The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, says
politicians campaign with road projects because of their economic impact on
society.
He said this at the 27th meeting of the National Council on
Works and Housing held in Bauchi on Thursday.
The minister explained that since the implementation of the
Marshall plan in 1948, after the Second World War, it has become clear to any
serious-minded economist or politician that infrastructure provision is
critical to development, growth, wealth creation, employment and prosperity.
According to him, investment in infrastructure is the most legitimate way to distribute wealth in any economy.
He said, “This is why it is not surprising that during
campaigns for elections and after elections, you will find discussions not only
centering around roads, bridges, rails, schools, hospitals, water supply and
power supply to be provided, you will also find that in the inauguration speech
of every President, Prime Minister, Governor and other elected public officers,
time is dedicated to addressing the provision of infrastructure.
“The reason for this is not far-fetched. The nations that
are richer than us have more infrastructure than us and in order to bridge this
gap, we have to invest; because no nation or community can grow bigger than the
stock of infrastructure.
“Infrastructure also helps to make people efficient, it
creates competition and leads to productivity. Currently, the Federal
Government is executing 895 contracts in 795 projects spanning over 13,000 km
of roads and bridges nationwide.
“Across all of these, engineers, geologists, surveyors,
lawyers, bankers, suppliers, artisans and laborers are involved in an ecosystem
of enterprise from which they earn a daily, weekly or other periodic income.
“But that is only part of the story, the employment. The
other parts include improved asset value, because everywhere a new road or
bridge is built, the land value appreciates by up to 30 per cent creating
enormous capital gai
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It is foolishness listening to the likes of Fashola whose intelligence are worthless for virtually every public sector they have occupied.
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