efficiency.
“The same template has also been adopted by many other countries, including China, Japan and South Korea.
” We are in no doubt that the solid foundation that we are laying in the area of infrastructure will be a catalyst to the much-needed economic development in our dear country”.
The minister said that the Ibadan town hall meeting, dedicated to infrastructure, was the second in the series of special town hall meetings.
He said that the first town hall meeting, on security, was held in Gusau.
He said such special town hall meetings would be held across the country till the 2019 general elections to showcase the achievements of the Buhari’s administration.
Mohammed recalled that his ministry launched the town hall meetings in Lagos on April 25, 2016 to provide a platform for the Federal Government to regularly give account of its stewardship to the people.
He said the government, also through the channel, was getting feedbacks and inputs from the people.
After the presentations, the meeting proceeded to the question and answer session where the panelists heard directly from the cross section of Nigerians who were represented there.
Responding to a question on the farmers/herdsmen clashes, the minister said that the crisis was neither political nor religious, but caused by effects of climate change, struggle for scarce resources and criminality.
Mohammed thanked Governor Abiola Ajimobi and his entire state executive council for the warm welcome and the
hospitality accorded his team.
