After a thorough survey carried out by The Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN), it was discovered that over 56,000 projects have been abandoned in Nigeria in the last 20 years and still counting. The report stated that the value of these abandoned projects is about N17 trillion.
It is disheartening that Nigeria is littered with abandoned building projects ranging from roads, rails, ports, factories, electricity, and housing at all levels of government.
Project abandonment do not help the economic or infrastructural growth of a state in any way. It only results to low standard of living, wastage of resources, reduction in employment opportunities, decrease in tempo of economic activities, and difficulties in attracting foreign investors.
It is due to the factors and facts mentioned above that the administration of Sir Siminalayi Fubara in Rivers State decided to use its first few weeks to complete projects that were still ongoing but near completion at the expiration of the tenure of the immediate past administration before initiating fresh ones.
Contractors handling these projects have been paid fully to conclude the jobs. Rivers State Ministry of Works and other ministries saddled with the responsibility of supervising the respective projects have been charged by the governor to ensure that the contractors complete the projects in time and according to scope.
These projects that are near completion will be completed and inaugurated to mark Governor Fubara’s landmark 100 DAYS IN OFFICE. With this, there will not be any story of abandoned projects in the state.
Continuing and completing projects initiated by previous administrations is highly laudable because government is a continuum, and the projects are for the betterment and benefits of the populace.
It is safe to say that, the Governor is borrowing a leaf from his predecessor, Nyesom Wike who inherited tons of not ongoing but abandoned projects from the administration of Rotimi Amaechi; he went on to complete them for the interest of the state despite their political rivalry.
It is in the same spirit of continuing and completing inherited ongoing projects that Governor Fubara frowned at the poor pace at which the Andoni section of Ogoni/Opobo/Andoni Unity Road is going, and consequently ordered a revocation and reawarding of the project to another contractor for a speedy completion.
The new administration has achieved great success in this regard in the past one month with no drama. These gains will determine how successful the government would be in the coming months because the administration will not have backlog of uncompleted projects on its hands whilst fulfilling its electioneering promises to Rivers people.
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