The Federal Government has commenced collation of data towards addressing infrastructure imbalance in all zones of the country, with a view to stemming the tide of restiveness, corruption and poverty.
Already, the Federal Character Commission (FCC) is looking into data banks and soliciting information from appropriate quarters in a bid to properly establish the spread of basic infrastructure, as well as identify and confirm areas of real and perceived lopsidedness.
According to a statement by Akpandem James, Media Adviser to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, the acting chairman of FCC, Dr Shettima Abubakar Abba, said when he led a team from the Commission on a visit to Udoma, he explained that the exercise was intended to draw the attention of government to areas with genuine lapses, as well as suggest measures to address them.
This, he said, was to give every segment of the country a genuine sense of belonging.
Abba, who told the Minister that his team would require the assistance of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in the course of its assignment, advised Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government to deliberately ensure equitable distribution of amenities across states and zones of the country, while considering projects for execution.
He pointed out, however, that the exercise was not to look out for equality, but equity in the distribution and provision of amenities, saying this was the reason the Commission is emphasising conscious consideration of every state or zone in the provision of basic infrastructure.
Senator Udoma confirmed government’s resolve to ensure fairness to all the zones in the provision of infrastructural facilities, recalling that it started with the 2016 Budget where conscious effort was made to spread critical infrastructure across the six political zones.
He told the FCC team that Federal Government already has an infrastructure master plan backed up with a strategic implementation plan to ensure that every state and zone is adequately catered for, pointing out that the thrust of the 2016 Budget was on the provision of road and rail infrastructure.
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