The Nation Newspaper

Tag: road

  • Group urges govt to fix road

    A group, Ilorin Emirate Development Progressive Union (IEDPU), has urged the Federal Government to fix the Jebba–Bode Saadu-Ilorin Road in Kwara State.

    The IEDPU in a statement by its National President, Justice Saka Yusuf, lamented the uncountable number of lives and property that had been lost on the road over the years.

    The road, which links the Southwest with the Northcentral state, the group said, is in bad shape and has become a deathtrap.

    Armed robbers, according to the group, also wreak havoc on the road, dispossessing motorists and passengers of their valuables.

    It also urged the government to start the rehabilitation of the road in the New Year.

    The Sultan of Sokoto, Alh Sa’ad Abubakar had, during a meeting of the Inter-Religious Committee (NIREC) in Ilorin, Kwara State, drawn the attention of President Goodluck Jonathan to the deplorable condition of the road.

  • Road to 21st Century cities

    Road to 21st Century cities

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Thirty Seven years old Ogun State has had the rare luck of producing great sons and daughters – dead and living.

    Such great names as Madam Efunroye Tinubu, the Ransome-Kutis, Dr Tai Solarin, late politician and business tycoon, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, Senator Abraham Adesanya,

    Professor Wole Soyinka, and General Oladipo Diya(rtd) as well as past leaders in Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Ernest Shonekan and Chief Obafemi Awolowo among others, have come out of the Gateway state

    Ogun is equally home to many historical and tourists sites such as the Olumo rock, in Abeokuta, Yemoja river in Magbon – Ijebu, Birikisu Sungbo shrine in Oke – Erin in Ijebu – Ode, aside natural resources endowment even as it is strategically located within the Southwest of Nigeria – sharing boundaries with the states of Lagos, Ondo, Oyo and even with the neighbouring Republic of Benin.

    But analysts have since agreed that these vantage positions have not reflected much in her in terms accelerated development.

    Intra and inter – state movements remained a huge challenge for residents, visitors and prospective investors particularly during rainy season and in some cases at weekends because of the deplorable poor roads networks.

    And infrastructure wise, the state remains stunted in its growth. Its convoluted and rocky terrain in parts of the state, do not help matters even as poor physical planning, cultural practices and traditions that proved impervious to change, lack of political will on the part of successive  administrations to enforce building regulations conspired to rob its cities of their beauty and much business appeal.

    But today Abeokuta, the state capital, is wearing a new look. And same goes for other parts of the state – Sagamu, Ijebu – Ode, Ago – Iwoye, Sango, Ijoko and Ilara – Ijoun.

    Things are looking up. In the last two years, the Gateway state has become a huge construction site – all cutting across the three Senatorial districts, and all equally geared towards opening the state for accessibility and development.

    This is redefining the shape of things as more investors – local and foreign, have begun to find the state attractive. In recent times, no fewer than 100 industrialists have expressed readiness to berth in Ogun with about 32 of them already on ground to begin business.

    They were spurred by standard road networks, bridges and ultra – modern shopping complexes in advance stages of construction which  are springing up in places hitherto occupied by narrow and windy roads, unhygienic markets, clusters of dingy shops that not only defaced the state capital but also provided hideouts for criminals and peddlers of illicit drugs.

    From Onikolobo, Lalubu, Totoro, Sokori, Sapon, Abiola way, Saje to OGBC all in Abeokuta to Ijebu – Ode, Sagamu, to the 110km Ilara – Ijoun road, and Sango – Ojodu, the trappings of emerging Mega towns and cities beckon with the on – going multi – billion naira roads projects and modern shopping complexes being built to take care of traders whose shops were brought down to give way to the roads expansion scheme.

    One of such is the  lbara / Lalubu / Ita-Eko Overhead Bridge. The 2.4km dual carriage Premier Fly – Over which was built at the cost of N1.5billion begins at Lalubu – Ibara  and opens into the new Totoro – Oke -Sokori six lanes road  also constructed at the  cost of N1.3billion.

    The Totoro – Oke – Sokori road is studded with features such as drains, median, greenbelt, walkway, street lights, modern bus-stop and pedestrian bridge with an air-conditioner.

