Tinubu paying great attention to South-East devt – Information Minister
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, says the Federal Government is paying unprecedented attention to the development of the South-East through inclusive governance.
Idris stated this on Friday during a breakfast meeting with newsmen in Umuahia, Abuja.
The minister dismissed claims that the region was being sidelined by federal government.
He added that President Bola Tinubu-led administration had demonstrated its commitment to South-East development through massive road construction, improved healthcare infrastructure and sustained engagement with state governments.
“To be honest with you, I feel that President Bola Tinubu is paying great attention to the people and the governments of the South-Eastern part of this country,” he said.
The minister said that the appointment of the Minister of Works, Sen. Dave Umahi, and ongoing road projects across the South-East reflected the President’s determination to improve connectivity in the region.
“We have never had it this good in terms of building of roads, which is a critical infrastructure that connects cities, that connects states and makes people move easily from one place to another,” he said.
According to him, Tinubu has maintained close engagement with governors in the region to ensure that areas requiring federal support receive adequate attention.
Highlighting federal interventions in healthcare, Idris cited the establishment of a world-class cancer treatment centre in Enugu as evidence that the South-East was benefiting from the Tinubu-led administration’s health sector reforms.
He also said that the ongoing rollout of about 1,000 primary healthcare centres nationwide covered every part of the country without discrimination.
Idris described the just concluded South-East Regional Security Summit as another demonstration of the President’s commitment to addressing insecurity in the region.
He noted that the summit brought together the Minister of Defence, heads of security agencies, state governments and other stakeholders to develop coordinated strategies against crime in the region.
“There is now an improved and enhanced engagement with the South-Eastern states with a view to making sure that the full potential of this region is being harnessed for the benefit of all Nigerians,” he said.
Idris said that the summit marked an important step toward finding lasting solutions to insecurity in the South-East through dialogue and collaboration.
Speaking on state governments reconstructing federal roads, the minister described such arrangements as long-standing collaborations aimed at improving infrastructure for the benefit of citizens.
He said that what mattered was that Nigerians had access to good roads, regardless of which tier of government executed the projects.
“You don’t do roads for federal people; you do roads for the community, for the people to pass through,” he said.
On borrowing by governments, Idris said that borrowing was not inherently wrong but stressed that loans must be invested in projects that would improve the lives of the people and generate value.
“Borrowing is not wrong on its own; it is the application of the resource and the planning and the prioritisation that will determine whether indeed the idea of borrowing in the first place was right or wrong,” he said.
The minister also disclosed that the Federal Government had established a National Communications Team to coordinate official messaging and eliminate contradictions in government communication.
He said that plans were underway to facilitate an engagement between his ministry and commissioners of information across the states to strengthen information management and national cohesion.
On the use of technology to combat insecurity, Idris said that security agencies were increasingly deploying digital tools such as the Bank Verification Number (BVN), National Identification Number (NIN), surveillance systems and drones to track criminal activities.
“Some of the successes that we have actually recorded is because of this BVN and other things that we have discussed,” he said.
He said that state governments should deepen collaboration by sharing intelligence and deploying technology collectively, noting that criminals often operated across state boundaries.
According to him, tackling insecurity requires a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach involving federal, state and local governments, security agencies and communities.
The minister also urged journalists to use their profession to promote national development, unity and responsible public discourse.
“Freedom and responsibility are not mutually exclusive, they have to go together for the benefit of our people, and the country,” he said.