Concession of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its weekly meeting chaired by President Umar Musa Yar’ Adua, recently approved the concession of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to Bi-Courtney Nigeria for 25 years. The company is to upgrade the expressway with N89.53 billion and recoup its investment through tolls and appropriate charges.

Bi-Courtney currently operates a $250 million Build-Operate and Transfer (BOT) contract at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Terminal 2 (MMA 2), and according to the Information and Communication Minister, Dora Akunyili, who disclosed these developments to newsmen, the Lagos-Ibadan Road project would similarly be done under a BOT deal with 100 percent funding by Bi-Courtney. The Minister specifically noted that “the investors’ cost and return on investment will be recovered via tolls subject to regulatory guidance from the government, and other charges on road support services such as trailer parks and rest areas”.

It is worthwhile recalling that the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway which was commissioned by Olusegun Obasanjo in 1978 when he was military head of state, suffered neglect throughout his eight-year administration as civilian president from 1999 to 2007. Thousands of vehicles ply the express route daily. Thus, it is one of the busiest and accident-prone roads in the country. It was however gathered that between 1999 and 2007, there was no budgetary allocation for the rehabilitation and maintenance of the road.
It is against the backdrop of this mindless neglect of an otherwise very important road that the concession arrangement is, to us, a welcome development. It is hoped that this action might put an end to the anguish and sense of loss that attend the frequent accidents on the road, just as it is also hoped that the stress and man-hours lost to the frequent gridlock on the road, sometimes as a result of church activities, will be a thing of the past.
The BOT deal is also welcome to the extent that Nigerians would get value for their money, even as we note with deep concern the agreement period. We feel that at 25 years, the agreement is too tight considering that there is no alternative to the road. We therefore, advise that the toll should not be exorbitant or too excessive for the road users.

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We agree with the Federal Government that to ensure the highway is in good condition throughout the concession period, routine and periodic maintenance will be carried out to a minimum level of service under the supervision of the Ministry of Works, Housing and Urban Development. Also, there should be a legal framework in place to ensure continuity in the concession agreement so that the end of one regime does not mean the end of the agreement.

It is pertinent to point out that Lagos- Ibadan Expressway is not the worst of roads in the country. We therefore, recommend that other roads such as the Benin-Ore Road which have remained nightmares to East-West travellers should receive similar attention from the government. Additionally, given our circumstance where all public-sector driven projects have failed, even amidst decaying infrastructure, the concession option should be applied for all infrastructural development in the country.
In our kind of society where greed, personal interest and lack of political will to succeed have undermined the efficiency of the public sector, a well guided private sector intervention in the execution and management of critical infrastructural projects is indeed commendable.