From Layi Olanrewaju, Ilorin
Minister of Transport and Director General of the campaign organisation of President Mohammadu Buhari during 2015 general election, Chibuike Amaechi, yesterday, said the All progressives Congress (APC) government never promised to fix Nigeria’s problem within a year, urging Nigerians to wait till the end of four years.
Amaechi said this just as the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed cautioned Nigerians making statement that could cause religious disharmony, warning, “no nation has ever survived religious war.”
The duo spoke in Ilorin, Kwara State capital during a North Central town hall meeting for the people of Kogi, Niger and host state, Kwara, by the federal government.
“We did not promise that the challenges will be solved in one year. If we promised that the challenges would be solved in one year, you would have given us one year, but you gave us four years mandate; so, wait till the end of four years,” Amaechi said.
While giving stewardship of his ministry, the transport minister said the failure of the National Assembly to approve the Federal Government’s borrowing plan from China was holding the government back, urging the people from the three states to prevail on the National Assembly to approve the loan. He said the loan, if accessed, would enable the federal government to embark on the revitalisation of rail projects which would create more jobs for Nigerians.
Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed had earlier said the essence of the town hall meeting was to provide Nigerians the opportunity to interact with those in government and get feedback on what government was doing to provide good governance.
He cautioned those accusing the federal government of attempting to Islamise Nigeria and describing the country as “the most dangerous state for Christians to live.” He said such statements were “false”and should be disregarded.
The minister said those peddling such provocative statements were doing so for their political motives and warned that they would also share in the consequence that might befall the nation due to such campaigns.
While giving his stewardship, Minister of Health, Professor Issac Adewole said the federal government had secured a loan of $500 million to fund revival of Basic Health Institutions across the country, out of which, he said, N420 million were disbursed to each state in 2015 to fund the project in their respective states.
Under the scheme, which would provide 1,000 basic health centres as already captured in the budget, the minister said a model health centre is being sited in three senatorial districts, one each, in the three states.
“We are going round this year to find out what they have done with this money; if they have done well, we will give them a handshake and give them more money, and if they have not done anything, they will have to pay back,” he said.
Adewole further said the revitalization of the health centres were necessary to relief teaching hospitals across the country from being over stretched with cases that ordinarily would have been attended to at the primary health level.
He said the federal government was equipping the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH) to be a regional centre for treatment of cancer cases.