The Minister of Works, Engr. Nweze David Umahi, has officially handed over the supervisory authority of two agencies under the Ministry to the Minister of State, Muhammad Bello Goronyo, Esq.
The agencies are the Federal Road Management Agency (FERMA) and the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGoF).
A statement by the Director of Press, Ministry of Works, Mohammed Ahmed, said the official handover took place on Wednesday during a meeting with the Management of the two agencies and the Ministers.
According to the statement, Umahi appreciated the President for sending Goronyo to help him in handling the affairs of the agencies under the Ministry, especially that of FERMA, that has a lot of direct impact on relieving the sufferings of the masses.
He urged the Management and Board to be patriotic in carrying out their national assignments, saying “put the nation and fear of God first in all you do; if you don’t put God and the people first in all you do, the money you make will go to nought.”
He, however, urged them to advocate for increased budget to enable them achieve their expected tasks, while promising his continual support to the Minister of State to ensure he succeeds in his national assignment.
Speaking at the event, Goronyo reiterated his appreciation to President Bola Tinubu for reassigning him to a capable hand like Engr. Umahi, whom he described as a man with vast wealth of experience, intelligence, patriotism, passion for the job, and a result oriented personality.
He urged the staff, management and Boards of the Agencies to extend the same support given to the Honourable Minister to him, so that, together, success will be achieved.
He assured the audience of his open door policy to everyone with innovative ideas, so as to serve the purposes for which they were established.
The Director-General of FERMA, Engr. (Dr.) Chukwuemeka Agbasi, and the Surveyor-General of the Federation, Abduganiyu Adebomehin, FNIS, as well as the South-East Representative on the Board of FERMA, Dr. Kenneth Ugbala, separately promised, on behalf of the Agencies, to work in collaboration with the two Ministers in order to serve the entire nation efficiently and committedly.
In attendance were the board members of FERMA, and the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works, Yakubu Adam Kofarmata, and Directors of the Ministry.
After the formal introduction and handing over ceremony, the Minister of State held a maiden Management meeting with the Agencies, where he drummed up the idea of creating innovative financing models to free up their dependence on budgetary resources from the Federal Government. He also asked the Chief Executive Officers of the two entities to furnish him with their work plans, as well as itineraries for familiarisation visits.
