The Nation Newspaper

Tag: roads

  • Council rehabilitates 10 roads

    Mosan-Okunola Local Council Development Area (LCDA) has rehabilitated no fewer than 10 roads within 10 weeks.

    The roads include 4th avenue, Rufus Banjo, Modupe, Abiara, Ajijola Annobi, Abosede Aro, Foursquare, Opeki Streets. Others are Awori by Balogun Ladega and Macus link to Ojurogbe.

    The council’s Executive Secretary, Princess Opeyemi Akindele, said the gesture was in line with the mandate given to them by Lagos State Governor, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, during the swear-in of the 57 Executive Secretaries to the Local Governments and LCDAs.

    Akindele promised not to rest on her oars to ensure more deliverables to the community.

    She appealed to residents of the areas the council has not grade their roads to bear with her administration, promising to look into their plight soon.

    The council boss enjoined the community leaders to ensure proper maintenance of the projects.

    According to her, if the roads are not well maintained, it could amount to wasting of tax payers’ fund used for their rehabilitation.

  • Ambode promises to fix 5,000 roads

    Ambode promises to fix 5,000 roads

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, has promised to build 5,000 roads in four years, if elected.

    He said all inner roads in the local governments will be reactivated.

    Ambode, who spoke at a Town Hall meeting at Eagle Club, Surulere, said  his government will complement efforts of the local governments by ensuring that a minimum of 20 roads with street lights are built by each local government every year.

    He said: “In four years, 5,000 roads would have been built. I want to light up Lagos to ensure security of life and property. When every street is lit, people can move from one end to the other with ease.

    “APC will make Lagos safer, cleaner and more prosperous. Our mission is that nobody in Lagos is discriminated against, irrespective of tribe or religion.

    “Asiwaju Bola Tinubu laid a solid foundation for the development of Lagos.

    “Governor Babatunde Fashola  came to actualise the dream. I am ready to propel Lagos to another level.

    “I am prepared to do that with the support of members of our great party.”

    He reiterated his promise to ease traffic on Lagos roads when he said “with Gen Muhammadu Buhari at the centre, the problem of petroleum tankers on Apapa road will end”.

    The APC candidate said the Federal Government owes Lagos N51 billion spent on the maintenance of federal roads.

    He said his administration will continue with the policies of Fashola by repairing federal roads.

    “We will not wait for the Federal Government to repair its bad roads because it is the people of Lagos who ply such roads.”

    He promised to commit N25 billion towards providing loans for traders and provide conducive environment for business to thrive.

    “We will ensure markets are clean; there will be no indiscriminate closure of markets. We will open line of communication with market leaders on issues affecting them.”

    In his welcome address, the chairman planning committee, Yomi Odunlami, noted that Ambode is the right choice for Lagos.

    According to him, Ambode’s experience  will help in moving Lagos forward.

    The hall was filled with APC supporters and Eagle Club members.

    The Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila and Chairman, Eagle Club,  Yomi Pearse, were present.

  • PRESIDENT JONATHAN Fix these federal roads

    THIS is to appeal to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to do something urgently about the federal roads which are in bad shape.

    I am not talking about a particular state. I am referring to all the states in the country. There is no state without a bad federal road.

    People die daily on these roads as a result of potholes, craters and other horrible features on them.

    To prevent untimely deaths, occurring everyday, something must be done urgently. This is not a matter to be politicized. It is the right of Nigerians that must be protected.

    As the president goes around the country, campaigning for re-election, he will be seeing the roads, if he travels by road. But I do not think he can see anything because he does his travelling by air.

    The bad conditions of these roads should be the concern of our president. He should go into action on them in the interest of all Nigerians.

     

    Akin Alabi Moses,

    Minna,

    Niger State.

  • Obama plans tax on US firms overseas to fix roads

    UNITED States President Barack Obama plans to close a tax loophole that allows US firms to avoid paying taxes on overseas profits, the White House says.

    His 2016 budget would impose a one-off 14per cent tax on US profits stashed overseas, as well as a 19per cent tax on any future profits as they are earned.

    The $238billion (£158billion) raised would be used to fund road projects in the US.

    But analysts say it is unlikely the Republican-controlled Congress will approve the proposals.

    Mr Obama told broadcaster NBC that despite several years of economic improvement, wages and incomes for middle class families were “just now ticking up”.

    “They haven’t been keeping pace over the last 30 years compared to, you know, corporate profits and what’s happening to folks in the very top,” he said.

    Printed copies of U.S. President Barack Obama’s proposed 2016 budget that will be handed out on Capitol Hill in Washington, 2 February 2015.

    Research firm Audit Analytics calculated last April that US firms in total had $2.1trillion-worth of profits stashed abroad.

    It found US conglomerate General Electric had the most profit stored overseas at $110billion. Tech giants Microsoft and Apple and drugs companies Pfizer and Merck all featured in the top five.

    No tax is currently due on foreign profits as long as they are not brought into the US.

    As a result some companies put their earnings in low tax jurisdictions and simply leave them there.