    The Pedestrian Bridge alone which runs across it costs N260m.

    The massive investment in road infrastructure, according Governor Ibikunle Amosun, was in fulfillment of his electoral promises to the people but they have proved to serve purposes more than just fulfilling campaign pledges.

    The Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, captured this essence of the changing face of Abeokuta months back when he appreciated the first state – built Lalubu – Totoro bridge.

    Gbadebo who likened it to the time pipe borne water and Railway station arrived Abeokuta during the colonial era, said the development has predictably transformed the state capital from the 19th century status to that of the 21st century.

    He said:”The flyover can only be compared with the day electric power came to Abeokuta or the pipe borne water was installed in Abeokuta or 1906 when the train entered Abeokuta.

    “The flyover is as major as any of these and I thank the Governor for bringing Ogun State and Abeokuta in particular from 19th century to the 21st century.

    “When visitors come to Abeokuta and they pay courtesy call at the palace, they are always whispering, and asking is this the state we have talked so much about, where are the roads we expect Abeokuta to have, the first class medical facilities, the first class schools as the fountain of education in Nigeria?

    “They expect the very best in Ogun State. We thank God now that we have the governor who has started very well.

    “Our people do say, morning shows the day, if under two years, this government have been able to put in place the flyover in Ibara  and several others like it, we know that in a matter of another year or two, we will be where the best state capital of this nation are.

    “We have been lagging behind all of them for so long; by the grace of God, we are going to overtake all of them that did not move in the same pace they started with.

    “For this, I want to thank the Governor (Senator Ibikunle Amosun) and his team for a job well done, somebody asked me what do we have for the people.

    “ I want to congratulate them for their support and tell them please pay your tax, without paying your tax, good things like this cannot happen. I beg you, anybody who want to enjoy the goodies of life should pay the tax as and when due.”

    Also, a transport consultant, who declined name mentioning, told The Nation that the roads and bridges would facilitate easy, pleasurable movement of goods and services, easy flow of traffic, reduce manpower-time wasted on the road, thereby improving the productive time of persons  plying the road.

    The transport expert added that the roads would also help monitor traffic flow, determine bottlenecks points for solutions as well as assist the police, medical team and other people responding to emergency situations to arrive at the scene or their destination quickly aside the aesthetic values  they add to the environment.

    According to the initiator, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, “the goal is to put Ogun State in the league of advanced economies and make it an investors’ destination of choice, not only in Nigeria, but the sub-Saharan Africa.”

    The governor noted last January that  to achieve that feat, the importance of modern day and world class infrastructure cannot be overemphasised.

    He said: “For this reason, we will continue to rehabilitate existing infrastructure and put them in a position where they will not only stand the test of the time, but stand-out as a reference point for others anywhere in the world. Where the need arises, we will construct not just modern but high-tech infrastructure that will enhance the magnificence of our environment and act as a catalyst for our socio-economic development.

    “I urge all our people to exercise more patience, and continue to support us in prayer and in deeds. As we do this, we will have more dividends of democracy across the nooks and crannies of our state for the overall benefit of our people. Also, I want to use this opportunity to call on the private sector to partner with our administration in the actualisation of the socio-economic development of our State.

    “ Our policy is to create the necessary atmosphere for the private sector to thrive. We need the private sector to make use of these infrastructure while establishing industries that will help to provide jobs for our people. As you do this, we shall be creating wealth for our people and bringing smiles to their faces.”

    But a serving House of Representatives member and Governorship aspirants on the platform of Labour Party(LP) in the state, Hon. Abiodun Akinlade, while admitting that Amosun’s infrastrutural development and roads expansion are “desirable,” last Friday, cautioned the government against  going about its road projects in a manner that puts Ogun people in pains.

    Akinlade said: “As we note the efforts of the state government to handle these road expansion projects in a way that protects the economic interest of the people, preserve their heritage and improve their welfare, the current approach is creating hardship, homelessness and joblessness for Ogun State people.

