PROGRESS
WORK ON THE OKENE –AUCHI – BENIN EXPRESS WAY
WE just passed through, this road a while ago and decided to stop and capture the
progress work on this axis of the transformation sphere.
NB:
the Abuja – Lokoja is almost completed with huge concretized flood barriers and
raised embankment
HAPPY
VIEWING
Let’s score President Goodluck Jonathan on road
infrastructure. To drive economic and social wellbeing of any nation, a good
road infrastructure can be likened to arteries, veins and capillaries that
comprise the human circulatory system. These blood vessels ensure that digested
food, water and oxygen are sent to where they are needed; and thedangerous
stuff are shipped out. If, for instance, a blood vessel is blocked so much so
that the right amount of oxygen is not sent to the brain on time, the
individual could suffer astroke. In the same vein, its social and economic
wellbeing could suffer a stroke, if any nation, especially the developing ones
like Nigeria, refuses not only to build, but also to expand and maintain its
road infrastructure. Raw materials must be moved to manufacturing centres,
imports must move from ports to warehouses, exports must be moved to the ports
for shipment to target ports, finished goods must go to the market and to
individual consumers, workers and others must commute from home to work. Apart
from economic reasons, movements also serve social and cultural needs for the
people. So, let’s score Jonathan on roads.
The question is simple: has the
present federal governmentunder Goodluck Jonathan delivered good road
infrastructureto support the smooth operation of economic activities, big and
small, in Nigeria? The answer, however, cannot be a yes or a no. A little
overview of the context can help. According to the federal ministry of works,
there are 35,000 kilometres of roads belonging to the federal government. As at
1983, that is 32 years ago, 80 per cent of these federalroads were constructed
and 150,000 vehicles were plying Nigerian roads. The ministry of works further
asserted that by 2000, the number of vehicles on the roads had increased to 1.3
million, further jumping to 9 million in 2012. All this time, the total number
of bituminous roads in the country did not witness any appreciable increase.
The available road network was therefore put under enormous pressure.Meanwhile,
rail system which could have provided an alternative means of transportation,
especially for haulage has been in coma, more or less, for years. The rail is
talk for another day, less we digress. For many years, therefore, it become a
nightmare to travel on Nigerian roads with many of these roads described as
death traps. The deplorable condition of these roads exposedtravellers to all
sorts of hardships and risks. On Benin-Ore-Shagamu expressway, Abuja-Lokoja
highway, Kano-Maiduguri expressway, Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway, Onitsha
Head Bridge and many other corridors across the country, you meet the same
frustrating scenario. Motorists spent days on the roads, especially during
rainy seasons and festive periods. Governments came, government went, and the
situation remained the same for many years. At times, motorists had to take
detours to alternate routes, meandering through bushes to evade long stretches
of bad roads. Robbery gangs took advantage of the deplorable road network,
ambushing and robbing travellers of their valuables and sometimes their lives.
Take the Benin-Ore-Shagamu expressway, for example. Itwas in such a deplorable
shape that a journey that should take four hours at times stretched to over
twelve hours. OnAugust 6, 2007, the then minister of transport could not hold
her tears when she saw what Nigerians go through on that road. “I am very
displeased that this road was allowed to degenerate to this level” she said.
What was true for Benin-Ore-Shagamu expressway was equally true for lots of
federal roads in Nigeria. Democratic rule under mostly Olusegun Obasanjo did
not do much as far as federal roads are concerned. President Goodluck Jonathan
has not rebuilt all federal roads in Nigeria. No. However, it is safe to simply
state that his administration has supervised the most massive construction and
rehabilitation efforts on federal roads that Nigerians have ever seen. The
Jonathan administration is making a concerted effort to develop a sound road
network across the country, an infrastructure that would drive economic
growth.A few examples may be necessary here: Let’s go back to the
Benin-Ore-Shagamu expressway. The contract for the reconstruction of the 262.5
km road project is being executed by Reynolds Construction Company Nigeria
Limited and Borini Prono & Company Nigeria Limited. President Goodluck
Jonathan commissioned the Phase One of the road last September. The second
phase, as Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen explained, had not been fully
completed because of technical challenges but was commendably over 60 per cent
done. Today that road is a traveller’s delight. Travellers and transporters on
that road have not had it so good in a very long time. Due to the fact that the
road is as good as brand new the days of four hour trips has returned on the
road.Such delight was last experienced in the 1980s and 1990s. In a move that
is not common in this climes, transport giant, ABC Transport Company reportedly
reduced its fare prices in a widely circulated advert carried by newspapers,
citing the improved condition of the Benin-Ore road and others in general.
Literally, the country is today awash with completed and ongoing construction
and rehabilitation of federal roads. The Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja dualization road project,
the Kano-Maiduguri Dualization road project, the Onitsha-Enugu road project,
the Ibadan-Ilorin Road, the Apapa-OshodiExpressway. Others are: Gombe-Bye-Pass
in Gombe State,Katsina-Daura Road, Katsina State, Aba-Owerri road in AbiaState,
Eleme Junction Flyover and the Dualisation of Access Road to Onne Port, Phases
I & II in Rivers State,Rehabilitation/Construction of Ijebu
Igbo-Ajegunle-Araromi-Ife-Sekona Road, Section II in Ogun and Osun
States,Emergency Reinstatement of Collapsed Section of Gombe-Potiskum Road
[Km.12] in Gombe State, Completion of the construction of Mararaba-Bali road in
Taraba State,Rehabilitation of Hadejia-Nguru Road, Phase I [Hadejia-Kirikasama]
in Jigawa State, Dualisation of Onitsha-OwerriRoad [Section I] and Onitsha
Eastern Bye-Pass Section I in Anambra State, Completion of the Rehabilitation
ofObiozara-Uburu-Ishiagu-Awgu Road, Phase I, in Ebonyi and Enugu States,
Construction of a bridge at Lafenwa in OgunState. Rehabilitation of 8 Nos.
Expansion Joints on 3rd Mainland Bridge [Phase I] in Lagos State, Dualisation
of Ibadan-Ilorin road Section I [Ibadan-Oyo] in Oyo State, Lagos-Ibadan
expressway and so on.
The Nigerian economy is better off for it. Goods and
services are moved from point to point in reduced time and reduced cost as
travelling on new and improved roads becomes easier and safer. Research shows
that majority of Nigeria road users found it easier to travel to their
different destinations in various parts of the country during the last
Christmas holiday, unlike the previous years. These ones feel that the roads
are indeed better. The taste of pudding is indeed in the eating. So how do we
score President Jonathan? Should we leave it to those road users who heave a
sigh of relief anytime the use the newly refurbished federal roads? Should we
score Jonathan based on reduced passenger travel times, reduced vehicle
operating costs, and reduced traffic related fatalities? Nigerians has
witnessed all these indices go up as a result of the effort of the present
administration under Goodluck Jonathan. Let everyone score the president on
road networks according to facts on the ground and dictates of conscience.
Ranti, a social commentator, lives in Akure, Ondo State
