Six construction companies are jostling for the construction of two major roads in the Ayobo Ipaja Local Council Development Area (LCDA). The roads are Pako-Baruwa and Maigida-Olayemi.
The firms’ bids have been publicly opened at the council secretariat.
They are Consteng Ltd, Lopek Ltd, Mafford Engineering Ltd, Bashcaul Civil Engineering Construction Company, Highskill Ltd and Essence Construction Ltd.
Praising the companies for showing interest in the job, the council’s Executive Secretary, Dele Ayinde, urged them not to sacrifice standard and quality.
Ayinde said the bidders’ documents will be scrutinized in order to pick the most qualified contractor.
“Anybody who gets the job should do a thorough job. Change has come and unlike before, it is no longer business as usual. You observe that some roads that were constructed during the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s regime, they are still there till today, so this is the kind of good roads I want anyone who emerges winner to do for us.
The kind of roads we are expecting are good and solid ones that will allow big lorries to pass through without damaging the road,” he said
The council boss said he would join the supervising departments to monitor the quality of materials used.
“Personally, I told them that we want a good job as directed by the governor, I will do everything possible to ensure that any contractor that wins the job does it diligently,” he said.
The council’s Head of Administration, Adeniyi Otunniyi, emphasised that the contractor should do good roads that can stand the test of time.
“Road construction is an essential part of human life, it brings development and boosts economy; but if it is not well constructed, you are creating problem for the council, the people and Lagos State at large,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the bidders, Mr Femi Adugbe of Consteng Ltd, thanked the council boss for giving them the opportunity to present their bids. He promised that the firm that wins the contract would do a good job.
Meat sellers operating in Kuje Area Council have lamented the deplorable state of abattoir and bad road to pose a threat to meat business in the area.
The Chairman of Kuje Butchers Association, Alh. Isa Musa, in an interview with the News men over the described difficulty faced by abattoir operators to be alarming.
Musa said, “The abattoir is in a terrible condition and it discourages customers from patronizing our meat even with Christmas just by the corner; They rather find alternative.
“The price of beef has dropped as people don’t buy from us because of the terrible state of the abattoir and bad road.
“They prefer buying chickens and cat fish from the poultry farms located along Kuje-Gwagwalada road.
He said the abattoir was built by previous regime of Kuje Area Council under Mr. Jibrin Wowos’ administration and since then has been abandoned.
He therefore appealed to the Area Council authority to fix the road and equip the abattoir with the necessary facilities.
Mallam Aminu Garba, a butcher at the abattoir, described the slaughter room and the medium for transporting meat to Kuje market to be terrible and unhygienic to the public.
He identified lack of water at the abattoir, electricity, bad road from the abattoir to the market to hinder the conveyance of clean meat and farm produce to the market for sells.
Garba Said, “The abattoir had been in existence for a long time and has not been renovated all these while; we don’t get water to wash the meat properly and the slaughter room is bad.
“The road we convey the meat to Kuje market is in a bad shape and very dusty; The meats are covered with dust before we get to the market.
“People prefer to buy chickens at the poultry farms because the meats are not clean.
The butcher also urged the Area Council to build a befitting abattoir and provide basic amenities, to promote the growth of meat business and standard of living in the area.
Of late, passing through the Lagos-Ibadan expressway has become a very excruciating experience. For those who work in Lagos but reside along the axis, journeying daily along the route is akin to sojourning through hell. With recent development along the road, one does not really need any prophet to conclude that hell is not really far from us. The failed portion of the road between Magboro, Arepo and Wawa communities have been subjecting commuters to harrowing and traumatic experiences.
It is quite appalling that commuters and residents along the road have been thrown into unending trauma because of the criminal neglect by concerned authorities. Ordinarily, travelling along these three communities to Lagos shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes. But now, commuters spend distressing hours on same trip. The situation becomes more miserable when one realizes that what is responsible, for the agony being faced on the road, could at best be referred to as a routine issue. What makes commuters waste hours on the road could at best be addressed through creative palliative measures. In saner climes, such could have been routinely taken care of. But then, this is Nigeria and things do happen.