    The White House said its plans for an immediate 14per cent tax would raise $238billion, which would be used to fund a wider $478billion public works programme of road, bridge and public transport upgrades.

    “This transition tax would mean that companies have to pay US tax right now on the $2trillion they already have overseas, rather than being able to delay paying any US tax indefinitely,” a White House official said.

    The official said that after this one-off tax, the 19per cent permanent tax firms would have to pay on overseas profits “would level the playing field, and encourage firms to create jobs here at home.”

    Customers queue to wait for the opening of a new Apple Store in Chongqing municipality 31 January 2015 Apple would be among the American firms most affected by the tax rise

    The tax rate is far lower than the current US top corporate tax rate of 35per cent.

     

    Also expected in Mr Obama’s budget proposal is a tax cut on earned incomes, including tax credits for child care and “second earners”.

    Mr Obama will also seek to ease restrictions on military and domestic spending in place since a budget deal in 2011.

    Republicans in Congress have largely rejected many of Mr Obama’s proposals for increased domestic spending and tax rises on corporations but support increased military spending.Representative Paul Ryan, the Republican’s top budget official, accused Mr Obama of exploiting “envy economics” in his proposal.

    “This top down redistribution doesn’t work,” Mr Ryan told NBC.

  • ‘We want good roads’

    Residents of Dukwal Community in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) have called on the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to support the community by building accessible roads to enable residents move their farm produce to the markets easily.

    The village head of the community, Mallam Dauda Sam made this call when he received a delegation of women media professionals under the auspices of Nigerian Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ) and the Medical Women Association of Nigeria (MWAN), during the Strengthening Women’s Empowerment to Deepen Girl Child Education (SWEDGE) project organized by the Society For Community Development (SCD) in collaboration with Action Aide Nigeria in Abuja, yesterday.

    Sam who lamented the absence of access roads in the community for residents, who are predominantly farmers to transport their produce to markets around the area, said it has made life difficult for the people.

    He also revealed that members of his community were yet to benefit from the federal government’s fertilizer scheme and seed distribution plan since its inception, after collecting and filling the forms for the 2013/2014 farming season.

    He said, “We have never benefited from the federal government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) or the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES), even though we are a farming community with a population of almost one million inhabitants.

    “The greatest challenge of the community is the poor road infrastructure which does not allow farmers easy access to markets after harvest, lack of a secondary school which denies the children better education and the lack of power supply to pump the only working borehole in the community provided by AMAC.”

    Also speaking, a member of the MWAN, Dr Chioma Iheanacho, said the service was for the community to see the essence of educating the girl child while also offering their services as women professionals.

    “As a woman medical doctor, when they see me rendering this service, they know their children can also be educated to better their lives and that of their communities,” she pointed out.

  • Lagos council tackles traffic congestion, rehabilitates feeder roads

    Lagos council tackles traffic congestion, rehabilitates feeder roads

    To reduce the incessant traffic congestion on the Abule Egba axis of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, the Agbado/Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State has embarked on the rehabilitation of some feeder roads in the council area.

    The initiative, according to the Council Manager of Agbado/Oke-Odo LCDA, Mrs Mayowa Ikuforiji, became imperative following the hassles which traffic gridlock on the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway had caused in recent time.

    “As a responsible council development area, we have decided to alleviate the plight of motorists and commuters who have been subjected to long hours of delay in traffic on the ever busy Abule Egba axis of the Lagos-Abeokuta Highway, hence, we are rehabilitating feeder roads in the council area.

    “After the rehabilitation of Samuel Ajakaiye road, we shall move to other feeder roads, including Idowu Adeniji road, in order to reduce traffic gridlock to its barest minimum. We will ensure that we deploy part of our limited resources toward actualising this initiative which will no doubt go a long way to alleviate the suffering encountered daily on the highway.”

    A cross section of residents, who spoke with our correspondent, hailed the step taken by the council manager and her team for giving road rehabilitation premium attention since she took charge of the council administration.

  • Abia repairs roads

    Repair work has started on failed portions of Aba roads, much to the relief of residents of Abia State’s commercial city. The roads have been a sore point but the state government has mobilised Grand Star Limited, a construction firm, to fix them.

    Our reporter, who went round the city, observed that work had already begun.

    At Ngwa Road opposite Eze Emejiaka’s palace, the construction firm and its staff were seen working on the failed portions of the road. The Nation gathered that the roads would be asphalted on completion.

    Some road users and commercial motorcycle operators, who spoke to our reporter, expressed happiness over the repair, but said they were also concerned about the quality.

    A tricycle operator who gave his name as Chuks Okekeke and another resident simply identified as Clinton, said that the failed portions were always fixed over the years but collapsed between three and six months after.

    They attributed the frequent collapse of the same portion to the use of substandard materials. They  also urged the supervisory and monitoring authorities to ensure that contractors work strictly according to specifications.

    They equally called on the state government to ensure that contractors build to specification or revoke their contract if they are in breach of contractual terms.

