The Nation Newspaper

Tag: roads

  • FG reviews concessionaire agreements on roads

    FG reviews concessionaire agreements on roads

    Indications have emerged that concessionaires under the Federal Government’s Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI) will now be required to construct compulsory facilities, including closed-circuit television (CCTV), solar-powered streetlights, rest areas, and other infrastructure designed to enhance travel safety and commuter comfort across all project routes.

    They must also meet several critical conditions before activating their projects which include mutual termination of existing contracts, evidence of financial capacity and readiness, such as proof of funding sources, settlement of outstanding debts owed to current contractors, and demonstrated technical and financial competence, including availability of necessary equipment.

    “The Federal Ministry of Works would not disengage any existing contractor from the site in any of the projects unless the conditions precedent are complied with by concessionaires,” Minister of Works, David Umahi, warned.

    These requirements, however, will not become effective until they are formally approved by principal stakeholders. 

    “The reviewed articles and clauses will be exposed to the principal stakeholders (Heads of relevant MDAs) within seven days for further and final deliberation,” Umahi stated in a statement on Wednesday by his Special Adviser on Media, Uchenna Orji. 

    Concessionaires, he added, are expected to communicate either their acceptance of the revised agreement or identify grey areas for discussion at a follow-up meeting.

    These outcomes followed a two-day meeting in Abuja between the Ministry, key stakeholders, and concessionaires to review the HDMI agreements signed on May 23, 2023. 

    The session, which began Friday, July 18, and ended Monday, July 22, 2025, aimed at adopting a more realistic, transparent, and productive approach to financing road construction and maintenance under Public-Private Partnerships.

    Umahi noted that the review covered the original concession agreements and proposed addendums to strengthen transparency and accountability, and mitigate potential Put-Call Option Agreement and litigation.

    He cited key issues under review, including performance security, change in project scope, toll revision, role of independent engineers, force majeure, and site encumbrance removal.

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    “Contractors were already on some of the project sites before the signing of the concession agreement by concessionaires,” he observed, justifying the need to re-examine and realign the agreements with sector-wide innovations introduced under the current administration.

    He explained that the review was guided by the Renewed Hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and designed to ensure concessionaires comply with international best practices. 

    “The essence of the review sought was to ensure that the concessionaires comply with best practices and the innovations introduced by the Renewed Hope administration,” Umahi said.

    Goronyo urged concessionaires to show full commitment to the laws and regulations guiding the HDMI process.

  • Tanker drivers seek urgent repair of federal roads

    Tanker drivers seek urgent repair of federal roads

    •   Decry exclusion from CNG

    Petroleum Tanker Drivers’ branch of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers has urged Federal Government to speed repair of highways before rainy season.

    This followed approval of N42.4 billion and N740 billion for repair of some of its highways after its Federal Executive Council meetings in June and October.

    In a communiqué by National Chair, Augustine Egbon and National Secretary, Oluchi Chinagorom, it urged agencies to ensure Nigerians get value for public funds.

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    The tanker drivers urged the contractors to fix the roads before rainy season.

    The PTD-NUPENG decried its exclusion from the  Compressed Natural Gas scheme of the administration.

    It appealed to the ministry in charge for the inclusion of its members.

    “We want to also nudge the memory of Nigerians that under the past administration, in 2021, N621.2 bilion was approved for Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for reconstruction of 21 federal roads…

    “Delay could be inimical to the interest of commuters and transporters as it means resorting to desperate measures in the rains…” it said.

  • The road

    The road

    I went to primary school at a time when history was taken very seriously in schools all over Nigeria. This is why I developed an early interest in the subject and that interest has grown over that long period that now separates me from the time of my introduction to the subject which has influenced my overall career tremendously. You may say that there cannot be a connection between history and Pharmaceutical microbiology but, believe me, there is. Besides, I make bold to say that without my knowledge of history, I could not have been able to sustain my forays into the world of opinion writing in the various newspapers that I have been associated with over these many years.

