Fashola To Journalists: Be Impartial In Your Reportage The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has urged journalists to be objective and unbiased in carrying out their responsibility, saying that the world is changing and Nigeria cannot be left behind, therefore, he charged them to take up the challenge by informing the public rightly and investigating their sources of news thoroughly and balancing their stories before going to public domain. Fashola gave this advice when he received in audience, the Executive Members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Oyo State Council in his Abuja office late yesterday. The Minister said that the present administration under President Muhammadu Buhari, is leaving no stone untouched on how to make life better for Nigerians in the face of the economic meltdown, adding that government is also committed to security of lives and properties, fight against corruption and improving the nation’s economy. Fashola stated that the decision of the Federal Government to repositioning the economy through infrastructural development has begun to yield positive result; mentioning “that the contractors on many of the federal roads across the country are back to construction sites engaging host communities by creating  employment to Nigerians and generating wealth.” This he added has improved economic status of most Nigerians along such road alignment. Earlier, the Chairman, the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Oyo State Council, Comrade Adewumi Faniran, had expressed the council’s appreciation to the Minister and the Ministry’s Officials for their unalloyed commitment in making sure that the interest of Nigerians is protected, saying that the council has been monitoring the performance of the Ministry under the leadership of the Minister and that the council is satisfied. Faniran promised the Minister of the Council’s readiness to make itself available for any media assistance whenever the case arose. The council also used the occasion to inform the Minister about the forth-coming 50 Years Anniversary of the Council on June 12, 2017 and the Minister has been selected as a Guest Speaker and will be decorated as the Man of the Year. ...

Power Sector, Major Contributor in getting Nigeria out of Recession - Fashola The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN has stated that the Power Sector will continue  to be a major contributor in getting Nigeria out of the economic recession by improving electricity supplies to industrial, commercial and small and medium enterprises in the country. The Minister stated this at the presentation of a book to him titled "Power Sector Under President Muhammadu Buhari" in his office in Abuja recently. He revealed that the Power Sector is one of the 5 key intervention programmes of the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) recently launched by the government. The Minister commended the author of the book, Mr. Uche Aneke for his in-depth knowledge of the sector and simplifying the knowledge of electricity to the ordinary Nigerian. During the monthly operators tour meeting, Babatunde Raji Fashola explained that power sector need to engage everybody so as to reveal to Nigerians government's effort. The author of the book, Mr. Uche Aneke earlier disclosed that the book makes an effort to document activities in the power sector, especially the giant strides the Minister made since coming on board. The author appreciated the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina who took time out of his busy schedule to write the forward of the book. ...

Vocational Education: A Pathway To Building A Prosperous Nation - Fashola The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has indentified among many other factors the need to focus on vocational education for a speedy and prosperous future. Fashola said this at a one day stakeholder’s meeting organized by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria on how to proffer solutions to the decline of Technical Education in Nigeria with the theme “Technical Education Manpower Shortage” at Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja. The Minister who was represented by his Special Adviser on Works, Engr. Femi Hamzat, drew his reference from three different countries: - Singapore, South Africa and Canada and advised all the educational policy makers to emulate those countries, saying for example, that Singapore has consistently transformed its educational system to meet its required needs. He further stated that Singapore credits her competitive and growing economy to the nation’s approach to education by identifying areas in the economy that require skill-based education. The Minister said, in South Africa “vocational technical education is recognized as an important factor in developing its economy and as such, its development has been used to heal the past divisions by improving the standard of living leading to a more successful nation.” Fashola also stated that Technical Vocational Education systems are dynamic and the challenges thereof are unique. As such he opined that efforts must be geared towards the system that will address the national needs and economy, if actually the nation is yearning for development it desire. The Minister called on the Federal Government to articulate effective and responsive Technical and Vocational education system, which will accommodate Nigeria’s vast social, economic, educational and cultural conditions for national development Fashola also said that plan is on-going on how to strengthen Federal Emergency Road Maintenance Agency, (FERMA) to be more responsive to the needs of national growth through legislation. The reasons for doing this he noted are to engage artisans and craftsmen to fix roads and to make FERMA a big employer of labour to different categories of manpower. Earlier, the President of Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, (COREN), Engr. Kashim A. Ali, said the theme for the meeting was informed by dearth of technical colleges which has led to non-existence of qualified Craftsmen and Technicians in Nigerian engineering sector and the needs to fine tune ways of addressing the issue. Engr. Kasim stated that Artisans and Technicians constitute a very important manpower of the value chain in the engineering service delivery, stressing that “the dearth of indigenous artisans and technicians in the engineering sector has negative impact on economy, and as the skills gap continues to widen, there has been huge capital flight as expatriates come in to fill the lacuna at the detriment of the country.” In his goodwill address, the Chairman, House of Representative Committee on Works, Hon. Toby Okechukwu, charged the stakeholders to gear up their efforts in addressing the shortage of artisans and technicians within the profession, otherwise the issue of hiring expatriates will continue to exist because the vacuum cannot be left unfilled. ...