The Federal Executive Council, FEC, has approved about N1.02 trillion for major road projects and healthcare infrastructure across the country.
The approvals include N74.51 billion for the rehabilitation of the East-West Road section linking Port Harcourt’s Eleme Junction to the Onne Port Junction in Rivers State, as well as N302.30 billion for a new National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment Centre in Abuja.
The decisions were announced after Wednesday’s FEC meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, presided over by President Bola Tinubu.
Briefing journalists, the Minister of State for Works, Bello Goronyo, said seven memoranda from the Ministry of Works were approved, including six road projects and a trailer park initiative.
Goronyo said the 15-kilometre East-West Road upgrade would be handled by RCC Nigeria Limited and completed within nine months.
He described the approval as timely, particularly because of the deteriorating condition of part of the road.
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“There is a section that is very bad now, and we believe with the approval of FEC now, it will go a long way in maintaining that road and make the place more conducive for our travellers and for the transportation of goods and services.”
Other approved road projects include the N159.83 billion reconstruction of the Ado-Ekiti-Iyin-Aramoko-Itawure-Osun State border road, with a 24-month completion period.
The council also approved rehabilitation and construction projects in Ogun and Ekiti states.
On trailer parks, Goronyo said the government had approved three Public-Private Partnership concessions, which would be financed by private investors rather than the Federal Government.
He explained that the initiative was designed to take heavy-duty vehicles off major highways and provide them with suitable parking facilities.
“The essence of these trailer parks is to ensure that we move trailers from our highways to a befitting site where they can park.”
Health Sector Gets Major Boost
Also speaking, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Ali Pate, announced several major investments in healthcare infrastructure.
He said FEC approved projects for the National Hospital Abuja, including a new administrative block, modular clinics and theatres, a high-end medical wing and a dedicated Neuroscience Institute.
Pate said the National Hospital, established more than two decades ago, had not received the level of infrastructure and equipment investment required to meet its mandate.
He said the situation had become long overdue for attention.
“If you go into the National Hospital, it has not received the requisite attention in infrastructure and equipment for the last 25, 26 years.”
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The council also approved N302.30 billion for the design, construction, furnishing and equipping of a new National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment Centre in Abuja.
Pate said the investment would build on earlier cancer treatment facilities established in Katsina, Benin and Enugu.
According to him, the projects are intended to improve access to specialised medical care and reduce the need for Nigerians to travel long distances or leave the country in search of treatment.
“Quality healthcare is not cheap. The Federal Government is investing, and we’re happy that some states are also investing.”
Pate described the approvals as a major shift in government’s approach to healthcare infrastructure, noting that the country had historically invested more heavily in roads than in health facilities.
He said, “Now we are beginning to change that.”
