Capturing the Realities of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing on BOLDFACES MOMENTS Documentary

In 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari Administration created the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing (PWH) – to build the backbone for our nation’s development. He appointed and sworn in His Excellency, Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, as the Honorable Minister for Power, Works and Housing.
The mandate of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing is primarily to formulate and implement the policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) with respect to incremental, steady and uninterrupted power supply, Reduce journey time, cost, improve ease of doing business & services and a Robust Housing Economy that passes the test of delivering houses that people accept and can afford.
The Ministry of Power, Works and Housing is the articulator of government policy on energy, road transport, infrastructure and housing.
His Excellency, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, mission is to carry on the mandate of change into the streets of Nigeria and to transform the country in the same way He helped transformed Lagos, the commercial capital.
In other to capture the REALITIES of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and for the benefit of the common man on the street and Nigerians in general, BOLDFACES Anchor and Producer Tricia Eseigbe Kerry in an Exclusive Serialized Documentary spoke with His Excellency, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, to simplify what appears to have become a very complex issue about Power Generation, Works and Housing.
In the documentary titled “OUR REALITIES”, been aired on various local and international TV networks including AiT, NTA and Channels TV,
His Excellency, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN stated that the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing sectors are key in this present government drive to improve infrastructure, create jobs and serve as a springboard to reflate the economy and he has devised a clear pathway to achieving the sectors reform objectives.

He said for the three sectors there are clear roadmaps. For power, the roadmap is towards incremental, steady and uninterrupted power supply. On the road transport roadmap, we want to reduce Nigerians journey time, cost and improve ease of doing business. We also want to recover lost jobs so that those laid off before President Muhammadu Buhari administration because contractors were not paid can recover their jobs. In terms of housing we have objective to deliver a robust housing economy that passes the test of delivering houses that people accept and can afford.

His Excellency Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN continues; There has been remarkable itemized and significant improvements in power generation and transmission in the power sector, We are busy doing something related to energy supply in all States of the Federation. There is no State of the country where we are not involved in one way or another trying to get power supply improvement. We are trying to energize the markets. We want to provide cleaner and more reliable energy in 2018. Works is underway and there is collaboration with the State government. There are a lot going on when it comes to the road network as well. We are constructing roads in every State of the country. We are also building a pilot housing project that we want to subject to acceptability and affordability tests in 33 States of the country. If we are not doing all three in one State, at least we are doing one or two in one State.

Speaking on some of the ongoing projects, His Excellency, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN said, we are producing more energy now than before. We are transmitting more energy from the transmission lines than before; 7,124MW. We are distributing more energy than in May 2015. Since 2016, we have peaked at 5,222MW and we are going forward. In 2018, we are expecting more thousand megawatts. We are also expecting our distribution channels to expand. The evidence suggests improved quality of services.
Some have said that this is perhaps the first time we have reached this high level of sustained power in the dry season over the last quarter of 2017 through the first quarter of 2018. If you look in the results of National Bureau of Statistics, all quarters of 2017 pointed to growth in the electricity sector.

We are constructing roads in every State of the country, we are working on second Niger Bridge, we are working on Kano-Katsina road, Kano western bye-pass with bridges, and we have worked on the Kano-Zaria, Kaduna-Abuja Highway, we have worked on the Tamborawa Bridge, Jebba-Ilorin, Oyo-Ogbomoso, Lagos-Ibadan, Benin-Ore, Benin-Ahor, Auchi-Ogoja, Numan-Jalingo, Sokoto-Ilelatambowa, Lokoja-Abaji road leading to Abuja, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Enugu-Onitsha, the road that also leads from Enugu to Cameroon, Aba-Owerri, Aba-Port Harcourt, the road that goes to Kolo in Bayelsa State and many others.

We also want to create a housing economy where people can recover their dignity and go back to work. We first paid attention to proper planning and we have deployed a pilot. In the Northern parts of Nigeria, we are experimenting with one, two and three bedroom bungalows in a courtyard, in the Southern parts a mixture of one, two and three bedroom bungalows and a mixture of one, two and three bedroom condominium flats. We have not finished as some have been completed while others are still works in progress.

Addressing challenges of the Ministry, His Excellency, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN stated, It comes by fixing what exists, optimizing what has not been working, replacing and repairing, getting more and so on. Constructing a road has a gestation time, though the first thing is that once contracts are issued, contractors go back to work. Some are man-made challenges to damage the pipelines, transformers and electrical access but are being addressed by various policies. These are the things we must deal with and so we have a policy that is helping us increase penetration. He also appreciate the leadership being shown by President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and working with the host communities where damages have been most pronounced. We have some clarity about the commitment and passion of the team leader as regards rebuilding the country.
One of the anchor commitments of the President in the economy recovery plan is to invest in Nigerian people, He urge all Nigerians to expect more from the Administration.

His Excellency, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, commended Tricia Eseigbe Kerry of Boldfaces Media for using her platform to wake our nation up to the realities, correct public perception and create massive orientation & enlightenment for Nigerians on the activities of the ministry of Power, Works and Housing.