President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said Tuesday that his administration would continue to collaborate with sub-nationals on infrastructural development to encourage economic growth and prosperity.
The president said this at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday while receiving a delegation of eminent persons from Bayelsa state led by Governor Duoye Diri.
The delegation included King Alfred Diette-Spiff, the first military governor of the old Rivers state, royal fathers, members of the National Assembly, the Speaker of Bayelsa House of Assembly, a former special adviser on the Presidential Amnesty Programme, and Bayelsa-born government functionaries.
The delegation came to thank the president for appointing Dame Esther Didi Walson-Jack as the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
Governor Diri, who spoke on behalf of the delegation, also thanked the president for appointing other sons and daughters of the state to prominent positions, and assured him that they would bring value to his administration and Nigeria.
Walson-Jack, a lawyer, was a former permanent secretary in Bayelsa before transferring her service to the Federal Government in 2009. She became the head of federal civil service in August.
Governor Diri also requested President Tinubu’s intervention in many infrastructural and economic projects in the state.
Among the projects mentioned were the Nembe to Brass, the East-West and the Lagos-Calabar superhighway.
President Tinubu disclosed that despite the current economic challenges, what mattered most was the well-being of the citizens, regardless of who provides the infrastructure, between the Federal and the state governments.
“We are going through economic twists and turns. I always argue that when you classify roads as federal roads. The road belongs to all of us. The road is in Bayelsa, which will be used by the citizens of this country, but mainly by the Bayelsans.
“But we just have to collaborate and put hands together to build the infrastructure necessary to encourage economic development and prosperity of various sections of this country.”
He spoke on the ongoing construction of the Sokoto—Lagos and the Lagos—Calabar superhighways, highlighting the administration’s commitment and the vast benefits of these laudable projects.
“The economic importance of the roads to the future of this country will outlive us; the over eight hundred kilometres of seafront that could become tourist development and attractions; and the economic opportunities, not just the fact that it shortens the distances. But we have to invest and invest aggressively for our economic prosperity,” he said.
Regarding the rehabilitation of other roads in Bayelsa and especially the delay in completing the East-West Road, which the delegation also requested his intervention, the President acknowledged the challenges that have arisen due to the road design and assured them that his administration would look into ways to complete the road as soon as possible.
President Tinubu also informed the delegation that Dame Esther Didi Walson-Jack’s appointment as Head of the Federation’s civil service was purely based on merit.
“The Head of Service is a highly competent and honourable individual who earned it. Out of many screened, she came tops, and I have to be fair and sincere as a leader of this country.
“I am happy that you are well represented in the civil service structure and establishment, and she has been doing well since she took over,” the president said.