    “We believe that it is completely anti – people to first demolish their homes, uproot their businesses before inviting them for compensation which the people are even complaining of being arbitrary and non – commensurate to their properties demolished. We should not expect people who are hungry and homeless to appreciate roads, even if the roads are gold plated.”

  • Ondo oil producing communities decry bad roads

    Ondo oil producing communities decry bad roads

    ONe of the aims of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC) is to tackle the most visible problem in the oil communities – bad roads. But the interventionist agency seems not to be making the desired impact on the area.

    Unlike in the upland areas of Ondo State, the coastal communities have no link roads, no electricity and infrastructure despite that they are the golden fish that lays the state’s eggs.

    Without the Ilaje and Ese-Odo local government areas, rating Ondo as an oil producer would not be possible.

    The state is enjoying oil derivation funds, but the source of that huge windfall is being neglected. Many important roads in the Ondo South Senatorial District, the oil producing region of Ondo, are left in deplorable conditions for the inhabitants to wonder where all their oil money was being spent.

    In 2008,OSOPADEC awarded the contract for the construction of Okitipupa-Irele road,which is 10.9km, to SETRACO Nigeria Limited for N4.2billion to ease the problem of transportation in the southern part of the state.

    The road, according to initial plan, was to be inaugurated in 2009, but has been abandoned.Besides, OSOPADEC awarded construction of Igbokoda-Ayetoro and Aboto-Olokola road to the same SETRACO Nigeria Limited at a cost of N10billion.

    Igbokoda-Ayetoro and Aboto-Olokola roads have since been abandoned by SETRACO, while Ugbonla-Ayetoro road, the only link to communities in the main coastal area, has been neglected.

    The Nation’s visit to the area passing through Ode-Mahin was a harrowing experience to behold. The vehicle that conveyed our correspondent broke down because of the deplorable situation of the road.

    For a long time, all entreaties by leaders of the communities to the relevant authority to repair or lay asphalt on the road has fallen on deaf ears making life more unbearable to travellers on the road.

    This development is also having negative effects on the economic and social lifeline of Ilaje people.

    The road was to provide cheap access through Ogun and Lagos states, the commercial nerve centre of the country.

    Prospective investors and visitors to the area always think twice before embarking on such journey, as several times the road has caused caused accidents that claimed lives.

    At the Okitipupa-Irele road, the bridge designed to link the road has been abandoned since 2009,thereby making the road impassable.

    It was observed that the Irele Local Government constructed a wooden bridge to link the extremely bad spots and, unfortunately, the council chairman allegedly imposed a N50 toll for crossing the bridge, thus further compounding the burden of the people.

    The Publicity Secretary of Ilaje Forum (IF) Dare Ebimomi urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to probe how the funds appropriated to OSOPADEC were spent by its chairman and other board members.

  • 10 dead in East-West road bus crash

    10 dead in East-West road bus crash

    Ten people at the weekend died in a bus crash on the East-West road.

    The accident occurred when an 18-seater Toyota Hiace bus somersaulted and plunged into Okosu River on the Sampou axis of the road in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government, Bayelsa State.

    The crash reportedly occurred about 8:30pm on Saturday and caused a traffic jam on the narrow road.

    Operatives of the state security outfit, Operation Door Akpor, were said to have assisted in the rescue and evacuation of the bodies to the mortuary.

    The bus was said to be conveying passengers to Yenagoa in Bayelsa State from Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State, when the driver lost control and plunged into the river.

    The deceased were reportedly returning from Oginigbo after attending a traditional wedding.

    Eyewitnesses said the driver of the bus was trying to overtake a vehicle when he lost control.

    “The driver was close to the bridgehead. You know this road is bad and narrow. We only saw the bus somersault into the river,” an eyewitness said.

    The source, who preferred anonymity, said sympathisers and security operatives attempted to rescue the victims.

    “The bus was driven by someone, popularly called student. Unfortunately, he died in the accident. But a nursing mother swam out.

    “She cried and shouted that her son was in the bus. The river was not deep, some divers helped in the rescue. By the time I left the place, five persons were confirmed dead, but I learnt others died after,” he said.

    It was learnt that most of the occupants of the vehicle were women and children.

