Governor Simi Fubara of Rivers State has received praise for initiating the commencement of the construction of the Port Harcourt Ring Road. The Rivers Coalition for Good Leadership and Excellence commended the decision to allocate funds for this road project, considering it a tangible way of providing financial benefits to the people.
In a significant gesture, Governor Fubara invited former Governor Nyesom Wike to officiate the launch of the construction project. During a press conference held in the state capital of Port Harcourt, Mr. Ken Agala, the Convener of the group, who is both a strategic communications expert and political analyst, referred to the N195 billion project as a concrete manifestation of the Federal Government’s conditional cash transfer policy, commonly known as ‘Helicopter Money.’
Agala went on to explain that helicopter Money is a monetary policy tool for printing large sums of money, expanding the money supply, and distributing it to the public to spur economic growth.
It is worth recalling that in response to mitigating the impact of fuel subsidy removal, the Federal Government has employed a similar monetary policy strategy of conditional cash transfers previously utilized by the administration, targeting 12 million households to receive a monthly sum of N8000 for the next six months, amounting to a staggering N500 billion.
Agala said: “For me, massive infrastructure spending is the most concrete form of helicopter money, as the end product often provides a facility that generations yet unborn will forever benefit from. Look at it critically; while the FG cash transfers last about 6 months, after which the N500 billion disappears, the Port Harcourt Ring Road project is going to employ at least one million people through direct and indirect employment for the next three years.
“This includes regular staff, artisans, engineers, technicians, supply chain staff, suppliers, subcontractors, community liaison officers, and secondary employees like food vendors, among others. You can see that the local economy is stirred up. This is even very minimal compared to the massive benefits of opening up the city, creating new business clusters, connecting communities, and creating massive opportunities.”
Also speaking, the group’s Secretary, Mr. Kenneth Minimah, lauded the state for investing in infrastructure. “The road is 45 kilometers to and 45 kilometers fro project. Therefore, since it’s a dual carriageway with each lane over the standard 7.5-meter median of Nigerian roads, it’s a total of about 90 kilometers with a bridge over the Mgboshimini River and six flyovers across six local governments in the state.