    Basically, history is concerned with telling the story of what people as individuals and as a collective have interacted with each other to create in the past, leading up to the present. In other words, in order to understand the present and plan for the future, you need to understand the past and the roles which certain individuals and events have played in shaping that past.

    One historical figure who captured my imagination in those early days, as long ago as it is, was Marco Polo. Unlike most of the outstanding men mentioned in history, Marco Polo did not fight crucial military battles and did not rule over any empire. The man was just a merchant but not an ordinary merchant. He was a merchant who moved around a great deal and saw the world around him in real time. He was not the first European who went all the way to China and back. His father and uncle were but he was the first to tell the story, or if you like, the history of his journeys to the East over a period of more than twenty years. He spent a great deal of his life on the road, trading, acting as a royal emissary and other things besides these. This is why he is given prominence in this piece about the road.

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    One of the buzz words we now live with is globalisation; a word that we imagine describes our contemporary experience. But when you think of it, it is a word that describes human experience over many centuries. The thread of globalisation started over fifty thousand years ago when mankind began to spread out of Africa to all other parts of the world. Like today, people from distant areas of the world have been interacting with each other over the physical distances that separated them. It is not difficult to imagine that at the centre of this experience is the road, in one form or the other over land, sea, in the air and now over the world wide web which has created a means of instantaneous communication, reaching out to all corners of the world at the touch of a button. This is many worlds away from the experiences recounted by Marco Polo who felt the earth beneath his feet throughout his many journeys which covered fifteen thousand miles (twenty-four thousand kilometres) over a period of more than twenty years. Today, a journey of fifteen thousand miles can be covered in a day or two by air and would be described or even dismissed as unremarkable. That is how far man has come since Marco Polo wore out his shoe leather on the Silk road and it’s many tributaries.

    Even now, with all the journeys undertaken by man on the wings of modern technology, the lure of the road is still able to capture our collective imagination, maybe because just about anything is still liable to occur to anyone out there on the road. Not long ago, a modern day Marco Polo, a fresh faced young lady completed a solo journey by road all the way from England through France, into Morocco, through the desert and down through several West African countries before her triumphant entry into Lagos, Nigeria. Many people, young and old were so fascinated by the sheer weight of her ambition that they followed her virtually every step of her journey. I was not one of such people but in spite of my lukewarm attitude, I still tuned in to the journey from time to time. It was at the end of her journey when I saw the flimsy contraption she called a car in which the epic journey was made that I was bowled over by the size of her ambition and the dazzling quality of her achievement, or what can be described as her audacity. Personally, I would not have dared to put that car on the road, if you can call what we have there a car, from Ilesa to Ibadan, let alone anywhere further down the road. What we now have is a story of her achievement. One can only hope that she would turn that story into history by following up her journey with a written account which would be read any number of years into the future in the way that Marco Polo did so many centuries ago.

    The fabled Silk road along which Marco Polo travelled was a thread that connected China, or Cathay as it was known at the time, to virtually all parts of the known world; South Europe, many parts of Asia, the Middle East and East Africa. The Silk road or route joined vast areas of the world together as it enhanced the movement of men, goods, philosophies, religions and sundry ideas over a wide area. True, the Silk road was not along a straight line and there were parts of it which were less than narrow tracts in the desert but it was a conduit through which merchandise, armies and so many other things passed to and fro. The recognisable parts of the road measured more than five thousand kilometres but it is quite possible that nobody actually succeeded in traversing it from one end to the other. That did not really matter as goods travelled in relays. One group of merchants took their goods as far as they could go before exchanging those goods with merchants coming from the opposite direction who then moved the goods to the next point of exchange until it got to a final destination where it was utilised for whatever purpose it was designed to be used. Conditions along the Silk road were so uncertain in some places that it took a great deal of courage and determination to undertake any journey along it. As with all roads, people of diverse intentions did their business along the road and there were probably as many merchants as rough and ready men whose major preoccupation was to dispossess people of their goods and when necessary, their lives. There were others who needed live captives to sell into slavery so that as can be seen from this, venturing out onto the road could not have been for the faint hearted.