  • Communities rue abandoned road project

    The people of Etomi and Abgokim communities in Etung Local Government Areas of Cross River State have decried the abandonment of the construction of the 27km road linking both of them.

    Some of the community members who were piqued by about the development stormed the palace of the clan head of Etomi community calling on relevant authorities to intervene urgently in the situation.

    They lamented that due to the deplorable condition as a result of the abandonment the people have faced hardships.

    “We wonder why they would abandon the road without consideration for the people, whereas they have been paid to carry out this job,” one, of them said.

    Another resident of the area a commercial motorcyclist, Chijioke Cletus said, “Since wey I started okada I don fall for this road tire. Last week we don carry two people go bury. I de vex. Don’t know if they chop the money or government no send money. I de beg make dem change copnay. We that cannot live in the city at least if we don’t have light let them give us road.

    Raphael Akpan another protester said, “Master we don suffer well well for this road tire. Uptil now. Everywhere is gallop, and water. The people just came here and dig gutter and left the road. I don’t know whether it is the gutter we are going to ply or the road. When we told them them no answer us. They are no longer working, they left. Government should do something.”

    Investigations revealed the road was awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to a contractor and was expected to have been completed by March this year.

    The coordinator of Rebuild Nigeria Initiative, a nongovernmental organization, Mr Castro Ezama said it was regrettable that the contractor who had received mobilization could abandon the project thereby causing problems for the community members and other road users.

    He charged the NDDC to order the contractor to return to site or refund the amount paid to him for another to take over the project.

     

     

  • Her long road to success

    Her long road to success

    Efe Imiren, founder,Service Forts Limited has a passion for entrepreneurship.

    She began honing her entrepreneurship skills in 1999 during her undergraduate years. With the advent of the Internet, she turned her passion into a profitable business named ServiceForts Resources Ltd.

    Today, ServiceForts brand name has grown into a business service concerns including technologies, travels, publishing and business academy.

    When she launched her business, she knew that her own success would depend on the development of the sector. To this end, she worked hard to create a striving electronic books segment which has attracted so many Nigerians.

    On what gave her courage to stay put considering the challenges in Internet business?

    Her words: “ I once heard of the story of an engineer who was called to produce a technological work; other engineers who had been called before him said it couldn’t be done, but he came and produced it.”

    How much did you start the business with? “When I was to venture into the business, I had N26,000 on me, savings from paid employment. All I had was little cash, ideas plus the determination and zeal to succeed.I used N10,000 to buy two videos from a guru, used N6,000 to register for a seminar being organised by the same guru and the balance to fix the nuts and bolts required to kick-start my business.”

    She faced many challenges.

    “ The Lord helped me to quickly locate the shoulder of an industry giant on which I can stand on. Newton said: ”If you stand on the shoulders of giant, you would see farther than your peers. And I believe this helps one make the right decisions.”

    Since her products are of excellent quality, to date she has not met with any major challenges in accessing new markets.

    Her words: “Success doesn’t just jump on one, all the gurus going about shouting and churning out “How-I-made N3million in three weeks”; ask them, they studied one material or another and put it to work.

    She studied marketing materials. When she began the business, she was already studying for her MSc in Marketing via Distance Learning in a UK University.

    To make it in any area of life as fast as possible, she noted that one needs a real coach.

    Imiren is happy to see young talents believing in themselves and taking the courage to build up their own businesses from scratch. Described as “Info queen,she has won an award in the information marketing industry, making her a leader in electronic books business.

    It’s self-funded. Looking ahead, she has no desire to go elsewhere for financing – her plan is to keep winning customers and grow the business.

     

  • The road to APC

    The road to APC

    The journey started more than three years ago. Following the 2007 presidential election, which the former President, the late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, acknowledged as flawed, opposition parties returned to the drawing board.

    Many people believed that without a formidable alliance or collaboration, their chance of defeating the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was slim. But the opposition figures ignored the strength in unity to their peril. Thus, to observers, they failed to learn from the lessons of history.

