From Adetutu Folasade-Koyi, Abuja
The Federal Government has slammed those opposed to the achievements of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration as envious ‘naysayers.’
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this at the presentation of a documentary showcasing the achievements of Buhari’s administration in Abuja, yesterday.
“I want to state emphatically that while more attention has been given, especially in recent times to the security challenges facing our country, those challenges are fleeting and will not define the legacy of President Muhammadu Buhari. Let me say that President Buhari’s legacy is assured, and will be defined by his massive achievements in office. The roads, rails, bridges, mass housing, port development, improvement in power supply and other massive infrastructural development will last for generations to come and will help propel economic growth and national development,’’ he said
The minister reiterated that never in the history of the country had any administration done so much with so little like the Buhari’s government.
“It is easy to forget now, but when this administration came into office in 2015, the price of crude oil, which provides 80 per cent of Nigeria’s budgetary revenues and 95 per cent of foreign exchange earnings, dropped drastically and along with it, the fund available to the government. It is therefore, monumental that this administration has achieved so much in spite of the paucity of fund,’’ he said.
Mohammed said the achievements of the administration which were detailed in the documentary covered roads, rail, housing, power, aviation and agriculture. He said the achievements also included ports, bridges, health, fight against COVID-19, water resources and the economy generally.
He listed some of the projects by the Buhari government completed and ongoing to include, Lagos-Ibadan and Apapa-Oworonsoki expressways; Enugu-Port Harcourt and Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja dualisation; Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria and Kano-Maiduguri expressways dualisation; Suleja-Minna highway, Milliken Hill Ngwo as well as Bonny-Bodo road.
The minister also listed the Second Niger Bridge, Loko-Oweto Bridge, Zungeru Hydroelectric Dam, Goronyo Dam and airport upgrades in Abuja, Lagos and Enugu.
Also in the list were Apapa, Ebute Metta-Ibadan and Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Aladja Standard Gauge Lines, Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano natural gas pipeline as well as Onitsha and Lekki Deep Water Ports.
He said the administration recorded milestones in the fight against COVID-19, Digital Switch Over in Broadcasting and the 1,000-village Star Times Project.
Mohammed listed the FHA housing projects in Ajoda New Town Oyo state and the Kwali mass housing projects as part of the administration’s achievements
Others were the NSIA-Umuahia Diagnostic Centre, NSIA-Aminu Kano teaching Hospital, NSIA-LUTH Cancer Centre as well as the acquisition and upgrade of military platforms
The minister said the administration also recorded milestone in the area of agriculture, particularly in rice and chicken farming, among others.