The Federal Government on Thursday handed over a two-kilometre road it constructed to the Federal Polytechnic (FedPoly), Nasarawa, Nasarawa State.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola on behalf of the Federal Government did the handing over to the management of the school.
The road construction is part of the 43 road intervention embarked upon by the Federal Government within tertiary institutions across the country.
Fashola,represented by the Federal Controller of Works, Nasarawa State, Mr Isaac Daikwo, said the gap of the nation’s infrastructural needs was steadily been bridged by a gradual process of repairs, renewal and construction on major highways and schools had been included.
“While it is true that a lot of work needs to be done in many sectors of our national life, including education, the Buhari government has stepped up to lead the process of getting it done.
“Currently, there are 43 road interventions, and students are expressing renewed enthusiasm with regards to attending classes, because some defective roads have been restored to good condition. “To date, 29 of the road intervention projects have been completed with 17 already handed over in 2020. “Today we hand over this one to Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa in Nasarawa State as a critical intervention to support education,” Fashola said.
Responding, the Rector of the institution Mr Abdullahi Ahmed commended the Federal Government for the intervention noting that construction of roads and drainages had remained a major constraint to the school over the years. “Our situation here in Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa was so compounded because we are located in a flood-prone area, where most of our lecture rooms, workshops and laboratories are difficult to access during the rainy season.
“This road project will not only make our lecture halls, workshops and laboratories accessible but will also safeguard the massive investment of government which would have been affected by gully erosion due to lack of roads and drainages,” Ahmed said. He noted that the institution had no statutory avenue of funding to fund road projects except for such interventions from the government.
He said that Tetfund was doing much in the provision of infrastructure but there were limitations to what it could do. He assured the minister that the school community would ensure effective maintenance of the road while appealling for more interventions. In the same vein, the polytechnic’s Registrar, Alhaji Munir Ahmad in his remarks appreciated the Federal Government for the intervention and appealed for more to be done for the institution.
According to him, the road intervention is the first of its kind since the establishment of the polytechnic in 1983. He said that the school would be happy if such intervention was carried out on another of the major entrances of the institution.
He added said the school had a land mass of over 2,000 hectares and having more network of roads would do much good to the academic community. Speaking on behalf of the students, Mr Adams Jamilu, the Students’ Union President, was full of praises for the government.
“Before the road was constructed, the licensed motor bikes and vehicles that took students to school often break down due to gullies and potholes. “This caused many students to be late for lectures and some even had accidents that prevented them from attending classes,” Jamilu said.
He said with the construction of the road, students now found it easier to go to classes and that when the rainy season begins,the sufferings due to bad road would be a thing of the past.