    The lessons of past botched alliances were confounding. Collaborations, alliances and mergers collapsed in earlier dispensations because politicians differed on the sharing of political offices. It was also evident that some of them thought that fusion may rob them of the relevance conferred by their feather-weight parties.

    Ahead of the 2011 polls, the talks between Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), led by Chief Bisi Akande and Congress for Progressive Congress (CPC), led by Maj.-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, broke down, owing to “irreconcilable perceptions”.

    However, the progressives woke up from their slumber last year, spurred into action by the national drift. It was evident that the ship of state, as warned by the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in the Second Republic, was about to hit the rock. The PDP Federal Government, argued Akande, failed the nation. The progressives needed to embark on a collective rescue mission to halt the impending doom, he said.

    The Constitution provided the tonic. It allows the parties wishing to come together to form a bigger platform to do so, in accordance with the laid down rules. Although the conditions for the merger or fusion of political parties are challenging, necessity compelled the leaders of ACN, CPC, ANPP and a section of APGA to take the decisive action.

    Initially, a section of ANPP and CPC was reluctant. They were reassured that the project was in the national interest.

    The merger committee set up by the parties came up with the name, the All Progressives Congress (APC), which was ratified by their leaders. The group started to exist as a political organisation seeking registration as a political party. The committee chaired by Chief Tom Ikimi also drew up its manifestoe, logo, slogan and Constitution. The PDP was jittery.

    After informing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that they wanted to form a party, the three parties dissolved into the APC at a special convention in Lagos. After the exercise, their national chairmen, secretaries and treasurers wrote to the electoral agency. They accompanied the letters with the appropriate fees. It was at that stage that the electoral agency announced that some politicians had approached it for the registration of their political association as a party. The acronym of the strange association clashed with the authentic APC’s. This generated a controversy. INEC later disowned the group.

    A few weeks ago, the proposed party submitted the list of its interim national officers. The claims were subjected to verification by INEC, based on the guidelines for the registration of parties. With its registration yesterday, APC became Nigeria’s second largest party.

  • ‘Don’t panic on Lagos roads’

    The Lagos State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, has said that the administration of Babatunde Fashola is committed to the development of infrastructural facilities in the state.

    Hamzet, who was fielding questions from reporters on why the state is seemingly struggling to get the infrastructural development of the metropolis right, said: “We are not struggling. We have the master-plan that we are implementing, which, of course, can’t be exhausted magically in a calendar year, given the enormous challenges inherited by this administration. The state believes that improved infrastructure is a major pivot on which poverty eradication can rest,” he said.

    Citing the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Isheri-Oshun-Jakande Road, now fully awarded to Hitech Construction Company to complement the bridge works that started some time ago, and the Blue Rail Line project as examples, Hamzat said “the ultimate target of the administration is to develop sufficient infrastructure portfolio across the state for a competitive business environment.”

    On residents’ fears about the deplorable state of most inner roads, especially in the suburbs, the commissioner stated: “Across the state, some roads are federal while some belong to the state. It is important that the major roads are made fully motorable before we fix a good number of the inner roads. But the state government has fixed a lot of the federal roads, thus reducing its financial ability to fix most state roads.”

    He, however, hinted that the state had constructed a lot of major roads, adding, “others are currently under construction across the state. Last year, we started the construction of 156 roads, mostly, inner ones. And importantly, we are being careful with the number of roads being constructed at a time to prevent gridlock.” Continuing, he said: “We use the same approach in the rural areas-to rehabilitate as much as we can, bearing in mind that we can do all in a short while. However, many are resurfaced to bring relief to users. Such include the Isuti and Powerline roads in Ifako Ijaiye, Oke Agbo Street in Ojo Council Area and many others.

    “It is to allow for motorable roads because it will be a traffic nightmare if we shut down all the roads at a time for rehabilitation or construction.”

    On the crippling effects of vehicles that ply the roads daily, especially, oil tankers, heavy-duty and articulated ones, he said: “The load on our roads is very heavy; thus causing faster deterioration. Ninety-three per cent of containers coming into Apapa Port travel through Lagos roads. They are important to the economy of the state, since as a nation, we don’t have a standard rail infrastructure. The state traffic law regulates the movement of these vehicles to certain time of the day for the safety of road users.