    For about fifteen centuries, trade and ideas moved up and down the Silk road simply because it was fulfilling a recognisable and constructive need for a large number of people. From China, the main article of trade was silk, the sensuous textile which for quite a long time was manufactured only in China. The Chinese had learnt to cultivate silk worms which extruded fine threads which were nevertheless stronger than steel. The threads were then woven into the exquisite silk textiles of which the Egyptians, Greeks and then the Romans could not have enough. For quite a while, the Chinese had a monopoly on silk and could therefore charge very high prices for their silk products. Even when the Europeans cracked the secret of silk manufacture, the quality of Chinese silk was so far ahead that their profits from the trade were hardly dented. Apart from silk, other products of Chinese manufacture were going down the Silk road in all directions. These included fine porcelain wares, dyes, tea and later on gun powder and paper. Going into China from all over the place were horses, camels, dates, wine and even frankincense from the area we now call Somalia.

    The Silk road knitted the old world together mainly for the better but also for ill as along with all those exotic goods, deadly microorganisms were also exchanged as disease spread from place to place, carried unconsciously on the bodies by those intrepid travellers. These organisms were exchanged in the same way that wares were exchanged and then taken a thousand miles to innocent populations far away from the point of primary exchange in a deadly relay. It is said that what later on came to be called the Black death came to Europe along the Silk road. Millions of souls perished in the plague and the demography of Europe was fundamentally reset for ever.

    The Silk road was not purposely built by anyone or group of people. It started out as an idea which grew to include a large area containing many people who over time developed a common interest in long distance economic relationships which turned out to be profitable all round. There was no blueprint drawn up anywhere by any government fiat. It simply developed a life of its own and began to spread in the same way as a cancer because all it could do was spread to fulfil its destiny.

    The Silk road was a template for other roads which existed at the same time but nowhere were roads as effective as those built by Roman engineers all round the massive Roman empire. Roads were of such massive importance to all aspects of Roman rule that without them the Roman empire would have remained a figment of an overactive imagination. Unlike the Silk road, the roads built by the Romans was built through public enterprise and purpose. It was along those roads that Roman authority flowed. Through those roads Rome sent her legions to maintain the Pax Romana, peace maintained by the sharp points of countless spears. Some of those roads, complete with bridges and drainages are not just visible today but are still in use, testament to the quality of the roads that Rome built.

    As with all roads, those Roman roads were multipurpose. First, they were lines of communication along which people, goods, ideas, law and a unity of purpose poured in an endless stream to create a common identity. The notion of unity within the Roman empire was so strong that all those roads were oriented towards Rome, so that all roads in the empire were said to lead to Rome in such a way that all the vanquished enemies were brought in chains to the city and entered it through the Appian way in the wake of their conquerors who entered the city, in triumph and great acclamation of countless multitudes come out to witness the triumph of Roman arms.

    The roads that Rome built survived the fall of the empire through the sheer quality of their construction. Unfortunately, the conquerors of Rome had not come to inherit an empire but to plunder what had been built over a long period of time. They showed the importance of road maintenance. Their neglect of the roads was part of what led to those unproductive years now called the Dark ages, a period of regression during which virtually all traces of civilisation were wiped off the map and anarchy was never far below the surface, a lesson that has not been learnt in many places including Nigeria where roads are regarded as lengthy nuisances which are built reluctantly and abandoned to wrack and ruin within a short while to the far from tender mercies of pot holes and bandits of every description. Kidnappers set their traps along roads which are pitch dark at night and are an obstacle track by day. This is why it is never safe to set out at dawn and the prayer on the lips of travellers is the supplication to diverse gods and divinities that one should not set out at all on those days when the road is hungry for human harvest and thirsty for blood. Forlorn prayers not answered distressingly frequently.

