For three days, the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi traversed five states in the South-west as part of the verification exercise commissioned by the federal government. Olawale Olaleye reports
The Minister of Transportation, Hon. Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi knew his assignment was limited to South-west and five of the six states in the zone. It was a decision of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to verify claims of federal projects alleged to have been funded by states, albeit often with the permission of the federal government to do so. But this permission had taken a huge toll on the debt profile of the federal government, running into well over N500 billion.
The former administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was not quite disposed to the repayment of the debts, so it was said. And where it did, it was alleged to be selective and a privilege enjoyed by those in the good books of the government, mostly of the PDP extraction. But the Muhammadu Buhari administration seems disposed to offsetting the bills even though it is not granting any more permission for now because government is broke – flat broke.
However, to pay back this backlog, government is not just going to pay for some phony projects it could not verify and so, the decision to go round the country and ascertain the projects. Initially, the idea was that the concerned Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola would do his thing by himself alone since it is his turf. On a second thought, the idea was mooted that a few other colleagues could help and submit their reports to the council afterwards.
Thus, Amaechi with a closely related ministry was assigned the South-west, with the exception of Ekiti State, reserved for Fashola. The Kickoff, naturally, was Lagos. But the team probably left the Centre of Excellence a bit disappointed. No courtesy or indication of state eager to have its money back.
Unlike what later happened in other places, where the minister was received by a team led by the governors and in other cases, by both the governors and their deputies, Lagos chose to let the minister and his team wander about town, verifying the projects. That didn’t change anything though. Amaechi and his team proceeded with the assignment, neither surprised nor perturbed at the treatment allegedly meted out to them in Lagos.
The next stop was Osun and this was Thursday, February 4. The initial plan was to stop first in Ibadan, Oyo State, complete the exercise meant for the state before heading to Osun. But Governor Abiola Ajimobi was said not to be available and therefore requested to have it at a time he would be around to personally take the minister round the projects and explain to him the details.
Although he had sent his deputy, Alhaji Moses Alake Adeyemo to lead an advance team to meet with the minister, he still wanted to be present to conduct the minister around and so, the Oyo exercise was suspended. As a result, Osun became the next stop.
Arriving Osogbo, the capital was without hassles. Governor Rauf Aregbesola just finished a meeting with some traditional rulers, including the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, who met with Amaechi at the gate of the Government House and took a bit of each other’s time in exchange of greetings. Straight from there, Amaechi walked into the Government House, where Aregbesola and his deputy, Titilayo Laoye-Tomori were already waiting.
After a few minutes of his arrival and a brief chat, everyone left into one coastal bus and started the journey of verification. Aregbesola and his team of engineers and commissioners conducted Amaechi round and explained in details, all that he should know about the road projects in the state. There were quite a few of them but also of concern to Aregbesola was the airport, which had generated heated controversy in the court of public opinion.
Whilst it was not part of his brief, Aregbesola appealed to Amaechi to come round the site of the airport, which was not his idea ab initio but elected to see it through given the potential revenue and development it could bring to the state. The engineers were already on sight and explained in details to Amaechi, the historical, business and social benefits of the airport. And since there was already a written understanding from the federal government to partner the state on the project, Amaechi promised to help push for the funding.
It was lunch and the signing of the courtesy call register after that before Amaechi left immediately for Ondo, which was not originally on the list for that day but accommodated through the sheer understanding of the Peoples Democratic Party Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, who after being suddenly contacted, agreed to take the minister for the day.
Amaechi’s team soon left for Ondo. It started too without hassles until midway into the journey, when the minister’s convoy ran into armed robbery, which had practically stopped all vehicles on both sides. But Amaechi’s security and those on the ground were able to clear them off for the journey to proceed. Amaechi arrived in Akure, the state capital in good time and headed straight to the office of the governor, where Mimiko too was already waiting.
After the initial chat with the governor in his office in Alagbaka area of the town, they both proceeded to an expanded meeting, where some members of the governor’s team had waited. It was a courtesy call discussion, meant to appeal to both sides, so they didn’t waste time, although the minister had to sign the courtesy call register.
Soon after, the minister’s team left for the inspection which ran late into the night before finally leaving back for Lagos that night. The minister and his team got into Lagos past mid night. Mimiko also provided some take away refreshments for the minister and his team, which came handy in the course of the journey.
On the minister’s itinerary for Friday, February 5, were just two more states – Oyo that was rescheduled and Ogun – both contiguous states. Amaechi and his team had left early that Friday morning, first for Oyo. The team arrived in Oyo at about 11am. Already waiting to receive the minister and his group was a delegation assigned by the governor, to keep the minister’s company whilst he joined not long after at the toll gate, Ibadan. The moment the governor came, he joined the minister and others on a bus and the verification exercise began.
There were some very good federal roads within the Ibadan city. Some of them still have contractors working on site. It was an interesting drive round town with the governor, paying detailed attention to everything his engineers were saying to the minister and in some cases, pointed out corrections.
Satisfied with the inspection, the minister was taken first to Agodi Gardens, a world games resort being constructed by the government, then to the governor’s office, where the minister signed the courtesy call register before heading out to another lodge of the governor for lunch.
From the Government House in Agodi, Ibadan, the team left for its final destination, Ogun. Waiting at the Shagamu exchange to receive the minister was a delegation led by the Commissioner for Works, Adegbite Olamilekan, who led the minister to the governor’s office, from where the inspection started. While the minister rode in Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s car, since the governor drove himself, the rest of the team followed in the convoy as Amosun conducted all round.
Indeed, Amaosun had a lot of good roads with quality standard to show. He called them “The Ogun Standard”, including bridges and flyovers. The minister and his team had a great time going round some of Ogun’s beautiful projects including those that are essentially of the state. After driving round town for so many hours, the governor led the minister team straight to Lagos before they parted ways somewhere in Ikeja.
Amaechi, from all indications, not only appeared convinced about the veracity of some of the projects, there were indications that he was impressed in some instances with the quality of job done. Although he told some of the states in clear terms to forget about reimbursement for maintenance of federal roads, he was certain that government would reimburse them for the good jobs they did on the roads newly constructed or and those still being constructed.
The three days road trip of five states was interesting and fun. There were moments of jokes as well as moments of serious analysis of the Nigerian project. A believer in the change regime and its promises, Amaechi could spend day and night defending the Buhari administration and the hopes it beams for a brighter future of a country in dire strait. It might be slow and rough, that Nigeria will not be the same again is particularly more assuring, he gladly often say.
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