Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s vice president has listed what he considered significant infrastructure investments made by the President Muhammadu-led administration in the road and energy sectors.
These, according to Osinbajo, via his official Twitter handle, include the second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, and the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road, all of which were financed by the Sukuk bond and the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PDIF).
The Warri-Itakpe rail and the Lagos Kano standard gauge lines are two investments in the rail industry.
For the vice president, the fundamental feature of the Federal Government plan for the rapid development of the economy is a deliberate and massive investment in infrastructure.
“A fundamental feature of our administration’s plan for the development of the economy is a deliberate & massive investment in infrastructure. Asides from the major infrastructure investments, we have had some notable road & energy sector investments which complement systemic reforms, Osinbajo retweeted.”
The 2nd Niger Bridge connects the cities of Asaba in the Delta State on the western bank and Onitsha in the Anambra State on the eastern bank commenced construction in September 2018, and is said to be completed by October 2022.
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Babatunde Fashola, the minister of works and housing, last month stated at a Channels’ TV programme tagged ‘Season of Completion, Commissioning and Impact,’ that the main carriageway of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Expressway is expected to be finished by the second quarter of 2023, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which has been under reconstruction for the last nine years, is expected to be finished in the last month of 2022.
Osinbajo also noted the need to bring in private sector participation to ensure effective coordination of infrastructure development across the nation.
“The president also signed Executive Order 7, which has informed the right policy framework and created some opportunities for public-private partnership (PPP) in infrastructure development, Osinbajo stated.”
However, despite these noteworthy initiatives and developments, such as the allocation of at least 30 percent of the federal annual budget to infrastructure projects since 2016, there are still huge infrastructure deficits nationwide.
The National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan was created in order to close the infrastructure gaps and help raise the country’s infrastructure level by 2043. It is anticipated that $2.3 trillion will be needed to implement the National Integrated Infrastructure master plan.
“The master plan provides an integrated view of infrastructure development in Nigeria. It takes stock of existing infrastructure and specifically sets out the goal of raising Nigeria’s infrastructure stock to at least 70 percent by the year 2043, Osinbajo added.”
“Consequently, a well-coordinated and strategic approach will be required to harness private resources to increase the stock of Nigeria’s infrastructure to the desired level by the year 2043.’