Of course, hell is not only on Lagos-Ibadan expressway. Hell is almost on every federal road in the country. Recently, thanks to Channels Television, one came face to face with the ugly reality of some of the federal roads across the country. One of such roads, the Jebba-Kaduna road, could at best fit for the Stone Age. It was in such a state of total collapse that journeying through it has become a dreadful experience for commuters. Some of the motorists who spoke on their experience on the road revealed that they spend hours on same spot by the bad portions of the road. A tanker driver disclosed that his truck has been submerged in the road for days.
Worst hit are, perhaps, federal roads in the south-eastern part of the country. A recent visit on inspection of the highway by members of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Works to Anambra State, brought to fore the deplorable condition of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. The havoc being done to this road and other such federal roads in the region, especially by erosion, is quite appalling. In Owerri, the Imo State capital, the situation isn’t in anyway different as some of the federal roads have become death traps. Some of the roads include the Owerri-Umuahia road, the Okigwe–Owerri road, the Owerri-Elele road, Owerri-Aba road, Okpala-Igirita Road (Rivers State border) Ulakwo and the Umuohiagu-Obokwe-Alulu road, the Itu-Eziudo Road Ezinihitte and the Umuaka Amaigbo road.
In Kaduna State, the Kaduna-Jos road remains a nightmare for commuters and motorists. Same goes for the Bauchi/Ninigsi-Kano road which has reportedly claimed many lives. The Bauchi-Kano road, a strategic link road between Bauchi and other adjoining states to Kano has also remained largely impassable. In Osun State, condition of federal roads equally remains pitiable. For instance, the deplorable portions of the Gbongan-Ipetumedu-Ile-Ife of the Ibadan-Ilesa road have continued to be horrendous for travellers along the route. Lots of vehicles have been damaged along the road, especially when driven by those who are unaware of the dreadful state of the road. Similarly, in Edo State, federal roads remain largely in pathetic state. Mostly affected are: the Benin–Auchi-Okene-Lokoja road, Benin-Abraka—Obiaruku road and Agbor-Ekpon–Uromi road and the Benin-Auchi-Okene-Lokoja road. Due to years of neglect and criminal abandonment by contractors, these roads have led many to untimely graves.
Without a doubt, the awful state of federal roads across the country comes with dire consequences. For one, it leads to avoidable waste of human resources. No thanks to the disgraceful state of these roads, many of our compatriots have died prematurely in most gory circumstances. Recently, the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC disclosed that Nigeria loses three per cent of her GDP which translated to 17 per cent of current national reserves through road traffic crashes. No nation that is desirous of economic development and growth will handle with levity a situation where its vibrant work force and other citizens are wantonly wasted through otherwise avoidable occurrences.
Presently, our nation faces dire economic reality as a result of dwindling global price of crude oil which is the mainstay of our national economy. There have been talks on the need to diversify the economy by focusing on other sectors such as agriculture, small scale enterprises, and extractive industry among others. With the dearth of a well crafted intermodal transportation mode in the country, the road remains our major and most pragmatic means of transportation. With the sorry state of vital roads across the country, our desire for the diversification of the economy might be nothing but a mere hallucination.
To put the Nigerian economy on the lane to speedy recovery and growth, the Federal Government would have to immediately commit itself to a result-driven programme that would make federal roads passable and investors’ friendly. There must be a time-frame known and acceptable to Nigerians for the rehabilitation of these roads. While the Federal Government is fine-tuning efforts to redevelop and modernize the roads, one would like to implore the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, FERMA, to as a matter of necessity, mobilise its men and resources to address the failed portions of the roads in order to avert imminent disaster, reduce travelling time as well as lessen every trouble associated with travelling on the roads.
In order to preserve life as well as put the Nigerian economy on the lane to speedy recovery and growth, authorities concerned would have to wake up and be alive to their responsibilities. This is the time to put an end to the pains and stress being experienced by commuters on some of the roads. It is enough that Nigerians are facing all sorts of economic and social issues. It is enough that there is little or no social security for our compatriots. It is enough that the commonwealth has, for long, been cornered by a few. Over the years, Nigerians have learned to live with all manners of anomalies. But then, will they be asking for too much if they demand that federal roads be fixed by government?
