The federal government is set to employ 47,000 people in its drive to construct roads across the country, an official has said.

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, made this disclosure at a stakeholder’s meeting organised by Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, on Thursday in Abuja.

Fashola noted that to implement the plan, the government would collaborate with the National Assembly.

The former Lagos State governor, who explained how vocational and technical education had significantly contributed to the development of Singapore, Canada and South Africa , amongst others, said Nigeria must shape its educational system to facilitate the growth of the economy.

The minister reiterated that the Muhammadu Buhari-led government had worked out plans on how to engage thousands of artisans and technicians, particularly through the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, to fix roads across the country.

“We, therefore, conclude that technical education systems are dynamic, the challenges are, of course, unique because human needs vary with time,” the minister said.

“We have to shape our educational system based on our economy. Our system must therefore be relevant and responsive; We must plan for the future and not the past.”

Fashola also explained that Nigeria is investing in infrastructure, adding that the plan accounted for the thirty per cent earmarked for capital allocation in the entire 2016 budget.

“In the 2016 national budget, capital allocation alone was N1.8 trillion, which is a jump to 30 per cent of the total budget,” he said.

“We are currently planning for all these infrastructure that we are building…the idea is to actually change FERMA (Federal Road Maintenance Agency), which is to review the FERMA law and come up with another law.

“The essence is that FERMA should ultimately be the biggest construction company in this country.

“The idea is to employ about 47,000 people just to fix roads and the plan is there,” he submitted.

NAN