According to Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing, politicians utilize road projects as campaign platforms because of the economic impact they have on society.

He made this statement at the 27th meeting of the National Council on Works and Housing, which took place in Bauchi on Thursday.

In his speech, the minister stated that, since the Marshall Plan was implemented in 1948, following the Second World War, it has become fairly obvious to any serious-minded economist or politician that infrastructural development is essential to success and advancement as well as economic growth, employment, and prosperity.

To him, the most appropriate method of distributing wealth in any country is through infrastructure investment.

According to him said, “This is why it is not surprising that during campaigns for elections and after elections, you will find discussions not only centering around roads, bridges, rails, schools, hospitals, water supply, and power supply to be provided, you will also find that in the inauguration speech of every President, Prime Minister, Governor and other elected public officers, time is dedicated to addressing the provision of infrastructure.

“The reason for this is not far-fetched. The nations that are richer than us have more infrastructure than us and to bridge this gap, we have to invest; because no nation or community can grow bigger than the stock of infrastructure.

“Infrastructure also helps to make people efficient, it creates competition and leads to productivity. Currently, the Federal Government is executing 895 contracts in 795 projects spanning over 13,000 km of roads and bridges nationwide.

“Across all of these, engineers, geologists, surveyors, lawyers, bankers, suppliers, artisans, and laborers are involved in an ecosystem of enterprise from which they earn a daily, weekly, or other periodic income.

“But that is only part of the story, the employment. The other parts include improved asset value because everywhere a new road or bridge is built, the land value appreciates by up to 30 percent creating enormous capital gain.”