    The commissioner further said that it was good to develop satellite towns and it comes with standard and auxiliary roads. But, it is important that we take care of the existing roads. Now, the state is renewing the blighted areas such as Badia, Ajegunle and Sari Iganmu. A typical example is the housing construction at Badia with the accompanying auxiliary infrastructure.”

    When reminded that most of the roads deteriorate easily, he said: “Some of the biggest threats to the roads are willful damage, conversion of roads to mechanic shops and car wash. Hence, the advocacy that we must as a community, take ownership of our roads. Also, we see concrete is an option; hence, we constructed the road leading to Gbagada hospital in Kosefe Local Government Area with concrete.”

    Hamzat revealed that the state’s plan was to build infrastructure that can cater for 40 million people. He further said: “The state has also expanded its capacity for water transportation. Also, the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) is on top of our waste disposal. Lagos State is making good progress on all fronts. As a mega city, there are unique challenges such as transportation, refuse disposal and others. Our approach is to tackle these challenges one after the other.”

    Calling on the Federal Government to carry out its responsibilities in Lagos, he said: “Our prayer is for the Federal Government to take care of its responsibilities by fixing the Airport Road, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Apapa-Oshodi Road and other such infrastructure. Importantly, the Federal Government should allow the states to control these roads, but that must come with the resources that will allow them to carry out this responsibility. In essence, the Federal Government must shed weight and focus on security, immigration , and general aviation policies.

    Drawing a comparison between Lagos and some states in the United States, the commissioner said: “The infrastructural availability in New York is far higher and the federating states in the US are truly independent and can control their destinies. That is not the case in Nigeria. We must practise true federalism. Lagos will continue to build infrastructure that will give us a competitive advantage to be a knowledge-based economy. We are already on the rise; we just need to keep the momentum going. We continue to focus on our developmental strategy of Power, Agriculture, Transportation and Housing.

    “It is important that the two components in the budget, the revenue and expenditure, perform optimally. As a state government, we have focused on the capital expenditure which is why we have been able to achieve the type of infrastructural upliftment we have seen in the state. The revenue and the expenditure components must perform for the state to deliver people’s infrastructural needs. The revenue must be fully enhanced and reliable for us as a state to continue to uplift our society. So, we as people, must pay our taxes to build roads, sustain our hospitals, schools and so many other social amenities for people to enjoy better life.

     

  • Long road to quality service

    Long road to quality service

    It is an agony subscribers go through almost daily. They dial and dial without success. When they eventually get through, they can hardly make clear conversations. The line is full of static, making conversation difficult. This is the kind of service subscribers have been putting up with since the coming of the global system of communication in 2001. LUCAS AJANAKU writes.

     

    George Edet, a 37-year-old petroleum engineer, had a bitter experience recently with his mobile telephone service provider. He had bought a N1000 recharge card. After several futile attempts, he finally succeeded in loading the air time. After scaling that, he was faced with another hurdle, making calls to his family in Akwa Ibom State. “I needed to talk to my mummy in Uyo, concerning final plans for my wedding. My fiancee and I had earlier met with the head, Marriage Counselling Unit of our church the previous day and we had been advised to cut down some of the frivolous items on the list sent by the family of my fiancee. Mummy already had a copy, which she was going to act upon. So, I needed to stop her. But all my efforts were futile. It was either my service provider said: “The number you have dialled is incorrect, check the number and dial again” or it simply said: “The number you have called is not assigned to any customer,” Edet lamented.

    For Richard Adeyeye, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Richbrands Limited, his problem was that he had to contend with incessant drop calls. A resident of New London in Baruwa, a Lagos suburb, each time his phone rings, he is reluctant to pick the call because he is sure that the conversation will snap in less than one minute after picking the call.

    “The quality of service has become so worrisome. Given of the nature of my business, I depend on my mobile phone to get across to my clients. But my experience has been most unpalatable. When a call comes in and I pick it, no sooner had the conversation begun than it snaps. When I also make a call, after the initial ‘hello’ that precedes conversation, the other person stops hearing what I am saying or I stop hearing what he is saying. This has compelled me to have three mobile phones,” Adeyeye lamented.