  • Works Ministry ‘fair in distribution of regional roads’

    Works Ministry ‘fair in distribution of regional roads’

    The  Federal Ministry of Works has denied favouring the South over the North in the distribution of roads.

    The ministry stated that it has always been mindful and fair in the distribution of roads  which was the reason behind its diligence, transparency, and fairness in the distribution of the ongoing road and bridge infrastructure interventions nationwide.

    The ministry noted that facts and figures showed that  out of 2,735km of the Legacy Projects initiated by the administration of President Bola Tinubu, the North has a cumulative total of 1,414km. The  South has 1,321km amounting to a percentage ratio of 52:48 respectively.

    It also  stated that  of 82 Sukuk-funded ongoing projects, the North has 45 while the South has 37.

    Of the 260 emergency projects, 98 are being executed in the South, while 108  are in the South.

    Of the 44 roads  executed under the Road Tax Credit Scheme, 23 are domiciled in the North, while South has  21.

    The clarification followed what it described as a misleading and mischievous publication by Muhammad Jamil, also known as Jadda Garko, who, without recourse to facts, figures or records, alleged that the North was neglected in the distribution of the ongoing Renewed Hope Agenda  projects being executed by the Ministry.

    The minister enjoined the public to discountenance the allegations because “It is baseless, unfounded, mendacious and calculated to demean the person of the Minister of Works for the personal gains of the sponsors”

    In a statement  yesterday by Mohammed Ahmed, the Ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, it was emphasized that the Minister of Works, David Umahi, has unprecedentedly stepped up project monitoring and supervision mechanisms on these projects spread across the six geo-political zones.

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    The ministry noted that Nigerians can attest to the fact that every zone has its fair share in the distribution of the ongoing projects funded through budgetary provisions and other funding models such as the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Fund, SUKUK, Tax Credit Scheme in financing the Renewed Hope Legacy Road Projects, inherited ongoing projects and the emergency intervention ones.

    The statement reads in part: “To further illustrate the sense of fairness in the treatment of all parts of Nigeria by the Renewed Hope administration, at the last Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting of 23rd September, 2024, it approved the construction of 258 km 3-lane carriageway using continuously reinforced concrete pavement in Kebbi and Sokoto States – part of the 1,000km Sokoto – Badagry Superhighway, completion of the construction of the Bodo-Bonny Road with bridges across the Opobo Channel in Rivers State, the rescoping and downward review of the contract to rehabilitate the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Dual Carriageway, the construction of Cross River to Oferekpe road and the rehabilitation of Kabba (Kogi State) – Iyamoye-Omuo-Ikole-Ifaki-Ado Ekiti (Ekiti State) road, the repair of the Gamboru Bridge along Gamboru-Ngala-Kala Balde road in Borno State, the repair of the damaged loops and ramps of the Third Mainland Bridge Superstructure, the rehabilitation of Adeniji-Falomo roads, the construction of service lanes for the Lekki Deep Sea Port through Epe to Shagamu-Benin Expressway, the dualisation of Afikpo-Uturu-Okigwe Road in Ebonyi, Abia and Imo states, and the repair of 14 bridges, roads, and flooded sections of Federal Highways nationwide.

  • FHA begins rehabilitation of roads, infrastructure in FESTAC Town

    FHA begins rehabilitation of roads, infrastructure in FESTAC Town

    The management of the Federal Housing Authority has commenced the rehabilitation of roads in Festac Town Lagos, starting from 1st Avenue.

    Inspecting the progress of work on Thursday, August 22, the Managing Director and Chief Executive, Hon Oyetunde Ojo said rehabilitation of the roads will be in phases, and expressed the willingness of the Authority to address the decay in the town.

    According to Ojo, “restoring the glory of Festac Town has gone beyond mere rhetorics, but will now be matched with visible actions.”

