…President’s hard decisions beginning to bear desired fruits – Idris
…We’ve already secured $200m in investment commitments – Musawa
The Minister of Works, Engr. David Nweze Umahi, has said that the dream of the first democratically elected president of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, “is now being realised by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” with regards to the construction of the Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway.
Umahi stated this Friday at the eighth edition of the Ministerial Press Briefing Session, held at the National Press Centre in Abuja.
He said the dream of the Shagari administration was conceptualised 47 years ago, but was made to become a reality by President Tinubu, who re-named it from Badagry-Sokoto to Sokoto-Badagry, adding that section one of the two-carriageway had been awarded as section one.
He said the Ministry would minimise using foreign contractors for road projects across the country, with the new directive of the president on prioritising local products.
Umahi said, “The good news is the Sokoto-Badagry Super Highway. This was a dream of the Shagari administration about 47 years back. It was supposed to be Badagry-Sokoto, but a very detribalised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu directed us to change it to Sokoto-Badagry. When you look at the terrain, you look at the total of 1,068 kilometres by two; you know it’s only a man with great courage, power and dream that could engage in such a project.
“So, the dream of the Shagari administration 47 years ago is made flesh by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Today, we have awarded section one. You know, it’s a two-carriageway, but we started with one-carriageway.
“Before now, no contractor would move to site until you pay mobilisation, but that’s not what the procurement act says. Procurement act says that the client may and not must. So we’ve changed that narrative. In the contractor agreement, we put it down that if after 30 days, we sign a contract with you and you fail to mobilise and work, then that project is assumed to have been terminated. This is helping us because people have a lot of excuses and they seek for variation.
“That’s not what the law says. In fact, you are required to have a certain amount of money in your own liquidity before you get certain jobs. We are also classifying the contractors. We are classifying contractors according to their capacity and abilities so that we give life to our local contractors.
“Let me also announce that Mr. President directed that we must grow the local contractors. We must grow our local engineers. We have a programme we call the new tool programme, whereby in every state, we are getting five civil engineers that are not at work and we are posting them to these four legacy projects and other legacy projects of the country so that they can learn.
“We can’t continue to use foreign contractors to grow our economy. When you go to China, you find out who are working. We have to grow our people. And we’ve introduced the first concrete pavement, which is very easy to learn. But the trick in it, and that’s why they’re fighting me, is that you can do all the mess and cheating with asphalt, but you cannot do that with the concrete because the moment the quality of the concrete is not there, it will fail in your face.
“Road jobs done with asphalt will last for one year. And that’s when people talk, oh, FERMA is not doing anything. It is beyond construction. It is a root of structure upon which other, you know, root arteries of the filtration will link up to.
“I commend Mr. President very highly. GDP is growing. Inflation is coming down. Our foreign exchange is impacted positively. The World Bank says we don’t owe them again. Let’s appreciate Mr. President, the road-master and the man of uncommon courage.”
Information minister
Earlier, in his address, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the bold reforms being undertaken by President Tinubu under the Renewed Hope Agenda were beginning to yield desired fruits.
Idris commended the performance of the economy, noting that a remarkable improvement was reflected in the gradual decline of the headline inflation rate as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
He said, “Today, I am pleased to announce encouraging news from the National Bureau of Statistics, which released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for April 2025, yesterday. According to the report, the headline inflation rate for April stood at 23.71%, representing a decrease of 0.52% from the 24.23% recorded in March 2025; similarly, the month-on-month inflation dropped by a notable 2.04% from 3.90% in March to 1.86% in April.
“This has not happened by chance. The President’s focused interventions are clearly paying off. The benefits of reform, though gradual, are real and measurable.”
According to the minister, one of the major drivers of inflation – food prices – has been brought under control through President Tinubu’s significant interventions, leading to a noticeable reduction in the cost of food items.
“One of the key indicators of relief is the food inflation rate. While food prices remain an important concern for many Nigerians, the year-on-year food inflation rate eased to 21.26% in April. On a month-on-month basis, it slowed to 2.06%, down from 2.18% in March. This positive movement has largely been driven by price reductions in staple items such as maize flour, wheat grain, yam flour, okra, soya beans, rice, and beans.
“We acknowledge that we are not yet where we desire to be. But these latest figures give us every reason to be hopeful. They show that the hard decisions are beginning to bear fruit. And as inflation eases, we expect to see corresponding improvements in consumer purchasing power and living conditions,” he added.
Idris assured that the Tinubu administration would sustain the momentum of economic improvement by prioritising people-centered policies aimed at “providing relief, restoring economic stability, and promoting shared prosperity for all Nigerians.”
Arts, culture, tourism, creative economy ministry
Presenting her scorecard so far, the Minister of Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Barrister Hannatu Musa Musawa, said the federal government had a target of creating 500,000 jobs in 2030 through the creative industry.
She said, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his drive to deliver on the Renewed Hope Agenda, which includes amongst others reduction of government expenditure, streamline the activities of the government to reposition to system for effective service delivery, merged the then Federal Ministry of Tourism with the Ministry of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy thus establishing a new Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy on October 23, 2023.
“The mandate of the Ministry is to provide an enabling environment for exposure of the positive elements of the nation’s arts, culture, tourism and to harness the potentials of Nigeria’s creative economy.
“In the music sector, we have identified five segments in the value- chain including Production, Marketing and Sales and based on our draft report, we project that we will create over 500,000 new jobs in the sector by 2030. Our mapping indicates that this sector will continue to thrive through self-employment and micro-enterprise pathways, with regional hubs like Edo, Delta, and Plateau playing key roles alongside Lagos. We are currently going through a validation process and should formally publish the mapping results in early June.
“In line with the vision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy stands at the forefront of Nigeria’s economic diversification strategy, transforming what was once viewed as merely cultural expression into powerful engines of sustainable growth and job creation. In just eighteen months, we’ve secured $200 million in investment commitments, established innovative funding mechanisms like the Creative Economy Development Fund, creating infrastructure that will generate over two million jobs, and elevating Nigeria’s global cultural standing – all while encouraging rural communities, women, and youth to participate meaningfully in the creative economy.
“Our strategic partnerships spanning government agencies, international organisations, and private sector leaders have positioned Nigeria’s tourism and creative sectors not just as alternatives to oil dependency, but as vibrant, inclusive economic pillars capable of addressing our nation’s most pressing challenges.”