2020 Budget Is Pro-People And Pro-State- Fashola The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr.BabatundeFashola SAN, has described the 2020 Budget as pro- people and pro-state saying it would drive development of the states andenhancethe  well-being of the ordinary people. Speaking when the Chief Executive Officer of TVC Communications,Mr. Andrew Hanlon paid him a courtesy visit in his office, Mr.Fashola said that the budget is pro-state because 85 per cent of the VAT being raised is going back to the states (and local governments) to take care of salaries and infrastructure investment, while the remaining 15 per cent will go to the Federal Government for the development of infrastructure. Charging journalists and the general public to look more at the content of the Budget instead of the numbers, the Minister declared: “The budget presented yesterday, everybody is just looking at the numbers, and how many people are doing the analysis aside the number?” Adding that, “We focus more on developmental infrastructure; a completed road is a development drive, completed airport is also a development drive, these are the critical contents embedded in the budget not just the numbers.” He said that people should look at the clear statement of intent of the budget as pro-people budget of growing the economy, raising money and not hurting people through unfavourable tax regime. He described the 2020 budget as laudable and charged TVC Group and other media organisations to do critical analysis of the budget to enable them bring out the message to the general public. In his response, TVC Communications CEO, Mr Andrew Halon expressed the readiness of his organisation to partnerwith the Ministry in disseminatingquality news to the over seven Million viewers that watch their station on a daily basis. He added that the organisation has invested a lot of money in infrastructure and human capacity development to improve on their services and make their channel more attractive to viewers ...

2020 Budget To Finance Execution Of Priority Road Projects In Nigeria- Fashola Works and Housing Minister Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN said that reasonable amount of the 2020 Budget of his Ministry would be channeled towards completion of some priority on-going road projects in Nigeria. According to Mr. Fashola, the Ministry has about Five Hundred and Twenty-Four road projects across the country, out of this, the ministry had categorized about Forty-Seven as priority projects to be completed. He explained that the Forty-Seven roads projects were chosen by the Ministry because the Ministry does not have enough resources to work on all the Five Hundred and Twenty-Four road projects at the same time. The projects have reached 70 percent completion level, adding that it would be better to complete those roads. “If we get these roads working, Nigeria will get back to its feet.” He added that it would lead to ease of doing business in our ports, movement of energy and fuel across the country, leads to evacuation of goods from our ports and movement of agricultural goods across the country”, he explained. Speaking during the National Assembly House of Representative Committee on Works interactive session, the Minister disclosed that no part of the country was left out in the road projects, but pointed out that the big problem was the ability to complete the on-going work on the roads because of funding constraint. He therefore called on the legislators to join hands with the Ministry in adopting and supporting the policy statement of Mr. President on completing all on-going projects instead of starting new ones, stressing that, “completing them is what will impact the lives of Nigerians.” Speaking earlier, the Chairman, House Committee on Works, Honourable Abubakar Kabir Abubakar stated the purpose of the interactive session was to find out what challenges the Ministry was facing and how to find solutions to them. “We are not hear to interrogate anybody, but rather to work together to create a positive impact in the lives of Nigerians”, he said. ...

Fashola Supports Voluntary Blood Donation  …Says Blood Binds Humanity Works and Housing Minister, Mr. BabatundeRaji Fashola, SAN has supported voluntary donation of blood, saying that blood donation is a binding factor ofhumanity. Speaking during an advocacy visit by the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS), the Minister stated that it was Government responsibility to ensure that there was always safe and screened blood availablefor emergencies. He said: “I support voluntary blood donation because it is an asset we keep; we don’t know when we will need it.” Mr. Fashola expressed satisfaction with the enormous responsibility of theNational Blood Transfusion Service and promised to draw Mr. President’s attention to what they were doing. “On behalf of my Ministry, government and Nigerians, I thank you for the leadership role you are playing for safety of human lives.” Speaking earlier, the National Coordinator of National Blood Transfusion Service, Dr. Oluwatoyin Smith stated that the organization responsibility was to ensure that there was adequate supply of safe blood for use by all people. She disclosed that because of the importance of the organization, Government planned to make it a full commission saying, “A bill to establishNational Blood Transfusion Service has passed its first reading and about to undergo the second reading very soon at the National Assembly.” Explaining further, she stated that it was part of their mandate to sensitize and create awareness on the need for voluntary blood donation,pointing out that they collect blood from low risk population and screen it before transfusion. She charged everyone to imbibe the culture of donating blood voluntarily, adding that, “everyone here is eligible to donate blood.” According to Dr. Smith, the National Blood Transfusion Servicewas seeking collaboration withthe Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to enable itperform effectively in the advocacy drive for blood donation. ...