    He noted that FESTAC Town is more than just an estate in Nigeria but a national monument. He therefore stated that FHA would do everything it took to restore the lost glory of the town.

    Hon. Ojo, however, called on the residents to work with the Authority to achieve this.

    He called on allottees to cooperate with FHA by paying all their statutory fees, noting that the Authority needs to generate funds from its properties to operate since it is no longer in government appropriation.

    The FHA MD had earlier in a meeting with the FESTAC Town Residents Association (FTRA) solicited their cooperation with FHA to serve them better.

    The MD informed the FTRA members that FHA has no funding/budget/allocation from the Federal Government and that if the Authority is expected to live up to its obligations and functions, it needs money to work. This money he said can only be raised from the properties it has.

    The FHA boss used the opportunity to explain the reasons and management’s intentions behind the ongoing verification exercise in the Authority.

    This he said is to capture the most recent and accurate data of all property owners in the Authority’s database since FHA has digitalised its operations. He reiterated the management’s rejection of the old analog system with the high risk of property information being left in paper/file format. This he noted is susceptible to fire, theft, misplacement, and other negative factors.

    Preventing this and for easy retrieval, he said is the main essence of the verification and digitalisation exercise by the Authority.

    The MD rued the fact that about 4000 residents in Festac are yet to offset the mortgages on their properties that had a 30-year window of payment.

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    Ojo encourages allotees to avail themselves of the opportunity of this nationwide verification exercise to update their records with FHA, noting that of the estimated 23,000 FHA-approved properties in Festac, about 11,000 have done the verification,  representing about 50%.l The MD however, posited that FHA would only recognize the verified properties after the exercise.

    On the ongoing rehabilitation work going on, Ojo said that the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gates will be looked into, starting with the demolition of the old 1st gate and erection of a new modern structure, clearing all illegal structures on that axis, fixing of solar street lights on the stretch of 1st Avenue, from the 1st gate to the junction of 11road, clearing of the median and keeping it clean, and palliative repairs on the inward and outward roads of 1st gate.

    The MD also hinted at the repairs of the 3.2km stretch of 2nd Avenue, which will cost about 7 billion Naira.

    He said FHA will try to influence through the federal government, but that palliative jobs will be done to still keep it in use.

    The FHA Chief Executive warned that he will be visiting 6th Avenue to carry out demolition exercises on properties that have been marked by the Authority, noting that some of the marked buildings are showing visible signs of integrity failure and are on the verge of collapsing.

    He posited that if the owners decide to break them down themselves, they will still have their lands to their names, but if FHA is to demolish the houses, the owners will lose the land title.

  • FG launches ‘Operation Free Our Roads’

    FG launches ‘Operation Free Our Roads’

    • Commences work on Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano highway

    The Federal Government has launched ‘Operation Free Our Roads,’ aimed at accelerating the rehabilitation of roads currently under repair.

     The initiative is expected to ensure that all such roads remain motorable on both sides as the rainy season intensifies.

     In a related development, the Federal Government has fast-tracked the completion of the dualization of the 375.9 km Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Federal Highway.

     As part of this effort, the 38-kilometer section from Point Zero in Zuba, Abuja has been handed over to the Dangote Group of Companies for expedited completion.

     Minister of Works, David Umahi, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Uchenna Orji, said these steps, aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda, and are part of the government’s commitment to revolutionizing road infrastructure for the convenience of Nigerians and the bolstering of the nation’s economy.

     Speaking in Zuba, Abuja yesterday  at the site handover event and the launch of Operation Free Our Roads, Umahi emphasized that the initiative aims to ensure that all federal roads under rehabilitation are made motorable starting from this rainy period.

     He said, “So the first section is 38 kilometers by two, which is 76 kilometers.

     The work is starting today, with palliatives and earthworks, and then they will now start to put reinforced concrete pavement.

     “So we are using this as a point of contact to flag off Free Our Roads all over the country.

