FG hands over 2-kilometer road to University of Agriculture

The Federal Government on Friday handed over a two-kilometer rehabilitated road to the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi (FUAM).

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said the project was one of the numerous ongoing projects of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Fashola, who formally handed over the road to the university, said it was part of the Federal Government’s efforts to bridge the infrastructure gap to support quality education in the country.

He said the road, located at the south core of the university campus was repaired under Federal Government’s Tertiary Institutions Internal Road Intervention Programme and was supervised by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.

Represented by the Federal Controller of Works in Benue State, Engr. Charles Oke, Fashola said that the ministry had been mandated by the Federal Government to ensure that infrastructure decay in tertiary institutions was reduced to the barest minimum.

He said that there were proposals to do four more roads within the institution and charged the university to maintain the road for durability.

Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Richard Kimbir, commended the Federal Government for the initiative, adding that it came less than two months after an 8.25-megawatt solar hybrid power plant was inaugurated in the university by Federal Government.

Kimbir decried the state of roads within the institution over the years and solicited more interventions.

He also appealed to the Federal Government to extend its housing programme to the campus.

Kimbir urged the business community and the organised private sector to complement the efforts of the government by investing in infrastructure in the campus for quality education.

Mr Mike Uwaezuoke, the Project Manager of the Contracting firm, IIC Construction Nigeria Limited, said the company delivered quality jobs of asphalt overlaying, box culverts, walkways, and drainage system within four months.

Two Students, Paul Omonya, and Elizabeth Orinya, expressed happiness about the development, saying that the new road would facilitate the smooth movement of students from hostels to lecture halls.

They urged the Federal Government to do more of such intervention projects in the school.