•He means well for all Nigerians
A non-governmental organization, (NGO), the Youth Advocacy Initiative (YAI), has urged the protesters in Ogun State to exercise a patience for the Federal Government over some deplorable portions of the road in their axis, saying the government is not unaware of the problem and as such doing something to fix it.
Convener of the NGO, Comrade Adekunle Akide in a statement Thursday, was reacting on the grouse of the protesters over the rough road around Ota down to Abeokuta the capital city of the state, on which the protesters adorned the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola in a wrong garb, correcting the impression that Fashola is enemy of the state.
According to the statement, Fashola is doing well for the generality of Nigerians in accordance with the dictate of his boss, President Muhammadu Buhari, pointing out that, while the protesters were not aware that Fashola is always up and doing, the Minister was on the road with the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun finding a way to solve the problem on the expressway between Lagos and Sagamu.
The statement disclosed that, it was during the working tour of the route that Fashola disclosed that, the Ota-Abeokuta road would be reconstructed and that the reconstruction would gulp about N56bn, saying, against this background, “what Fashola deserves is commendation and not condemnation.”
The statement quoted Fashola as saying that, the government is neither ignoring the road nor looking away from the people’s problem, saying, the government is so desperate to fix the road if it entails borrowing money to do so because of its importance that could not be over-emphasised.
The NGO also praised the minister for assuring the people that, mending the bad portion of the road would serve as just palliative before the major reconstruction follows, describing the minister as a responsible, responsive and sensitive administrator to the yearning of the citizenry.
The statement, therefore viewed the declaration of the workaholic minister as persona non grata as hasty, inappropriate, demeaning and highly uncharitable, asserting that, Fashola’s foot prints on the sand of performance has been in gold which would be difficult, if not impossible for anybody or group of people to rubbish.
The NGO seize the opportunity to educate the protesters that, there bureaucratic and logistic processes to go through in government activities before implementation, admitting that, it is no secret that the minister as never been found wanting in performance since his days as Chief of Staff!
The release therefore expressed the need for understanding of the situation and the need for maximum support and cooperation with the Buhari’s administration that loves development of the infrastructure for its economic and social value, asserting that, through that, the authority would be encouraged to do more.