But then, to ensure that the government is alive to its responsibilities, all stakeholders must not relent in bringing attention to the outrageous state of public infrastructure in the country. Democracy can only thrive when the citizenry ensure that government is accountable to the people. The civil society, the media, religious bodies, traditional institutions and other key stakeholders in the polity must keep asking questions of the government. It will be suicidal for the people to go to sleep after electing a government. It is now that the government has been inaugurated that the real work begins. Democracy is endangered when the people tolerate and live with all manners of impunity. This is the time for everyone to rise and demand that the federal government bring back our roads!
Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja
Residents of Bariga Local Council Development Area (LCDA) have been assured of speedy completion of roads to be constructed in the council.
At a stakeholders’ meeting with community leaders in the council hall, Bariga, representatives of the French Agency Development (AFD), the agency handling the project in conjunction with the Lagos State Government apologised for the delay.
According to Bariga LCDA Executive Secretary Kolade Alabi, the meeting was meant to appraise the state of projects and chart a way forward.
“Our meeting with the AFD representatives and the state government was to review the state of projects that has long been expected. That is why we invited leaders of the Community Development Associations (CDAs), traditional leaders and marketers to have firsthand information about the projects. We expect our people to go home and enlighten the residents that government is doing all it could to make life easier for them by reducing the stress the bad roads are espousing them to daily,” he said.
He said the AFD representatives told the gathering that some logistic issues still need to be thrashed out before moving to site.
“They should commence work on the roads by first quarter of next year,” he said. The agency projects in the council include the reconstruction of roads in Awofodu/Onajimi/Ajiun streets, Kusa Street, Ilaje, Adewunmi Ayinke, Ososa Avenue/Ososa Crescent.
“Also reconstruction of Ladilak Primary School, Ashogbon Primary Health Centre (PHC), construction of Ilaje PHC, construction of pedestrian bridge in Arobade, Streets lightening amongst others.
On completion, Alabi said the facility would improve the living conditions of the residents.
Woeful Southeast roads have inspired an urgent message to the Federal Government from an organisation known as Southeast Assembly Forum in Anambra State.
The forum made up of people who contested legislative positions in the last election sent a Save Our Soul (SOS) message to President Muhammadu Buhari on bad federal roads in the zone.
•A section of Port Harcourt Road, Aba
The organisation in Awka listed the roads, some of which are: Oba-Arondiuzogu-Okigwe Road, Onitsha-Enugu Expressway and Aba-Port-Harcourt Expressway, among others.
The meeting was attended by representatives of Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo states.
The group said that if those roads were fixed by the president, they would boost economic activities in the zone, ease transportation of commodities and equally reduce road mishaps.
The group hailed the president on the anti-corruption fight, assuring him of their support in ridding the country of sleaze.
Furthermore, they described the appointments of ministers by the president as demonstrating equity and statesmanship, adding that the names from the Southeast were indeed the best.
Some of the people who attended the meeting in Awka were Comrade James Chikwendu (Chairman), Ifeanyi Justin Okeke (Secretary General), Hon Bright Benson (PRO), Hon Frank Ndibe (Organising Secretary).
Others were Hon Ifeyinwa Kalu (Abia Secretary), Chief Uche Anakor (Anambra Coordinator) and Hon John Agha (Enugu Coordinator), Dr Ejike Ogoegbunam, among others.
They appealed to President Buhari to urgently come to the assistance of the region in rehabilitation of federal roads there.
“These roads,” they said, “have become impassable for many years as a result of lack of maintenance from past administrations, and many lives have been lost on the roads.”
Nearly all federal government roads in Kwara State are in disrepair. Motorists and commuters have a hard time on them.
Some of the roads urgently calling for attention include Ajase-Ipo-Offa-Erin-Ile, Olooru-Bode-Saadu-Jebba along Lagos-Kaduna high way, Ilorin-Kabba and Kishi-Kaiama all in Irepodun, Offa, Oyun, Moro and Kaiama local government areas of the state.
Touched by this unsavoury development, groups under the aegis od Offa Descendants Union (ODU) recently lamented the dilapidated status of the Ajase-Ipo-Offa-Erin-Ile road.
The road connects Kwara state with Osun state in the South west.
Secretary General of ODU, Mrs. Wosilate Mccarthy during the 80th anniversary of ODU recently to urge the federal government to release fund for the rehabilitation of the six kilometre road to ameliorate suffering of the vehicle owners plying the road.