    In this era of universal licences, which allow operators to also do data services on their networks, it is not only voice calls that are affected by low quality of service, data is also affected as subscribers rarely get the speed and bandwidth promised by the service providers. Most times, the subscriber who has already signed up to either a monthly or weekly data bundle plan hardly enjoys it. Since it is mostly prepaid, whatever happens to the subscriber after payment becomes his/her burden, even when it is due to the operator’s inefficiency.

    These are just some of the pains the 113 million telephone subscribers in Nigeria pass through daily as they try to connect to business associates, family members, friends and even call for help in times of difficulty.

    A former Minister of State for Communications, Ibrahim Dasuki Nakande, aptly captured the feelings of subscribers when he said: “The spate at which the challenge of quality is going is becoming fraudulent. Calls are generated, but not finished and charges are made. We will no longer allow the challenge of the power sector as an excuse.”

    Stakeholders in the telecoms sector, argue that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which is the regulator, the Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON),the Association of Telecoms Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) and the National Association of Telecoms Subscribers (NATCOMS) all agree that the level of services in the sector leaves much to be desired.

    But while the operators, comprising the global system for mobile (GSM) communication operators – Airtel, MTN, Globacom and Etisalat, with their counterpart in the Code Division Multpile Access (CDMA) sector, Starcomms and Visafone, have consistently blamed factors, such as vandalism, theft of generators at mobile phone Base Transmission Stations (BTS), extortion by officials of the three tiers of government, bureaucratic bottleneck in acquring approval to build BTS and the protracted issue of the grant of Right-of-Way (RoW), the regulator and the subscribers have insisted that what is required are the networks of the burdens of promotions and lotteries and massive investment in infrastructure, especially BTS, to make the networks more resilient.

    Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, NCC, said operators would need to invest massively on bakchaul infrastructure. According to him, it is the absence of this that is responsible for the low quality of telecoms services in the country.

    He said the telecoms facilities were grossly inadequate to cope with the increasing demand since the subscribers could make more calls as a result of lower tarriffs.

    “The subscribers demanded that the prices should come down and NCC did not force prices down. I have always said competition will force price to come down.

    “So, having forced down prices, more people are making calls. The demand on the network has been increased. So, people get drop calls in one way or the other because of congestion. It can only be solved by extra investment in the network. It is not an overnight issue. You cannot improve quality of service without investing more in the network. You have to build new base stations. You have to build new transmission facilities to carry calls. You have to also build new switching centres,” he insisted.

    Deolu Ogunbanjo, president, NATCOMS, agreed with the Juwah. According to him, promotions and lotteries designed to acquire more customers unwittingly congest the networks and compromise service quality. He therefore advised the regulator not to rescind its decision banning promos and lotteries on the network since the ban has not even translated to any appreciable stability in service quality.

    Ogunbanjo said operators must keep building network infrastructure. He also wants the NCC to stop issuing new subscriber identity module (SIM) number range, arguing that the SIM number range already in circulation has not been exhausted by the operators.

    Chief Executive Officer, Teledon Group, Emmanuel Ekuwem, also agreed with the infrastructure deficit issue. He said the operators were not ‘ploughing back’ enough of the gains they make in the country to grow the network. “The problem is lack of capacity. The operators should invest in building additional capacity,” Ekuwem, who is also past president, ATCON, suggested.

    The Chief Operating Officer, Phase3 Telecom (a telecom infrastructure firm),Olusola Teniola, said the number of BTS in the country was inadequate to meet the demands of subscribers. He called for investment in providing infrastructure rollout, adding that the Federal Government support was vital to achieve high quality services in the sector.

    ALTON Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo, who argued that the service quality woes were not the fault of the operators agreed no less with the others. According to him, if telecoms companies are to meet the service quality mandates of the regulator, operators will have to deploy additional 50, 000 BTS across the country.

    Nigeria is a huge country in terms of population and total land mass. With a population estimated at 167 million and subscribers’ base standing at 113 million, it is certainly not realistic that about 18 BTS will support the telecoms sector.

