- Obaseki, Umahi trade words over state of Edo roads
- Abuja-Lagos superhighway to last 100 years – FG
- Expect better roads within six weeks – FERMA
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, FSTUS OKOROMADU, MAYOWA SAMUEL AND BRIGHT JACOB
In spite of the N1.535 trillion in the 2023 budget for the construction and rehabilitation of 11 roads across the country by the Federal Government, most of its roads are still in a terrible state of disrepair.
Investigations by The Point in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria showed that the budgetary allocation had not made appreciable impacts on the roads across the country as many of them had not only become eyesores, but also embarrassments to a nation in search of investors.
The former Federal Executive Council had approved the sum of N1.535 trillion for the construction and rehabilitation of 11 roads across the country.
The construction would be enabled under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited tax credit scheme.
Speaking on April 19, 2023 after the council meeting, the former Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said over N1.5 trillion would be spent on some major roads in Nigeria, totaling over 700 kilometres linking 11 states.
The states include Edo, Delta, Kano, Kaduna, Borno, and Adamawa, among others.
“The council gave approval for the construction and rehabilitation of 11 roads totaling 737.242 kilometres in the sum of N1, 535, 154, 247, 234.48 under phase II of the NNPC tax credit scheme,” Fashola said.
“Recall that in January this year, the council approved a memo for the NNPC to invest N1.9 trillion on our roads. That amount was then about 44 roads that had been awarded and the balance of those roads that had to go through procurement between then and now are the 11 that have now been approved by the council.”
Fashola said in November 2022 that NNPC Limited had released N196 billion for roads under the tax credit scheme out of the N662 billion approved by the FEC.
He added that the ministry needed N1.2 trillion for the execution of highway projects, but only N198.9 billion was allocated under the budget envelope in 2023 for the roads.
However, most of the federal roads are gradually turning into death-traps despite the billions of naira earmarked for their maintenance every year.
A cross section of road users who spoke with The Point in separate interviews decried the situation and called on the authorities to declare an emergency on the state of roads, nationwide.
“In the North-Central, motorists and community leaders in Benue State described the Federal Government’s roads in the state as the worst in the country”
ROADS DISINTEGRATE IN EDO
Inter-State highways in Edo State have disintegrated entirely, leaving commuters stranded, communities marooned, and amplifying the woes of torrential rains.
In Ekpoma, for example, the Benin-Auchi Expressway, a crucial Trunk A Road connecting the Northern and Southern parts of the country, stands eroded, leaving behind obstacles that commuters must navigate, eliciting negative sentiments from the area’s residents towards the Federal Government.
Residents are calling on the new Minister for Works, David Umahi, to anxiously anticipate insight into his plans for the intricate network of Federal roads spanning the State.
They lamented that Edo’s unique geographical position makes it a thoroughfare for people, goods and services across four of Nigeria’s six regions, resulting in an arduous burden on the state’s road infrastructure, as individuals and products traverse between the North, South-South, South-East and South-West regions.
The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, said he had committed substantial resources to draw the Federal Government’s attention to the State’s road plight, but with minimal response.
He regretted that despite promises made by the former Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, before the elections, the roads remained very bad, endangering lives and the environment.
UMAHI, OBASEKI TRADE WORDS
In his response, Umahi disclosed that the ministry was willing to speed up approval for state governors to carry out rehabilitation on federal roads in their states.
Speaking on the infrastructure battle of the Tinubu administration while inspecting ongoing road rehabilitations in Lagos, Umahi said the Federal Government could not prevent governors from road repairs, which would enhance the welfare of residents.
He rejected what he described as blackmail by the Edo State Governor, who had complained about the poor state of federal roads in the South South state.
Umahi said, “The ministry is willing to speed up approval for the state government to carry out rehabilitation of the bad potions.
“I would advise my brother and friend, Governor Godwin Obaseki, to stop playing politics with the lives of his citizens. He should stop trivialising the lives of his people on the altar of politics. The election has been won and lost.
“If he approaches me by whatever means to seek permission, even if he sends me requests by WhatsApp or whatever, I will give him approval within two hours so that he can start. But I am going to visit Edo State, and I am going to look at those roads.”
ONDO ASSEMBLY DECRIES DILAPIDATED FEDERAL ROADS
In Ondo State, the House of Assembly has decried the deplorable state of federal roads in the state.
