Fashola Charges Vice Chancellors on the Use of Data to Aid National Development The Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN has charged the Vice Chancellors in Nigeria Universities to channel the data in their confines to guide government, the business community and the citizenry on national development. Fashola gave the charge while granting audience to the Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, who paid him a courtesy visit today in his office. The Minister said, “The world is chasing data, collating data, this data is sitting in our Universities, almost every lecturer ask students to write one research paper or the other. We can use this data in a useful form, to inform our government, to inform businessmen, to inform the society”. He added that for instance such information could be used in the analysis of a local government with a view to yielding positive results. In response to the call for his support by the Vice Chancellors, he said, “In terms of collaborative relationship on infrastructure, you can take my cooperation for granted”. Fashola stated that the Ministry of Works and Housing had intervened in the building of roads in 44 tertiary institutions in the country under this administration but lamented that when people criticize government on the state of roads no University came to inform the public on those interventions. The Minister who described the University as an investment into the future urged the Vice Chancellors to be discreet in the award of honourary degrees which he described as very important building blocks that should be given to only deserving people and not for those whose achievement is just the occupation of a political office. He said this would encourage the youth to work harder while charging honourary degree holders to bring their impact to bear in the development of the universities. Fashola also advised them to bring Professors together to write an acceptable version of the Nigerian history that will be taught in schools like it was done in some other climes. Speaking earlier, Secretary General of the Association and leader of the delegation, Professor Yakubu Aboki Ochefu informed the Minister that the Association which was established in 1962 is a platform for sharing ideas and engaging Nigerians on issues that affect the Nigerian universities. He added that the organization which had the universities of Ibadan, Lagos, Ife, Nsukka and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria at inception now has 174 universities. Professor Ochefu who praised the Minister for his commitment to road construction and maintenance, expressed gratitude to him for the intervention of his Ministry in the building of internal road in 44 tertiary institutions across Nigeria. He informed Fashola that they were in the Ministry to seek his cooperation in their plan to produce a compendium on the forthcoming celebration of the 60th anniversary of their association in Nigeria, and his support to tackle the problems facing Nigerian universities. Professor Ochefu said that the group decided to seek partnership with the Minister to share experience in view of the pivotal role he played in the development ofLagos State university when he was the Governor of Lagos State.  Present an the occasion were the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu, [FNSE], the Director overseeing the office of the Permanent Secretary, Engr. Yemi Oguntominiyi and other Directors of the Ministry. ...

Buhari’s Commitment to Infrastructure is Monumental, Unprecedented – Fashola The Honourable Minister of Works and Housing Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN has described the commitment of the Buhari led Administration to Infrastructure development as monumental and unprecedented. The Minister made this description while responding to questions on Radio Nigeria phone-in programme “Have your say” this morning. Fashola hinged his commendation on the Infrastructural transformation work being implemented in the various sectors of the economy such as works and Housing, Transportation, Digital communication and economy, adding that if these were done in the past, the situation of the economy of the country would not have been as bad as it is now. While responding to the question on why many Federal roads were still in bad condition and why it was taking time to be completed, Fashola attributed it to procurement process, limited resources and the process of road construction. Citing an example of the Abuja - Lokoja road, he said the road which is about 300kilometre long was being expanded from 2 lanes to 4 lanes, which means that the entire work on that road is about 1200 kilometres. He added that a section of the road had been completed remaining only the section from Kotonkarfe to Lokoja, “some section have been completed, what is remaining is from Koton Karfe to Lokoja, which we are trying to finish”, he said. Fashola mentioned Lagos -Ibadan, Enugu –Port Harcout, Kano –Maiduguri, Ekpoma –lokoja roads among those that have been partially completed. The Minister said most of the roads were being reconstructed as some of them were impassable before now, citing Benin- Ore - Shagamu, Enugu –Port Harcourt roads. He urged Nigerians to be patient with the government considering the fact that these bad roads which were left undone by the previous administration when oil was selling at $140 per barrel are now being reconstructed and rehabilitated by the Buhari Administration at a time that oil price per barrel is less than 50 dollars. The Minister who disclosed the plan to finish 22 roads between 2020 and 2022 explained that the Federal Government was currently concentrating on Federal roads which are interconnecting states. “Our roads are those that connect state to state. We are focusing on them, it is when we have done these key roads that we will concentrate on others”, he said. On the housing sector, The Minister who was asked why some houses that had been completed by the Federal Government were yet to be allocated, said, “Some of the houses have been completed but there is still a lot to be done. In some cases we have not finished electrical connection to public power, we have not finished internal road work, there have been cases of theft and pilfering and we are doing replacement”. Fashola revealed that a digital framework was been worked out to ensure that application is done online to avoid undue influence from anyone. He also said that Federal Government was considering giving some allocations to State Governments for onward allocation to their indigenes since the States donated the land. He called on State Government and the Private sector to complement the effort of the Federal Government in the provision of houses to the people in overcoming the housing deficit. ...

