The present Ministry of Works was known as the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing during the regime of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Who is the incumbent Minister of Works?
David Umahi is the incumbent Minister of Works. He is the former Governor of Ebonyi State and a senator until he is appointed a minister. He assumed duty on Monday, August 21, 2023.
Understanding the working of the Ministry of Works
The ministry handles all road construction projects throughout the country.
Table of Contents
A former governor of Lagos State Babatunde Fashola is the incumbent minister of works and housing. During the first of President Muhammadu Buhari, Works and Housing was merged with the Ministry of Power between November 2015 to 2019.
Apart from the construction of new roads, the ministry is also in charge of the rehabilitation of federal roads through one of its agencies.
Mandate:
The core mandate of the ministry is to formulate the development of road infrastructure and affordable housing schemes for Nigerian civil servants
Structure:
The ministry of works and housing has six agencies, 15 departments, and six units for the effective delivery of the mandate.
The departments are:
Departments of Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in Nigeria
- Human Resource Management
- Planning, Research and Statistics
- Highways Construction and Rehabilitation
- Finance and Accounts
- Lands And Housing Development
- Urban And Regional Development
- Public Building
- Highways, Mat. Geo-Technics & QC
- Highways, Planning & Development
- Procurement
- Electrical / Street Lighting Services
- Engineering Services
- Information and Communication Technology
Agencies:
Also known as parastatal, the agencies under the ministry are:
| FMWH Parastatal | Year of Establishment |
| Surveyors Council of Nigeria (SURCON) | December 14, 1989 |
| Council of Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) | 1970 |
| Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) | 2002 |
Mandates of the agencies of Federal Ministry of Works and Housing
Surveyors Council of Nigeria (SURCON)
To set standards for persons who want to become a registered survey in Nigeria
Council of Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN)
To enforce and regulate the practice of Engineering in Nigeria
Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA)
To fix federal roads across the country. To ensure that federal roads are in good condition.
In addition to the agencies and departments are legal services, press and public relations, audit, protocol, reforms, servicom, anti-corruption, and the office of the permanent secretary
Assessment
Despite several billions of naira allocated to the ministry in the annual budget, most of the federal roads remain in a bad state thereby giving room for criminals.
Apart from enhancing the menace of criminals, bad roads in Nigeria have also claimed hundreds of lives in road accidents, though over-speeding is also another cause of accidents.
For instance, FERMA which is saddled with the responsibility of maintaining federal roads, most of the roads are in disrepair, most times, the agency displays its signpost, “this road is maintained by FERMA”
The federal Ministry of Works needs to do more, the federal government needs to decentralise the ministry to adequately take care of roads belonging to the Federal Government. Federal roads are enormous to be supervised by just a minister in Abuja.