Rising from a parliamentary meeting recently, the leadership and members of the Assembly described the situation of federal roads in the state as an eyesore.
According to them, Elegbeka – Ifon road, Ipele – Idoani – Abuja road, Akure – Owena – Ondo road and Ado-Ekiti –-Akure road “have all been washed away, especially by the recent rainfalls, thereby leaving the roads in a state of complete disrepair, a situation that has left commuters plying the roads in pain and anguish.”
A statement issued by the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Emmanuel Olatunji Oshati, said the House resolved again to write send a reminder to the Federal Road Maintenance Agency “on the precarious state of these roads.”
“The Speaker of the House, Olamide Oladiji, directed the Clerk of the House to write a letter to the federal agency without any further delay.
“The House empathised with residents of Ondo State and the road users over the unfortunate situation of federal roads across the state, assuring that it will leave no stone unturned at getting the attention of relevant agencies of the Federal Government to fix the roads as quickly as possible.
“The House urged residents and road users in the state to be patient and be law abiding while a solution is being pursued towards ameliorating the pains associated with the use of the roads,” Oshati said.
Akure-Ado-Ekiti road’ll be constructed with concrete technology – Umahi
Two week ago, the Minister of Works, David Umahi, declared that the ongoing Akure-Ado-Ekiti Expressway would be redesigned and constructed with concrete rather than asphalt.
Fashola had begun the construction of the road in May 2023, shortly before the end of the last administration of Muhammadu Buhari.
Umahi said Nigerians would see more concrete pavements on the roads as it had a longer lifespan than roads made of bitumen.
According to him, concrete roads had been tested in several states and it has a life span of 50 years, compared to asphalt roads that would only last for 15 years.
The minister explained that any road construction contract that was not more than 20 per cent done would be redesigned to concrete pavement roads.
He added that the importation of bitumen alone was putting more pressure on the naira and with the use of concrete pavement roads, it would be more of local content.
OYO-ISEYIN ROAD
In Oyo State, Governor Seyi Makinde recently completed the rehabilitation of the Oyo-Iseyin Road, saying it was a key project that would open up the zone through connectivity of roads.
He noted that his administration would continue to prioritise interconnectivity through road constructions.
He added that the 34.85km Oyo-Iseyin road was of economic significance, not only to the people of Oyo, but also to all citizens of the state, as the communities and businesses located in and around the area would be impacted massively.
The Oyo-Iseyin Road, which was opened for use in 1915 by the Federal Government, had become impassable.
IBADAN/IFE ROAD
Also, in Osun State, the Ibadan/ Ife Expressway has become a fearful route since Fulani herdsmen are taking advantage of its bad portions to terrorise road users.
Gunmen on March 7, 2022 abducted a commercial bus driver and a passenger near Wasinmi Village on the Ife-Ibadan Expressway.
According to reports, policemen at a checkpoint close to the scene of the abduction were said to have engaged the gunmen in exchange of fire.
The gunmen were however said to have escaped with the driver and one passenger into the bush.
Also gunmen had kidnapped Prof Olayinka Adegbehingbe of the Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, on one of the bad spots of the road.
The professor was travelling alongside his wife when they were attacked by armed men between Asejire and Apomu road.
Likewise, on June 12, suspected Fulani herdsmen, attacked travellers on the same Ife-Ibadan Expressway at Ikire and shot dead an employee of the Atakumosa West Local Government Area of Osun State, Samson Adenipekun.
The deceased was travelling to Ibadan, Oyo State, in an unregistered Toyota Corolla car driven by one Ismaila Olayiwola, when the incident happened.
Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Expressway in deplorable state
Business owners along the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Expressway and motorists are lamenting over the deplorable state of the road.
The 81-kilometre-long expressway, which connects the Ogun State capital, Abeokuta, and Ikeja, the capital of Lagos, is one of the major federal roads in South West Nigeria.
It is also one of the busiest interstate roads in the country and handles about 250,000 passenger car units daily.
However, a significant stretch of the road is in deplorable state, causing loss of patronage for business owners, driving up vehicle maintenance costs for motorists and putting the lives of people in danger.
For instance, the Abule-Egba portion of the road down to Toll-Gate is in bad shape, causing stress for commuters as well as motorists who ply the road.
The heavy vehicular movement on the Sango-Ota inward lane is agonizing and usually overwhelms policemen and traffic control officers on duty.
A motorist, Gbolahan Sholoye, complained that he had body aches each day after using the road.