FG Commences Partial Closure of Third Mainland Bridge for Repairs and Restoration ….Lists alternative routes and calls for patience and understating of road users The Federal Government has announced the partial closure of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos, Nigeria, from Friday July 24, 2020 to January 24, 2021 for repairs. The Federal Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola announced this on Tuesday during a Press briefing to the nation on Government’s plans of assuaging the pains the closure would cause the over 132,702 light and vehicles that ply that route on a daily basis. Fashola during the Press briefing also announced alternatives routes: Costain, Ebute-Metta and Ijora as road users could use during the period of the repair. He also called for patience and understanding of road users adding that it was well-meaning Nigerians who drew the attention of the government to the bridge through comments and videos, pointing out that the maintenance was a direct response to those calls which was what governance is all about. Fashola explained:  “The Bridge is 11.8km; we are closing 3.5km so it is a partial and not a total closure.” He said that the Third Mainland Bridge was conceived in 1970 as a result of rapid modernisation of Lagos and that the construction work of the bridge spanned over three decades and was done during the oil boom, pointing out that the need for maintenance of the bridge was inherited by the current administration. According to Fashola, the Federal Government had so far intervened on thirty–seven bridges across the country, maintaining that Lagos has the highest number of bridges. He further said that the work on the Lagos Mainland Bridge is a collaborative effort between the Federal and Lagos State Governments. He commended the commitment of the present administration under President Muhammadu Buhari in the maintenance of the nation’s infrastructure nationwide. Acknowledging the pains the closure may cause, Fashola called road users to be patient as the construction works last.  “The best will happen if we all show understanding, restraint and patience, because we will have a better and safer bridge in a short while to come,”he said. In his presentation, the Director of Highways Bridges and Design, Engr. Emmanuel Adeoye  stated that the Third Mainland Bridge which is about 11.8 km long links Lagos Island to the Mainland and it is the busiest bridge in Nigeria with a daily average of traffic count of 132,702. Explaining further, he stated that the bridge provided the most direct route for commercial and industrial traffic leaving Lagos Island to other parts of the country and vice versa, pointing out that, it was necessary to always ensure regular maintenance to keep it in a serviceable state. “The periodic maintenance of the bridge was carried out in 2008, 2012, 2018 respectively and the present maintenance was a continuation of the process” he said On his part, the Director of Highways South-West, Engr. Adedamola Kuti said that the bridge would be partially closed for six months and that the partial closure would be in two phases to ensure operational efficiency. He said alternative routes have been provided to ease traffic flow during the maintenance work on the bridge. Accordingly, he explained that the two phases would be sub-divided into morning and afternoon traffic to minimize disruption of traffic during peak hours which are mainly from the Mainland to the Island in the morning and a return traffic in the evening from the Mainland to Island. He further disclosed that during the phase one, the Mainland bound carriage way would be partially closed to traffic from Adeniji-Adele up to the Ebute-Meta axis and that of phase two, the partial closure would be from the Ebute-Meta axis of the Island bound carriage way to the Adeniji-Adele axis. Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Boboye Oyeyemi, who also spoke during the briefing said that  “The partial closure has therefore placed the Corps in a position to provide strategic plan that will ameliorate the envisioned traffic situation the closure is certain to throw up,” He said the Corps has deployed massive personnel and logistics to guide and administer road traffic within the six months of the closure, adding that the Corps had commenced publicizing alternative routes to the teeming road users. ...