     “And so, they will use stone base to put and free all the potholes. In failed portions or where we have potholes, they will all be filled, both carriageways.

     “Then, they will continue to maintain one carriageway for vehicles to follow while they consistently walk on one carriageway”.

     While urging the three contractors handling the different sections of the project to show absolute dedication to its completion, the Minister assured them that there should be no fears regarding the government’s support and commitment.

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     “The Ministry would look at the need for project rate review to cushion the effects of the increase in material costs, given the last review that was done about 9 months ago,” he assured.

    The Minister also warned that strict supervision and adherence to the terms of the contract would not be compromised, saying: “This operation, Free Our Roads, is not only  for the Ministry of Works, but also for FERMA. We’re going to put our eyes, all the directors, and all the Zonal engineers of FERMA must take this thing very seriously.”

    At the section handled by Julius Berger Plc, the Minister commended the contractor for already starting work and doing a good job while reiterating that the Federal Government expects the entire project to be completed and delivered by May 2025.

    He said, “So what we will be discussing with Berger is what we can do to finish this job  within May 29th. This is very important because we don’t want to stay here beyond May 29th, 2025.

    “And so what Berger can not finish, we would also have to take it over and give it to Dangote under Tax Credit and for reinforced concrete pavement.”

  • Fed. Govt seeks synergy with states on roads rehabilitation

    Fed. Govt seeks synergy with states on roads rehabilitation

    The Federal Government has emphasised the need for synergy between it and states in addressing road infrastructure challenges in the country.

    It said such cooperation would lead to quicker delivery of road projects and consequently catalyse  local economic growth.

     Works  Minister Dave Umahi stated this while on a project tour of ongoing federal roads along the Aba axis of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway. Abia State Governor Alex Otti accompanied the minister during the inspection

    Umahi, according to a statement by his Media Adviser, Uchenna Orji,  commended Otti for the harmony between Abia State and the Federal Government, which he noted has resulted in the facelift of major roads  in the state.

      Umahi also hailed   the governor for his ‘’sense of purpose and power of supervision.’’ 

    The minister said: “He(Otti) has, through the help of the President(Bola Ahmed Tinubu), got a lot of improvement in the road infrastructure of the state, especially the  Port Harcourt to Enugu Road.

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    “ We have gone around some of his projects.   With the volume of work, he is doing, with the quality of work he is doing, I can say it’s only God that brought him at a time like this.

    “I say to him, if you had this in the past 12 years, Abia would not have been the same.’’ 

      Otti thanked the  President for the progress of work on the Enugu – Port Harcourt Expressway. 

    He said  the  minister has by his efforts shown that he was determined   to revolutionise road infrastructure development ‘’for the actualisation of  Mr. President’s vision of realising national economic growth and sustainable prosperity.”

    The federal road projects inspected by Umahi include the  Enugu – Lokpanta in  Enugu State,   the   Enugu – Port Harcourt Dual Carriageway, Section II; and the Umuahia Tower – Aba Township Rail/Road Crossing in Abia State.

  • 393 roads fixed in Lagos in half year, says LSPWC

    393 roads fixed in Lagos in half year, says LSPWC

    Assures agency will shift to inner roads after rains

    No fewer than 393 roads scattered across the 20 Local Governments and 37 LCDAs of Lagos State have been fixed in the first half of the year 2024, the General Manager of the Lagos State Public Works Corporation Engr Tokunbo Ajanaku has said.

    Ajanaku, while whop disclosed this yesterday, while speaking on the activities of the agency on road repairs said this is in furtherance to the commitment of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration to ensuring that all roads in Lagos State are motorable all year round.

    He said the Agency deployed various approaches which include the use of Asphalt premix, interlocking paving stones and palliative interventions to palliate the roads for the enjoyment of residents.

    According to the General Manager, the Corporation made frantic efforts to take advantage of the dry days in the first and second quarter of 2024, by deploying its men to all the councils to carry out various forms of maintenance operations on strategic roads with a view to moving into the inner roads in the coming weeks.

