Federal highways fail year-end test

The hardship and long delays caused travelers on the Lagos-Shagamu-Ijebu Ode road and other highways across the country, over the Christmas and New Year holidays, up till yesterday, highlight the deplorable state of many of the nation’s roads, as well as the hazard of accidents and the slow-down effect on the distribution of goods and services.

This is despite huge budgetary allocations for repairs by successive administrations and their failure to provide and sustain a functional network of roads  in many areas.

Experts say this deplorable situation is also a testimonial to the failure of government over the years to meaningfully  develop alternative modes of transportation, particularly rail and waterways , which tend to be cheaper and safer.

Industry watchers are however expressing confidence the Buhari administration will bring some relief in this regard because of his record of intergrity and his promise to fix infrastructure.

They further say the track record of his ministers further reinforces this belief.

Up till yesterday, several thousands of commuters returning to Lagos and neighbouring cities from the eastern states at the end of the holidays, were stranded for long hours at bad spots on the East/West Road, including the Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode, Ikale, Ofosu axis.

Food and drinks vendors swarmed bad spots on these roads to sell to the stranded hoardes. There were also reports of armed robberies.

Our reporters who travelled during the period, spotted bad portions manifest by potholes and gullies around the Benin By-pass, where co-incidentally, the Federal Road Safety Commision office is located.

Travellers say that stretch of road which is part of the East/West road linking major cities in the South-South and South-Eastern part of the country is a death trap and takes exceeding long hours to pass through.

Furthermore, the Ilorin – Jebba road which would typically take motorists between 45 minutes and one hour to navigate, now takes about 16 hours because the surface has been completely washed away and gullies have formed.

This is one of the reasons for delays in the delivery of petrol  and diesel to many locations in the north of the country.

Again, the  Ilorin –Lokoja  federal road, which takes motists three hous to navigate when in good condition, is now in disrepair and not motorable. The alternative route  takes eight hours to drive through.

The Kabba-Lokoja road is also in disrepair, causing motorists to drive at crawling pace, often falling into the hands of armed robbers who lay ambush and conduct hit and run raids daily.

The only strategic road that leads to Ajaokuta Steel Complex in Ajaokuta, the Okene-Ajaokuta express road has also been washed away. This is a federal road which had a toll gate when it was in good condition, but is said to have received no attention in 20 years.

Speaking to BusinessDay on the issue, Tochukwu Nwosu, a Diaspora Nigerian visiting home from Australia, lamented that: “If there is any road in the country that has portrayed successive governments in the country in bad light in the last two decades, it is the Lagos-Sagamu-Ore-Benin road.”

Musa Nuska, a civil engineer, said the challenge in Nigeria’s transport industry is that while the number of vehicles on the roads are growing in geometric pace, the roads are left to deteriorate  for too long.

Federal Government records define the Shagamu-Benin road as part of the Lagos-Mombasa, and Algiers-Lagos sections of the Trans-Africa Highway, and Nigeria’s East-West Road.

The Federal Government some years ago awarded contracts to the tune of N12.2 billion for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of two sections of the road.

Two multinational civil engineering firms commissioned to execute the contracts were Messrs Reynolds Construction Company Limited (RCC), handling the Salami-Ajebandele-Ore-Benin Road Section I (Ajebandele-Ofosu road in Ondo state) and Messrs Borini Prono and Company Nigeria Limited, for the repair of Shagamu- Ajebandele-Ore-Benin Road Section II in Ogun State.  While the Reynolds contract was worth N9.89billion, the Borini Prono and Company Nigeria Limited job was put at a cost of N2.5billion.

Gloria Odey, a civil rights activist, said, “It is unimaginable the kind of pains commuters are subjected to on the Lagos-Shagamu-Ijebu Ode-Ore road during festive periods because of traffic congestion. It is the duty of the Federal Government  to ensure urgent completion of the road which will reduce the frequency of accidents which claim many lives along the route.”

Under former President Goodluck Jonathan, the former minister of works, Mike Onolememen, once said inadequate funding was the reason for the failure of government to repair federal roads.

The East/West road took off in 2006/2007 and in 2008, no budgetary allocation was made for it. In 2009 and 2010, there was meagre budgetary allocation to the road.

MIKE OCHONMA &  OLUSOLA BELLO