FG hands over reconstructed 1.62km road in NIFOR

The Federal Government on Tuesday said 29 out of the 43 road intervention projects within tertiary institutions across the country have been completed.

Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola stated this during the handover ceremony of a rehabilitated 1.62km internal main access road at the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) in Benin City.

Fashola, who was represented by Ademola Aransiola, federal controller of works, Edo State, said the current road intervention projects by the Federal Government are critical to improving the learning environment as well as the quality of education.

He said of the 29 completed roads, 17 had been handed over in 2020, noting that the Buhari-led administration is working assiduously to bridge infrastructural gaps through gradual process of repairs and construction in major highways and higher institutions.

“Today, we converge at the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) to hand over an important asset, 1.62 kilometres rehabilitated/reconstructed by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing on behalf of the Federal Government.

“While it is true that a lot of work needs to be done in many sectors of our national life, including education, the Buhari government has stepped up to lead the process of getting that work done.

“Currently, there are 43 number of road interventions within tertiary institutions across Nigeria, and the students are expressing renewed enthusiasm with regard to attending classes, because some defective roads have been restored to good condition,” he said.

Earlier, the acting executive director of NIFOR, Celestine Ikuenobe, said the rehabilitation of the road has made it easy to convey seedlings and other palm produce on the road from the institute to different destinations.

Ikuenobe solicited more assistance in approving the second phase of the rehabilitation project, including other sections of the access road and the road to the waterside.

“Before this timely and laudable intervention by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, the main access road to the NIFOR main station here measuring about 6kilometres was in a state of total disrepair, negatively impacting our service delivery to the palms industry,” the ED said.

“The age of this institute has brought a burden of collapsing infrastructure, which now needs total renewal or rehabilitation. This is why we are excited about this intervention of the Federal Ministry of Works and will welcome further assistance to rehabilitate other sections of the access road,” he said.

On his part, Wale Arowomole, representative of the governing board of the institute, canvassed adequate funding for research institutes across the nation.