Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi, on Saturday, expressed disappointment over the exclusion of federal roads in the state from the list of roads to be reconstructed and rehabilitated under the 2022 federal budget.
Bello expressed his displeasure while responding to questions during the Media Roundtable at the 29th edition of Nigeria Media Merit Award at the Government House, Lokoja, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
The governor decried why the federal roads in the state were repeatedly considered as non-viable economically despite the strategic location of the state.
The governor also decried lack of commitment to the revival of the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited.
Bello warned against sabotage. He noted that the Abuja-Lokoja road alone was strategic, but had defied completion since the administration of the former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The governor highlighted some efforts that his administration had made to ensure the completion of the road and other federal roads within the state.
According to him, he had visited the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, several times to draw attention to the state of federal roads in Kogi, which were key to the economic growth of the nation.
The governor further decried the seeming lack of commitment to the revival of the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL), stressing the efforts of the President, Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to make a real impact on the lives of Nigerians should not be sabotaged.
Earlier, the Chairman of the NMMA BoT, Dr Haroun Adamu, noted that the objective of the roundtable was to enumerate the achievements of the NMMA over the years and consolidate on them.
The Keynote Speaker, Prof. Umar Pate, had delivered a lecture entitled “The Media and the Challenges of Nation Building,”
Pate, who is the Vice-Chancellor, Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State, urged Nigerians, particularly those in leadership positions, to make deliberate attempts at ensuring national integration.
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