The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has asked construction giants, Julius Berger, China Civil Engineering and Construction Company and the Raynolds Construction Company to mobilize to the site or risk termination of their contracts.

Umahi said this while speaking during the Stakeholders’ Engagement on Alignment of 3b and 4 of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway held at Ibom Hall, Uyo Akwa Ibom State, on Saturday.

The minister said after the expiration next week of the 14 notices earlier given to the contractors, any of them who failed to mobilize to the site will have this contract terminated.

Umahi expressed disappointment that the contractors have been giving excuses of non-payment of compensation as reasons for not mobilizing to the site while noting that the Akwa Ibom State government had already settled the compensation issues as it concerns Calabar-Itu road.

He said, “If you talk to them, they will say it is because of compensation and this governor, Akwa-Ibom State, had settled compensation issues, so we are giving them a marching order to ECECC to mobilize at least 3 sections of that road.

“Mr President has given enough money to fund the projects. The same thing with Julius Berger, by the end of this coming week, if Julius Berger fails to remobilize to the site and the ECECC fails to mobilize to at least 3 sections of the road, the jobs will be terminated.

“The worst of the road in the entire South-South remains this Akwa Ibom to Cross River through Itu and Odukpani and also the section that is being done by RCC. RCC had collected over N40bn on that road 15 kilometres of roads, N156bn inherited from the past administration, they are playing tricks. We have been on them to change their mindset, and by the end of next week, our 14 days notice of termination of the contract will elapse, and we will terminate the projects and give to those who have mastery of laying concrete.”

Also speaking during the Stakeholders’ meeting, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, called on the state governor, Umo Eno and all the stakeholders to show maximum cooperation to the contractors when the project kicks off.

He appreciated the President, Bola Tinubu, for listening to his plea to ensure that the Coastal highway passes through Akwa Ibom State and for the construction to be carried out at the same with tje Lagos section so it would be completed in record time.

“I want to sincerely thank Mr President for listening to my plea that the road be constructed simultaneously in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States” Akpabio

In his remarks, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Umo Eno, disclosed that his government had paid compensation with regard to the Calabar-Itu road.

He also assured that his administration would give adequate support in terms of security and other logistics to ensure the completion of the road in record time.

The Lagos State Ferry Services (LAGFERRY) has stressed the need to harness the state’s waterway potential through tourism to boost economic growth and development.

Mr Abdoulbaq Balogun, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, LAGFERRY, said this during the Fuji Fusion L’ori Omi event on Saturday in Lagos.

Fuji Fusion L’ori’ Omi is an initiative aimed at using music to showcase Nigeria’s water tourism.

Balogun explained that the event was a combination of entertainment, tourism and transportation.

“We are exposing the Lagos waterways to what we can do when it comes to hospitality, leisure and the blue economy,” he said.

He added that the state would remain committed to harnessing the benefits of the blue economy with waterway tourism.

“This is all about tourism in Lagos. What we are doing today is history and we are happy to be part of it. We are letting the world know what we have in Nigeria.

“ Mr Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has given us the approval that we should go ahead and explore all the potential in our waterways.

“If one third of Lagos State is covered by water, what are we doing with the water apart from water transportation which is one part of it? This is why we are actually marketing water tourism,” he said.

He added that well-known Fuji artistes both locally and internationally would showcase their talents at the event.

“We are not going into Afrobeats now, we will come back to that later but for now, we are starting this aspect of our series with our traditional genre, which is Fuji,” he said.

He listed some of the musicians as Alhaji Wasiu Alabi known as Pasuma; Ambassador Sulaiman Adio Atawewe popularly known as Mr Spirit and Alhaji Toyin Adio Ololade aka Mr Performer, among others.

Also speaking, Mr Damilola Emmanuel, the General Manager, Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), said the authority’s paramount goal was to ensure the safety of lives and property.

“LASWA is in charge of safety, ensuring that the waterways are safe for commercial transportation. Tourism, of which this Fuji Fusion falls into, our role is to provide safety for this kind of initiative.

“Our expectation is that of excitement and passion for Lagos. And we will ensure that this kind of event is happening in Lagos and people should know that Lagos state waterways are open for tourism,” he said.

The Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture Mrs Toke Benson-Awoyinka, described the event as the best way to sell tourism to Lagos residents.

“What we are doing here is to show to Lagos residents what can happen on our waterways. Many activities will go on today, we have the musicians, and people who are providing the food which is agro-economy and others.

“Many things can happen on the waterways, transportation from one place to other, even work, you can imagine an annual general meeting holding on the waterway. That is what we are selling today.

“This will not be a one-off thing, we had done a live show of a football match few months ago and we are encouraging private sector participation in this regard,” she said.

Atawewe said the Lagos Fuji Fusion was special because of the concept and the way it was packaged on the waterway.

“Lagos is trying to showcase the potential of its waterway.

“We equally use music to drive away people’s sorrow and that is what we are going to be doing in the Fuji Fusion event,” he said.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), has urged the Federal Government to invest more in  Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and agricultural sectors to enhance the economy.

The association made the call on Saturday, at the Investiture of the 4th Chairman of Gwagwalada and District Society of ICAN and inauguration of Executive Committee in Gwagwalada, Abuja.

The new Chairman, Sosanwo Akinwunmi, Fellow of Chartered Accountants, said there was need for improvement in the economy through gainful initiatives in these areas.

Akinwunmi said that President Bola Tinubu should empower the agricultural sector, reaching out to them directly, create wallets through the Ministry of Agriculture.

He said that financial aids should be given directly to the people; provide farmers with fertilizers and other materials needed for SMEs.

“Educate them on how to run their businesses effectively and monitor the businesses properly. I think with that, we’ll be able to improve our domestic productions,” he said.

According to him, the problem of the economic crisis lies with a lot of things, which include multiple the borrowings.

“A lot of things have happened, which include the multiple borrowings by the government, and not getting the right information about the developmental projects done with the money.

“Even, telling the CBN to print money is an act of borrowing and it also has an impact on the economy.

“So, these are some of the things preventing the various economic policies put in place by the government to have a significant indelible value,” he said.

Akinwunmi pledged that under his leadership the District would impact on the communities around it.

On his part, Mr Godwin Eje, Technical Director said that the leadership team would focus more on the capacity building of Chartered Accountants.

“I’m hoping to bring in new innovations to ensure that my colleagues are up-to-date with contemporary issues.

“Before the advent of technological advancements, a lot of things were being handled differently.

“But with the advent of new technology into the accounting domain, some of our colleagues, who were previously skilled to handle certain things, but can no longer meet up to them, due to the knowledge and skill gap.

“So it is paramount that everyone gets carried along with the modern developments, to enable meet up with modern challenges in the accounting domain,” Eje said.

The 60th President, ICAN, Chief Davidson Alaribe, while congratulating the new executive, urged them to work hard to build on the efforts of the past executives to keep the flag of professionalism and excellence flying in the District.

Represented by the 1st Deputy Vice President and District Coordinator, ICAN, Hajia Queensley Seghosime, Alaribe urged them to intensify efforts on all initiatives of the Institute, especially the “Catch Them Young” programme.

He said this was to attract and retain more young talents into ICAN and the accounting profession at large.

He urged them to always bear in mind that the efforts of the past leaders of the Distinct must not go down the drain.

“I encourage you our new leaders to ensure that the district activities are at their highest tempo.”

The president also said that the country was going through various socioeconomic challenges, hence, the need for the new leadership to maximise the opportunity to showcase its problem-solving capability and in turn produce quality results.