FCT Minister Nyesom Wike said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is creating jobs through the construction of roads in the nation’s capital.
Wike reiterated the need for the residents to pay their taxes, saying the money is used to provide modern roads and social amenities.
The minister said this while officially flagging off the construction of the Mohammed Isa Road extension within the Asokoro District in Abuja.
He emphasised that the ambitious infrastructure drive undertaken by the FCT Administration was heavily dependent on the availability of resources.
Wike urged the residents to pay their taxes and continue to support President Tinubu’s administration to enable it to deliver programmes that would make their lives better.
The minister likened the provision of good infrastructure to making a “good soup,” which cannot be provided without resources.
He said: “The President is providing jobs through the construction of roads in the FCT. Pay us what you owe us. If soup sweet, na money kill am (A sweet soup is a product of good money).
If you don’t have the money to buy the various items when you are cooking the soup, it will look like ordinary water. But when you have money, all the medemede (ingredients) will be there. Even if you are not hungry, but because the soup attracts you, you will be forced to be hungry…
“So, all these good roads, good drainage systems won’t be possible if you don’t pay your taxes.
So, try to pay your taxes so that we can provide more of these roads.”
Wike noted that prominent critics of President Tinubu’s administration have begun to acknowledge its successful performance, particularly in infrastructure development.
The minister said the new road project was initiated following a direct appeal from a major critic of the present administration, calling for infrastructure provision, specifically roads, drainage, and streetlights in the Asokoro extension, similar to the work being done in other districts of the FCT.
Recalling their exchange, he said: “I remember very well that one of the major critics of the present government of Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu – I will not call his name – he came to me and said: ‘Look, you have been providing infrastructure in terms of roads in all these other districts. What about us in the Asokoro extension?’”
Wike described himself as one of the agents of President Tinubu, whose task is to translate the President’s vision into action.
According to him, the FCT’s progress is a testament to the President’s effectiveness.
He added: "We forget that Mr. President has agents or people who carry out his directives or instructions.
You cannot say the FCT is working and Mr. President is not working. Through us, we carry out the directives, we carry out the instructions, we carry out the vision of Mr. President. One of the visions is that the FCT must compete favorably with other cities of the world, and that is what we are doing.”
The minister explained that the Mohammed Isa Road extension project was taking place on the 10th day of project flag-offs across the FCT in the current series covering roads and water projects
He said the road would significantly enhance connectivity, improve the city’s landscape, and create employment for residents.
“Look at the topography; look at the landscape. By the time these roads are completed, the drainages are put in place, the streetlights are on; look at the employment that is being created. Every day, one company carries out one construction or the other.
Tomorrow, we will be in another place where one company is carrying out another construction… Our teeming youths are all engaged in this. That is creation of employment,” Wike stated.
Providing an overview of the project, the Acting Executive Secretary of the FCDA, Richard Yunana Dauda, said the contract for the Mohammed Isa Road extension was awarded to Messrs.
Global Spectrum Energy Services Limited with a completion period of 14 months.
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