    He said, “We were mindful of the prediction that the volume of rainfall in 2024 may surpass the previous year, this was why we stepped up our frequency and spread on Lagos roads in order to put most strategic roads in good condition before the heavy rains.”

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    While reflecting on the half year score card of the Corporation in 2024, the General Manager stated that a total of 393 roads have been worked on across the state at various degree of intervention ranging from total reconstruction to major rehabilitation, routine maintenance, palliative, as well as fixing of inner roads within public facilities.

    While providing the statistics of work done, Engr. Ajanaku stated that “from January to June 2024, 15 roads being totally reconstructed across Local Governments in the state have reached various stages of completion”

    Some of them are Eluku Street, Mosafejo in Agbowa-Ikosi, Epe Local Government area; Igbogbo-Bayeku Road, Ikorodu; Ladoke Akintola Street, Ikeja GRA; Unity/Umunya/Osebaby Streets in Oshodi Local Government; Agunlejika Street, Ijesha, Surulere Local Government; and Akinola Sholanke Street, Oshodi-Isolo Local Government among others.

    Under major rehabilitation, the General Manager said that a total of 69 roads have been completed. Some of them are: Lawson Street, Lagos Island East LCDA; Femi Bamgbelu, Alimosho; Lawal Street, Alimosho; Ora Ekpen, Kosofe; Olohunlogbon, Kosofe; Selesi Street, Bariga LCDA; Fatiregun Street, Lagos Mainland; Aborisade Street, Surulere and Arigbanla Street, Agege.

    Others are: Falilat Ajoke Saliu, Ikorodu; May Flower Road, Ikorodu; Ojora Street, Ajeromi Ifelodun; Idewu Street, Ajeromi Ifelodun; Ebun Oti Street, Ajeromi Ifelodun; Old Lagos Road, Badagry; Adewole Adesanya Street, Epe; Faramodi Ajoke, Kosofe; Oriwu Road, Ikorodu; Okesanya Ramp Down by Sura Shopping Complex, Lagos Island East LCDA and Agege Motor Road by Oshodi Under Bridge, Oshodi.

    Meanwhile, 240 roads across the state were attended to under routine maintenance which typically entails fixing of pot-holes in an attempt to prevent them from degenerating into craters and major road defects while 62 roads were treated with palliative measures, using majorly boulders among other materials.

    During inspection of work progress at the on-going reconstruction of the second Igbogbo-Baiyeku road being undertaken by his agency at the weekend, Ajanaku noted that the Governor Sanwo-Olu is deeply concerned about completion of the project in due course, adding that “The project would have reached a more advanced stage but for the impact of cost-push inflation and the heavy downpour witnessed in 2023.

    While appealing to residents and road users in the area to bear with the Government as steps are being taken to ensure that the work is completed in earnest, he called on Lagosians to take ownership of road infrastructure by collaborating with the Lagos State Government in curbing habits that lead to road damage.

  • Blood-soaked roads

    Blood-soaked roads

    • Auto crashes still claim too many lives

    “And the mother prayed, Child, may you never walk, when the road waits, famished” — that is from Wole Soyinka’s poem, ‘Death in the Dawn’, a 1967 poem that tackled the menace of auto crashes on Nigerian roads.

    The 1986 Nobel Winner for Literature would follow up that poetic concern with physical anti-crash road activism, which would later inspire the setting up of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC). Though great awareness has been achieved on road safety, deaths on our roads are still too many.

    Still, the latest blood bath, ironically pre-dawn on a road in Kano, on July 1, gave a window into these wanton wastes of lives — a window that nonetheless has always been open, but with hardly anyone looking in.

    The crash happened, according to Ibrahim Abdullahi, the Kano State FRSC sector commander, at the Dangwaro International Market, on the outskirts of Kano city. It involved travellers from Maiduguri, Borno State, heading southwards in the country.