The ODU chieftain, who said that the people were concerned about the present condition of road, added that business owners had suffered loss resulting from damage and destruction of their goods and vehicles, especially during raining season.
The organisation, which commended efforts of the state government at rehabilitating the road in the past, said that several letters of appeal had been written to the concerned authorities over the nagging problem.
As if that is not enough, two sons of Offa community who are members of the Kwara state House of Assembly, Prince Saheed Popoola and Alhaji Hassan Oyeleke (plaintiffs) have dragged the federal government and the firm handling the rehabilitation of the road to court for abandonment.
The name of the company is Preconsmith Construction Limited.
In their writ of summons filed by their counsel, John W. Irogu averred that the abandonment of the road by the contractor after the collection of substantial part of the contract sum is wrong.
The plaintiffs have sought for the following reliefs: “A declaration that the said intentional abandonment of the said road has caused the people of the state including the plaintiffs undue hardship since the road has become practically impassable and a declaration that the federal government has failed to use the power of his office to compel the contractor (2nd defendant) to execute the contract upon which a huge sum of money had been received a long time ago or to bring the contractor to book for such failure.
The lawmakers had also sought for “an order declaring the abandonment of the road by the contractor as illegal and wrongful and an order compelling the construction firm to return to site to complete the road project.
“In the alternative an order compelling the federal government to use its power to either compel the contractor to execute the contract or bring the company to book for its failure to so execute.”
Leaders of Bode Saadu community in Moro local government area state have also expressed serious concern over the deplorable condition of Bode Saadu-Jebba road.
District head of Lanwa community, Alhaji Saad Gambari, said that the road which is the only major road that links northern states of Nigeria with South west, had gone intolerably bad.
Alhaji Gambari said that many lives are being lost on daily due to poor state of the road, adding that criminal activities were rampant.
•Bad portion of Bode-Saadu-Jebba road
The road traverses communities of Bode Saadu, Iyana Oloko, Ayekale, Sabo-n-gida, Araro, Lakanla, Kanbi, and Jebba.
The community leader also appealed to federal government authorities to fix the deplorable road in order to make life bearable for them.
He said that “the situation of the road is terrible and government has not showed concern to the road despite our frequent request and plea to the federal government. The road is causing a lot of problem to the communities involved like frequent armed robberies. Asthmatic patients that live by the side of the road are also affected by the dust especially during the dry season.
A number of people have lost their lives as a result of these developments. We are using this period to call on the federal government to come to our rescue as a matter of urgency.”
The president of Jebba Descendants Union, Alhaji Yusuf Abdulkareem agreed that Jebba-Bode Saadu road is a federal government road, urged the state government to intervene and give palliative measures that could help the condition of the road.
Alhaji Abdulkareem said the condition of the road deteriorated three years ago, adding that “a construction firm brought total to the road last year to work on it and to our surprise they could not do anything on the road and they disappeared with their equipment immediately after the general election.”
The representative of the communities in the state’s House of Assembly, Mathew Okedara,representing Lanwa, Ejidongari constituency, said that he bought grader to grade the road when the condition was becoming unbearable, adding that he had informed Federal Emergency Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) both in Ilorin and Abuja office without any response yet.
Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, at the weekend affirmed that the worst problem bogging down people of the south East zone is the area’s dilapidated road networks.
Speaking while fielding questions from journalists in Enugu, where he attended
a function at the Cathedral Church of the Good Shepherd, Anglican
Communion, Professor Osibajo said the situation is clear to the federal government.
He noted that despite government financial constraint at the moment, there is a need to make improvements on roads in the South East where commerce thrives and people move about a lot to earn their living.
The Vice President disclosed that he had discussed the issue of the roads with Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, adding that the issue was not unknown to the federal government.
” Not just only one problem that the people of the South East have in terms of roads, you know what our financial constraints are, there is a need for improvement on roads where there is a lot of commerce and movement of people.”
Prof Osinbajo noted that there is need to raise the value of naira by discouraging importation of some items.
In a homily at the church, where the Vice President attended a wedding ceremony, Arch. Bishop of the Enugu Ecclesiastical Province, Anglican Communion, His Grace, Emmanuel Olisa Chukwuma had appealed to the Federal Government to create employment for the teaming unemployed youths in the country who are wallowing in poverty.