Sholoye lamented that motorists, particularly commercial bus drivers, had devised a strategy of manoeuvring the bad portion of the road by taking one-way.
“When you get home at night, you find your whole body aching. We’re just managing it (the road),” he lamented.
“We’re just begging the Federal Government to assist us by fixing the road,” he added.
Another motorist who identified himself as Dele, called on President Bola Tinubu to do something about the expressway, adding that the road had several dilapidated sections up to Abeokuta.
“The road is not good at all. Our vehicles often break down on the road. Some vehicles get involved in accidents on the road,” Dele said.
In December 2022, the Debt Management Office announced the conclusion of the issuance of N100 billion Sovereign Al ‘Ijarah Sukuk bond for the construction and rehabilitation of key road projects in the country.
The debut Sovereign Sukuk, which was issued in 2017, brought in N100 billion to finance the rehabilitation and construction of 25 road projects across the six geopolitical zones.
The DMO also issued a Sukuk for N100 billion in 2018 and another for N162.55 billion in 2020 as well as about N250 billion in 2021. In 2017, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari identified and marked out 63 roads across the country, including 44 federal highways.
These roads which include the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Expressway were classified under critical economic routes and agricultural routes and accorded budgetary priority.
However, despite the government identifying it as an important road, the expressway has remained in bad shape and the deployment of Sukuk funding has not made any significant change.
However, the Federal Government, on August 31, proposed to jointly rehabilitate the Ogun section of the road with the state government.
The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, made the proposal during a courtesy call on Governor Dapo Abiodun in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
The minister who was on a tour of federal roads in the state, while replying to Abiodun on the frustration experienced by Ogun and Lagos during the Buhari administration to get the road done, disclosed that the period of bureaucracy in road construction in the country was over.
Umahi noted that if the Federal Government is looking for corporate organisations to get involved in road construction and management, state governments should not be denied the same opportunity.
He said, “Let me say something about the frustration you had while you and the Lagos State government wrote to take over the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road. Let me announce to you that it falls under our new programme, HDMI, which is the HighWay Development Management Initiative. It is a public-private partnership programme.
“People should begin to look at a state as a corporate entity. If you are looking for investors to come and invest on our roads; to construct, to own, to maintain and toll, why shouldn’t a state do that?
“So, on this Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road, I want us to work together, we’ve done 30% of the work. You can own 60%, we own 40% and you can do your portion of the 60%. You can give it to a contractor of your choice.
“I don’t believe in bureaucracy; we cannot reset the economy with the type of bureaucracy we have.
“If I get your request on this by WhatsApp, I will respond to you immediately. We will handle it under our HDMI.”
ZAMFARA STATE
In the North Western state of Zamfara, the 110 -kilometre-Gusau-Dansadau Road, which was constructed in the Second Republic by the Shehu Shagari administration in 1982, is in a bad state.
Many motorists have abandoned the road, which links Zamfara to Kebbi and Kaduna States, because of accidents caused by potholes on it.
A motorist, Aliyu AbdulAziz, said he had stopped going to Dansadau for his business activities because of the poor condition of the road.
Another motorist, Ilyasu Gusau, said that the road had become a death trap as armed robbers and bandits had been operating freely on it.
According to him, the road used to be one of the busiest roads in the state, but has now been abandoned due to its terrible state.
FEDERAL ROADS IN BENUE WORST
In the North-Central, motorists and community leaders in Benue State described the Federal Government’s roads in the state as the worst in the country.
Some of the bad federal roads in the state are the Makurdi-Gboko-Katsina Alla-Zaki Biam Road, which links the state to Taraba State; the Makurdi-Aliade Otukpo Road, which connects the state to Enugu State; and the Makurdi-Laafia-Abuja Road that leads to northern part of the country.
The worst of the federal roads in the state was Makurdi-Naka-Adoka-Ankpa Road which links the state to Kogi State.
All the roads, especially the Makurdi-Naka-Adoka -Ankpa Road, were impassable.
Some motorists said they had abandoned the Makurdi-Naka-Adoka-Ankpa Road because it had become a den of killer herdsmen.
It was also gathered that the situation was not different on the Makurdi-Aliade-Otukpo Federal Highway. A journey from Makurdi to Otukpo, which used to take one hour and 10 minutes, now takes motorists about three hours.
The Makurdi- Naka Road was constructed by a former civilian governor of Benue State, the late Aper Aku (1976 to 1979), and handed over to the Federal Government.