    “We received a call at about 03:15 am on July 1, 2024,” Abdullahi told ‘The Punch’. “On receiving the information, we quickly despatched our personnel to the scene of the victims at 03:30 am.”

    An over-speeding IVECO trailer, marked XA 311ZB, laden with cows, humans, motor bikes and sundry goods, smashed into another vehicle. The trailer reportedly somersaulted, throwing off its cargo of cows, humans and materials. When the dust cleared, 25 lay dead!

    Now, over-speeding almost always causes these crashes. But even with over-speeding, avoidable and reckless, would the causality have been that high had the travellers been in a conventional bus, instead of the open back of a trailer?

    Once upon a time, trucks and trailers were clearly marked “Goods only”. How did humans melt into trailers meant for cargo, so much so that that abnormality had become the new normal, at least among poor northern folks criss-crossing the country, and the road regulators — read the FRSC — have not raised the red flag; and clamped down on this virtual travel suicide?

    Aside risky travel modes, how much is night travel regulated? How is long-haul truck-driving regulated, so much so that the drivers do not doze off, as a result of fatigue? What protocols does the FRSC have, ordering the road haulage business?

    If the FRSC is all alive to rush to a road emergency at 03:15 am — for which they must be commended — why do they not invest equal (or even a higher level of) — alertness to prevent such emergencies: by ensuring the drivers and assistants are fresher, even if that means mandatorily breaking up the trip, after a fixed number of driving hours?

    Fatigue leads to another common habit among long-haul drivers: spiking their system with alcohol and sundry drugs just to go the extra mile. In many cases, however, that extra mile results in extra traveller graves, including many of these drivers themselves. Wanton deaths on roads, via needless crashes, can be curtailed if a rigorous standard is enforced to keep enhancing drugs off the motor parks.

    But returning to excessive speed: not long ago, FRSC launched a campaign for commercial motorists to install auto speed limiters. That way, aside from warning alerts at high speed, the limiter decelerates the vehicle, when it reaches the pre-set speed limit. Has the commission abandoned that campaign?

    Beyond bad driving habits, bad roads also cause many accidents. So, the government should continuously focus on improving the state of the highway arteries nationwide.

    Read Also: Residents seek Makinde’s intervention in bad roads

    But strategic thinking on roads incorporates continual investment in rail. The more the rail network transports heavy bulk, dry or wet, the longer the roads are preserved, and the safer and better the driving experience, particularly over the long haul.

    At the end of the day, however, careless habits, which cause tragic human errors, are the key challenge. The same folks that grumble over bad roads often over-speed on smooth roads. The FRSC, therefore, cannot make the point enough: civil road behaviour, which stresses safe driving, is the ultimate check.

    While the FRSC must not be tired of constant advocacy — which it always does, in fairness — it should not hesitate to crack down on road outlaws. The roads are no slaughter slabs, where the wayward sacrifice wanton lives.

  • Residents seek Makinde’s intervention in bad roads

    Residents seek Makinde’s intervention in bad roads

    Residents of Elebu, Oritamerin, Abese, Idi-ahun and African Jerusalem roads in ldo Local Government of Oyo State have sought Governor Seyi Makinde’s intervention over the deplorable state of roads in their area.

    They said the roads have become a nightmare and death trap, adding that they can’t drive on the roads without causing damage to their vehicles.

    Speaking with reporters, a resident, who is also the Spiritual Father of African Jerusalem Christian Ministry, Dr. Gideon Owoseni, said the roads had affected the livelihood of residents.

    Read Also: FG orders 37 contractors to deliver 260 emergency road projects in three months

    He implored the government to intervene.

    Owoseni lamented that the bad roads had led to increase in fares, noting that residents were worried about the safety implications of the bad roads.

    He said despite promises by the government, the roads have remained in a state of disrepair, adding that residents are tired of excuses, they want action.