He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for fighting corruption in the country.
The Ogun State government has completed the rehabilitation of two federal roads within its domain in a bid to alleviate the problems faced by motorists and other road users. The roads are Owode- Ijako, in Ifo Local Government Area of the State and Sagamu- Ogijo road, Sagamu Local Government Area.
The Permanent Secretary, Ogun State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Kayode Ademolake, in a statement by the agency’s spokesman Mr. Ayokunle Ewuoso, said the state government took the initiative to rehabilitate the roads because in recent times, the heavy down pour has almost cut off these roads including the Lagos- Abeokuta old road due to erosion.
“The Lagos-Abeokuta old road was badly damaged before we moved in to safe the situation about 500 metres of it was impassable; same thing happened to Ogijo-Sagamu road where about three locations were cut off by erosion,” the statement read.
The House of Representatives on Thursday, urged the Federal Government to rehabilitate two dilapidated roads in Ondo State to curb incessant accidents and loss of lives.
This was sequel to a motion by Rep. Babatunde Kolawole (Ondo-APC), who said that Owo-Iyere-Ipele-Ago, Alao-Owoani-Idoani-Ifira-Sosan-Isua road and Owo-Oba- Ajegunle-Akungba-Iwaro-Oke-Oka-Okhia-Epinmi-Isua road were in deplorable states.
He said the roads were arterial and important to the socio-economic development of the state and its environs.
Kolawale said that the roads also linked the western part of the country to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
According to him, the roads have deteriorated in the past 20 years as a result of abandonment, thus leading to accidents that have claimed several lives.
Adopting the motion unanimously, the house urged the Federal Ministry of Works to include a proposal for the construction of the roads in the 2016 budget estimates.
It also urged the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to, in the interim rehabilitate the Owo-Iyere-Ipele-Ago, Alao-Owoani-Idoani-Ifira-Sosan-Isua road to facilitate easy movement.
The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Ajibade Bade-Adebowale, has promised residents that they will soon begin to feel the impact of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration. He said government has concluded plans to empower local government areas and local council development areas to enable them to deliver at least 20 roads each.
He said such plan will not only improve the road network but will also impact on the local economy of each area.
Bade-Adebowale, who spoke in Lagos, reiterated that different roads across the state have been completed since Governor Ambode assumed office.
He noted that the hope of completing the Lot 1 of Lagos-Badagry Expressway has increased with the return to site of the main contractor, Messrs Julius Berger Nigeria Plc that is handling major component of the 10-lane highway and light rail project being undertaken by the government.
According to him, members of staff of Julius Berger Nig Plc were seen cleaning up the road at Alaba-Suru prior to asphalting. They, he said, were also surveying the outstanding portion between the Mile 2 and Mazamaza before the commencement of final construction work.
Explaining the return of the contractor to site, Bade-Adebowale said it was prelude to delivering on all the various projects being undertaken by the ministry.
The Permanent Secretary added that the contractor handling the multi-agency building at Alausa has also resumed work and is currently fleshing-up the structure.
He assured that, in spite of the need to increase the pace of work on ongoing projects, adequate attention was being given to source of funding as well.
He said a new contractor will soon be appointed for the Ayinke House project. The building is being upgraded to a specialist paediatric hospital, after the former contract must have been terminated due to inability of the contractor to deliver the project on time.
Bade-Adebowale urged other contractors to return to their project sites as soon as possible in order to increase the tempo of work. He said the government is addressing all issues relating to ongoing projects with a view to ensuring that they are delivered as scheduled.
He reeled off some of the completed roads during the short period of Ambode’s administration to include Oluwadare Street in Somolu and Adekunle Kuye Street in Surulere local government areas where comprehensive rehabilitation and upgrade were undertaken.
Others, he said are Babatunde Bakare Street, Kila Street, Ilara Palace Road, Oligbe, Shrine, Mosque and back of Palace Roads in Epe; Eluku Road, Olakeshin Okeogun Street, Ikorodu; Oriokuta Road Owutu, Bayo Oyelana Street, Adegun/Kike, Adeyemi Roads, Ejigbo in Oshodi-Isolo council area and Ajara-Erekiti, Irangan-Ikoga, Mowo-Ikoga roads, all in Badagry.