Lagos/Badagry Expressway, national shame
The Lagos/Badagry Expressway has become a national shame as the road that links Nigeria with Benin Republic is in a state of disrepair.
Though the Lagos State Government had started the reconstruction of the ever-busy road, work had since stopped for lack of funds.
A businessman, Bolaji Banjoko, who resides at the Barracks along the Lagos-Badagry expressway, said drivers, passengers and passersby usually undergo intense agony while plying the road.
He added that the potholes on the road were responsible for the gridlock that made them spend hours on a journey that should have lasted minutes.
Banjoko said, “We have been crying about the poor state of the road for so long. Our experiences on the road have been very tough, going out and coming in on a daily basis is a big challenge. Whenever it rains, the situation worsens because it causes gridlock which makes us spend hours on a journey that should last just a few minutes. The gridlock is always severe to the point that even motorcyclists and pedestrians can spend hours on a particular spot.”
“The Lagos/Badagry Expressway has become a national shame as the road that links Nigeria with Benin Republic is in a state of disrepair”
FG moves to repair federal roads nationwide within six weeks
The Federal Government through the Federal Road Maintenance Agency said it had concluded plans to fill up the potholes and intervene in the repair of failed portions of federal roads nationwide.
This was made known by the acting Managing Director, FERMA, Godson Amos, during an interview in Abuja.
Amos said the intervention became necessary, owing to the need to ameliorate the hardship and delays road users face daily on the highway.
The FERMA boss expressed optimism that the intervention would be achieved within six weeks of the commencement and all potholes and road failure worked on, on federal roads across the country.
Abuja-Lagos superhighway to last 100 years – FG
Meanwhile, the Federal Government said on Saturday that the proposed 470-kilometre Abuja-Lagos Greenfield superhighway, which would be completed in four years, would last 100 years.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, told journalists in Lagos that the road would be built by a private sector consortium at no cost to the government.
The consortium will operate the facility for a yet-to-be-determined period on a build, operate, and transfer deal, he said, adding that it would be tolled at different points to enable the investors to recoup their investment.
He assured that the four-and-a-half-hour travel time for vehicles plying the route at 100 kilometres per hour was achievable.
“When I first introduced this to the public, many doubting Thomases were saying ‘it is impossible, Lagos-Abuja that is done in 14 hours cannot be done in four and half-hours’, that is the renewed hope of Mr. President,” he said.
The minister explained that President Bola Tinubu approved that the project be sped up, adding that the contractor should be on site in three months.
Umahi said, “The president has approved that I fast-track this project. This project is going to be two lanes but each lane is going to be a two-carriage way and it is going to be 14 metres. The only carriageway that is equivalent to this is the Third Mainland Bridge where each carriageway is 14 metres. It is going to be built on 275-millimeter-thick concrete.
“The live-shelf design of this project is going to be 100 years. It is going to be completed within four years and this is doable. Some bridges will be built. Many tolling points are going to be there. We are not putting any kobo but we will assist them in every direction.”
He explained that from Lagos, the road would pass through eight states in the South-west and North-central before it gets to Abuja.
The states are Kogi, Ekiti, Oyo, FCT, Lagos, Ogun, Niger and Kwara.
He praised the private consortium, Advance Engineering Company, which is behind the deal, saying he was “very satisfied with their concept and what they have put in place.”
Umahi added, “So, the next thing is to bring the business proposal so we can negotiate on what the cost of the project is going to be. Then they go to the Ministry of Finance and negotiate on the issue of their money.
“The good thing is that we are building this road on concrete so we can predict the cost. In asphalt, you cannot predict the cost. The cost of asphalt roads changes every month.
“Concrete roads are more durable and cheaper than asphalt and I have directed all ongoing projects that have not advanced up to 80 per cent to change the remaining to concrete.”
The minister added that plans were underway to make the road a business and industrial corridor with hotels, factories, and housing estates, among others, on the route.
Emphasising the seriousness of the project, Umahi said the contract would be watertight such that if the consortium backed out unreasonably, it might have to pay a fine of $10 million.
Chairman of the consortium, Kenny Martins, described the project as “the first of its kind in Africa”, saying it would be ICT-compliant with a fibre optic connection, solar-powered street lights and security points on the entire stretch of the road.
Martins said that the route would begin from the proposed 4th Mainland Bridge in Epe to Abuja.