    According to the 2011 census, the total population of the United Kingdom (UK) is around 63,182,000 while there were approximately 52,500 mobile phone base station sites in the UK at the end of 2011.

    Adebayo said there were a little over 20,000 BTS sites in Nigeria serving a population of over 150 million people as at the end of year 2011.

    “In comparison, there were approximately 55,000 BTS sites in the UK at the end of 2011 serving a population of just over 60 million people. The latter figure could rise in years to come,” he said.

    Adebayo, whose opinion is fairly representative of that of the operators, lamented that efforts by operators to invest in BTS rollouts to ensure improved service quality is being frustrated by agencies of federal, state and local governments.

    He said one of the factors impeding quick rollout of BTS, which was critical to quality telecoms services, was the delay by the relevant authorities in approving the site building proposals for the operators, thus preventing them from achieving the number of BTS the country needed to guarantee better service.

    “Multiple taxation and regulation by myriad of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal, State and Local Governments increase considerably the lead time to roll out and costs of deploying such infrastructure.

    “Theft, vandalism and sabotage of network equipment, etc impede our capacity to carry out timely equipment upgrades contributing to protracted site deployment timelines,” he said.

    Mrs Omobola Johnson, Communications Technology minister, is not happy about the unending issues with telecoms service quality in the country. She said the Federal Government was working with the relevant agencies to ensure that certain bottlenecks militating against roll out of infrastructure were tackled.

    Corporate Services Executive, MTN, Akinwale Goodluck, confirmed that given the economic situation in the country, building a base station would cost a telecoms firm about $200,000.

    “In the reality, an operator will invest an average of $200,000 and $250,000 to build a base station, depending on the terrain,” he said.

    Etisalat Nigeria CEO, Steven Evans, also confirmed the huge cost of building a BTS.

    “The cost of building base stations from the time you secure the land where you want to install the BTS and the time it goes live is around $250,000,” he said.

    Goodluck, who is also the Vice Chairman, ALTON, said the BTS lost by the operators to the raft of senseless bombings and floodings also took a toll on service quality.While the operators have succeeded in restoring some of the BTS lost to flooding, the same could not be said of those lost to bombings in the Northeast part of the country.

    Airtel CEO, Segun Ogunsanya, corroborates this. According to him, Airtel has restored all the BTS lost to flooding in the Niger Delta while the volatile security situation in parts of the north has made it impossible to deploy engineers to the area for any restoration effort.

    The customer, it is often said, is king. Operators must, therefore, rise up to the occasion and offer seamless, hitch-free telecoms services to the subscribers.

     

  • ‘ Repair our road, bridge ‘

    ‘ Repair our road, bridge ‘

    The Iken-Ogbo Ijebu community and some adjoining towns in Odogbolu Local Government Area of Ogun State, have cried to the state government for help as the only link bridge to the area has collapsed. The bridge gave way under the heavy rains of Monday, July 16, 2012.

    The community said this has nearly paralysed socio-economic activities in the area as pupils in the area find it difficult to attend classes and farmers and women face uphill task transporting farm produce and wares. Iken-Ogbo-Ijebu is the gateway to such towns as Okelamuren-Ogbo, Ibido-Ogbo, Isanya- Ogbo and Ijagun-Ogbo.

    The chairman, Community Development Association (CDA) of Iken-Ogbo, Comrade Gabriel Adenrele Odulaja with the Alawunren of Okelamuren, Oba Lawrence Oguntayo and Baale of the town, High Chief Olalekan Odunfejo were believed to have complained severally to the state commissioner of works.

    Also, the only transformer in the town has stopped working, throwing the area into darkness. The road from Iken-Ogbo to Okelamuren-Ogbo and Ibido Ogbo-Ijebu is equallyin bad shape. Former Governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba started the road project which terminates at Isanya-Ogbo-Ijebu while in office but nothing has been on it since he left office.

    “We are therefore appealing to Governor Amosun to use his good office find solution to these problems. The situation has adversely affected businesses and other activities in the community. During governorship election, we voted massively for the government which we believe will deliver dividends of democracy to our community”,the community said.