Nigeria: Fashola's Gaffe On Federal Roads

11 November 2019
editorial

On Wednesday last week, Minister of Works and Housing Mr Babatunde Fashola made a statement that utterly displeased his countrymen and women. He said Nigerian roads are not as bad as they are portrayed. Fashola, who spoke to reporters soon after the Federal Executive Council [FEC] meeting, said "the roads (in the country) are not as bad as they are often portrayed. I know that this is going to be your headline, but the roads are not that bad."

His statement, which came a week after his Agriculture counterpart Mohammed Sabo Nanono said there is no hunger in Nigeria, came across to Nigerians as untrue and insensitive. It elicited a firestorm of criticism and it threatens to join the ranks of the most insensitive remarks ever made by Nigerian public officials. The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) latched on Fashola's statement and asked the Minister to resign immediately and apologize to Nigerians over "this unpardonable comment." House of Representatives member Bamidele Salam challenged Fashola to shun air travel in the next 90 days and patronize the roads instead, in order to understand what Nigerians are saying about the poor state of roads in the country.

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