President Buhari Laying Foundation For Economic Growth — Fashola

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, said on Saturday that President Muhammadu Buhari was laying the foundation for economic growth of Nigeria through infrastructure renewal.

Fashola said this during an inspection of the Apapa-Wharf Road Reconstruction project and flag-off of the reconstruction of the Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki-Ojota Expressway in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Apapa-Wharf Road Reconstruction Project was done by AG Dangote Construction Company Ltd and financed by the Dangote Group, Nigerian Ports Authority and Flour Mills of Nigeria.

The Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki-Ojota Expressway project, on the other hand, was awarded to the Dangote Group.

Fashola described port access roads as “blood vessels” that serviced all activities in the ports

He said they had, however, been abandoned alongside various federal highways by previous governments.

The minister said that the Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki-Ojota Expressway was constructed between 1975 and 1978 and had not been expanded since then.

He said that the major highways had been abandoned by previous administrations until President Buhari picked up the initiative to turn things around.

“President Buhari is laying the foundation for economic growth that would release economic prosperity, create jobs. It is this road that releases the opportunity,” Fashola said.

He thanked Dangote for investing in the development of Nigeria, pointing out that, four of Dangote’s firms paid about N22 billion as annual taxes to the Federal Government.

The minister said that the two major ports in the nation had been overstretched, as they were designed to take 30 million metric tons but now took over 80 million metric tonnes of cargo.

He said that the federal government was planning the construction of the Lekki and Badagry Sea Ports to complement the two major ones, to ease port congestion.

Fashola appealed for patience of the road users as construction work commenced.

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