Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki
The Honourable Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has inaugurated the Governing Board of Federal Roads Maintenance Agency ( FERMA).
He urged the board members to brace up to the challenges of road infrastructure maintenance facing the country and show unwavering commitment to the road maintenance programmes of the Renewed Hope administration of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The inauguration of the FERMA Governing Board took place at the Conference Room, Federal Ministry of Works, Headquarters, Mabushi, Abuja, on Thursday.
The Minister thanked the President for appointing men of proven integrity and ability into the FERMA Board.
He also thanked Mr Tinubu for approving the 2023 Supplementary Budget which provides landmark interventions on Federal roads.
Mr Umahi noted that infrastructure was critical to the socio-economic development of the nation adding that the critical sectors that drive economic growth rely greatly on road infrastructure development.
“Let me first congratulate the nominees of Mr. President to the FERMA Board and to express my gratitude deeply to Mr. President who has found you worthy to do this job.
“We have a very critical situation with our roads all over the country and for me, the number one thing Nigerians needed like yesterday is road.
“Road is everything. If we fix our roads today, we will bring down inflation in this country, because bad road is affecting every aspect of our economic activities.
He maintained that the enhanced budgetary provision for road infrastructure under the President shows his commitment in changing the narrative of our road infrastructure.
“This underscores the fact that Mr. President understands the plight of our people as far as our road infrastructure is concerned; he’s doing everything within the budget and outside the budget to fix our roads.
“And I want to assure Nigerians on behalf of Mr. President that our hopes are renewed in tackling our road infrastructure decays.”
It would be recalled that by section 3 of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, (FERMA) Amendment Act 2007, the President had on 13th October, 2023 approved the appointment of the following members to the Governing Board of FERMA who were later confirmed by the Senate.
They are: Engr. Dr. Chukwuemeka Chijioke Agbasi – Managing Director,
Engr. lbi Terna Manasseh – Member,
Dr. Kenneth Ugbala – Member and
Sen. Timothy Aduda – Member.
Others are Babatunde Daramola – Member, Hon. Preye Oseke – Member, Aminu Adamu Papa – Member, Engr. Abubakar Bappa – Member, ACM Shehu Mohammed – Member and Yusuf Lawal Othman – Member
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works, Mahmuda Mamman Mamman described the newly appointed members of FERMA board as people of proven competence and experience.
He expressed hope that they would perform in their new assignment.
In his acceptance speech on behalf of the newly constituted board, the Managing Director of FERMA, Engr. Dr. Chukwuemeka Chijioke Agbasi, thanked the President for finding them worthy to be appointed as board members of FERMA.
He pledged that they would discharge their responsibilities with the fear of God in alignment to the policy of the Federal Minister of Works and also to the mandate of FERMA.
He expressed the commitment of FERMA towards making a visible difference on the road condition and the travel experience of commuters in the country.
