The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake has stated that the reforms of President Bola Tinubu’s administration herald enduring structures that will become impossible for successive administrations to deviate from.
Alake made this assertion on Thursday when he received a delegation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Professionals Forum led by former Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda, in his office in Abuja, according to the statement signed Special Adviser to the Minister on Media, Segun Tomori.
The Minister praised Tinubu’s progressive leadership and courage in taking difficult decisions that is now yielding result especially on the resurgence of the nation’s currency at the forex market, putting the economy on a strong footing.
He said, “The President has chosen to leave a legacy of taking difficult decisions that will herald enduring structures that will not only outlast the administration, but also make it impossible for successive administrations to deviate from. The society would have become used to a certain standard of service delivery at the end of the Tinubu administration that Nigerians will no more settle for anything less.
According to him, it has become evident as the temporary pains of reforms are beginning to ease.
The Minister also highlighted the administration’s efforts towards infrastructural renewal, citing the Lagos-Calabar coastal road, which he said upon completion will reduce travel time to the Cross River State capital to two and half hours.
He clarified, “On completion of that coastal road, the amount of tourism that will be generated along that axis is unimaginable. It will be one of the longest tourism coast town drive in Africa, not to talk of the ease of movement of goods and services; the economic impact of ports along the route, and it will finally link up to Sokoto – a project which has been in the pipeline for more than 30 years”.
Therefore, Minister charged the forum as a repository of knowledge and diverse professionals within the APC to contribute their quota to the success of the administration, reiterating that the APC-led Federal Government is open to innovative ideas in its quest to deliver dividends of democracy to Nigerians through the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Earlier, the former Buachi State Governor, Isa Yuguda congratulated the Minister on his appointment, whilst commending his efforts to sanitise and attract global attention to the mining sector. He posited that solid minerals remain the key to Nigeria’s economic prosperity.
While maintaining that solid minerals have all it takes to surpass oil as the backbone of the country’s economy, Yuguda urged Nigerians and the federal government to support Dr. Alake with all the resources needed to revolutionise the mining industry.
Throwing light on the mission of the APC professionals forum, Yuguda stated that the group is a foremost group of patriotic professionals in diverse fields committed to nation building. He assured the forum will lead enlightenment of the populace on government programmes and also advance suggestions, where necessary.
On the entourage of HE, Isa Yuguda were the former governor of Adamawa State and member of the Forum’s Board of Trustees (BOT), Barr. James Ngilare; former Deputy Governor of Anambra state and Vice-Chairman BOT, Dr. Nkem Okeke; Secretary, Akeem Akintayo amongst others.