By Victorson Agbenson
The deplorable state of the nation’s road, particularly the 34,000 kilometer Federal roads, which AIDS the movement of people, goods and services in the country, is no doubt something everyone should be worried ABOUT. It is this concern that MUST HAVE informed the Federal Executive Council’s RECENT approval for road contracts to the tune of one hundred and sixteen billion Naira, involving the rehabilitation and reconstruction of about twenty-six Federal Roads across the nation in April this year. Speaking on the development the minister of Works AND Housing Dr Hassan Lawal had said that that was the highest number of road projects awarded at any time in the nation’s history. He however advised Nigerians to be patient because of the rains. On hearing the good news, Road Transports ACTIVISTS conveyed their appreciation to the Federal Government and suggested the introduction of weighbridges across the country as a necessary measure to protect the infrastructure when completed. The affected roads were selected based on certain criteria such as their socio-economic importance, their state of disrepair and the urgency of the need to repair them. The duration of the contracts ranges from 12 to 30 months. But according to MOST ROAD USERS, 8 months after the situation has not changed. Speaking recently on the issue, an official of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, Alhaji Lawal Isa, said “there is no sign of contractors working on about two third of the affected roads” As part of the package, three major roads in the country, Shagamu-Ore-Benin Express Road, Abuja-Kano-Maiduguri Express Road and Lagos-Ibadan Express Road were also earmarked for concessioning. The Lagos-Ibadan Road which was chosen as the pilot project had been handed over to a construction firm about three months ago. This is a very important corridor with the highest vehicle density in the country and Nigerians expect to see visible changes on the road before the next raining season. The fate of the two other roads for concessioning is yet to be decided. The deplorable state of our roads HAS CONTRIBUTED to loss of precious lives and properties resulting from frequent ghastly motor accidents. This phenomenon has seriously depleted the national fleet and at the same time impacted negatively on the country’s human resource development.
One of the nation’s most highly respected elder-statesman, and former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, in a lecture recently described Nigerian roads as “worse than those in war devastated Iraq and Afghanistan. It was this situation that made NARTO and the petroleum Tankers Drivers Unit of NUPENG to call government’s attention to the state of the nation’s roads recently. In the same vein, the Senate Ad-hoc Committee that recently investigated the decay in infrastructure in the transport sector also revealed that over eighty percent of Federal roads in the country have collapsed. According to the Committee, an estimated twenty-seven thousand two hundred out of thirty-four thousand kilometer federal road network is completely out of use. The Senators had physically toured all the thirty-four thousand kilometer federal roads across the country before coming to that conclusion. Stakeholders have also expressed concern over the process of concessioning of the major roads which they alleged to have been shrouded in secrecy. With the establishment of the infrastructure concession regulatory commission, all similar projects are expected to have on board all interested parties and ensure that the interests of the end users are kept paramount.
Often times the volume of talk being made by Ministry officials is not commensurate with the level of project execution. It must be appreciated that over one hundred and sixteen Billon Naira contracts were approved by the Federal Executive Council for the road sector alone. This commendable step must be followed through for Nigerians to reap durable dividends. It is appreciated that transportation is a key component of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s seven point agenda. And Nigerians have also watched with keen interest the positive developments in other areas of the transport sector. The Federal Ministry of Transport should be commended for the noticeable progress on the ongoing dredging of the River Niger and the commitment so far demonstrated to the revitalization of the railway system. Kudos should also be given to the Federal Ministry of Aviation for the marked improvement in the Aviation Industry. Concrete steps should also be taken to bring a lasting solution to the roads which accounts for more traffic than the other modes combined. Any slow pace of road project execution can affect the nation’s capacity for the challenges of achieving Vision 20-20-20.
Source: FRCN daily Commentary
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