    “The governor might award this contract relying on the promise made by the contractors that they were going to build to specification but when they come to the field, they will do another thing. The appropriate ministry should make sure that they supervise these contractors frequently to ensure that they do the work as it is on paper and not just sitting in their offices. The governor cannot award a contract and come to supervise it. That is why the ministries were created to check the excesses of contractors.

    “I want to tell you that why some of the roads built don’t last is because the contractors do not use quality materials to do the job. They should also know that it is their image that is at stake and therefore should avoid anything that will tarnish their image or the image of their companies,” Clinton said.

    Mr Okezie Uche of Grand Star Limited who is in charge of Ngwa Road rehabilitation, in an interview, said, “We have been waiting for the rain to stop and now that the rain has stopped, the Executive Governor of Abia State, Theodore Ahamefule Orji asked us to come and remedy the failed portions on Ngwa Road; that is why we are here.

    “Before now, you will find out that the road was impassable. We had waited for the rain to subside; now the rain has gone and we’ve moved in. Give and take, here will be asphalted in the next two weeks. Apart from Ngwa Road, we are working currently on Aba-Ikot Ekpene Road from Opobo Junction and there a few other places.

    ”The governor has equally asked us to move into Port Harcourt Road as soon as we are through with the job here. Before now, you found out that this road was impassable. The people are happy that we are on site. They should expect a good job from us, so that the road will last and they will enjoy the dividends of work. The job is top quality. My advice for them is that they should avoid throwing refuse into the drainage. The way and manner people dump refuse in the gutters doesn’t help the road. If they can form the habit of dumping their refuse appropriately, the road will last. What spoils the road is the inability of water to flow freely from the drainage. When refuse is used to fill the gutter and water comes to the road, the road will damage no matter the quality of materials you used to do it. Once there is water on the road, it won’t last.”

     

  • ‘Let’s eradicate crashes on our roads’

    The Corps Commander/Chief Executive Officer, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), Mr Ayo Sangofadeji, has urged Nigerians to join hands in ending the frequent crashes on our roads.

    He spoke while delivering a lecture on safety at the Engineering Search and Disposal Regiment, Sappers Barracks, Ilese-Ijebu, Ogun State.

    He said crashes on our road could be minimised if commercial transport unions, companies and individuals co-operate with the traffic management agencies to embark on regular safety training/workshop for their drivers.

    He said, TRACE is one of the traffic management services in Ogun State to solve the envisaged transport problems, checkmating and controlling traffic and to effectively manage the heavy traffic flow.

    He said: “Accident is an unexpected, unpleasant or undesirable occurrence involving automobiles, which in any manner, must involve vehicles, human beings or other properties. Noting that accidents do just happen without any cause, he said accidents are categorised in three categories namely minor, serious and fatal.

    “Minor accidents, he said, involved neither life nor injury, but vehicles or property may be damaged. Serious accidents, he revealed, do not involve loss of life but internal or external bodily harm. And in fatal accidents, there may be no scratch on the vehicle(s), yet life is lost,” he said.

    He urged motorists to always consider these three factors that cause accident, human/institutional factor (driver), mechanical (vehicle) and environmental (road or weather) to ensure the safety of lives on the roads.

    Other factors he highlighted that cause car crashes were poor driving culture, illiteracy, poor eye-sight, drunk driving, over-speeding, psychological, reliance on metaphysical powers, temperament and road rage, over confidence and economic factors, even as he said they also contribute immensely in car crashes.

    Sangofadeji also appeal to motorists to always follow the due process of buying tyres, insisting that manufacturing and expiry dates should be considered.

    He said tyres are made of chemicals whose components breakdown after a fixed period, either used or not.  Noting that date of manufacture is stamped on one side of the tyre and indicated by four digit numbers.

    Sangofadeji advised motorists to shun dangerous overtaking where there is mountains or valleys, sharp corners and mining areas.

    The Zone II Commanding Officer, Mr Kunle Ajibade, appealed to all road users to maintain discipline on the road as Christmas is approaching.

    He urged them to embark on defensive driving and shun hazard parking, overspeeding, drunk driving and highway trading to ensure crashes are eradicate on our roads.

  • Ekiti estate to get new roads

    Ekiti estate to get new roads

    Residents of State Housing Estate in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, will in a couple of weeks begin to enjoy asphalted motorable roads.

    Governor Kayode Fayemi has affirmed that the estate internal roads would be ready for use by October.

    The governor spoke during an inspection of some ongoing projects, including the Oba Adejugbe General Hospital and road projects, at the weekend.

    He gave an assurance that most of the projects embarked upon by his administration, including the legacy projects would be commissioned for use before the end of his tenure.

    Assuring that the internal road network in the Oke Ila Housing Estate would be delivered by next month, Fayemi said the roads were neither provided for the estate during construction nor did previous administrations consider it a priority.

    He said the need to give the people living in the estate a new lease of life informed the decision of his administration to effect the construction of the road alongside current road projects..

    “The state housing estate road ordinarily ought to have been delivered as part of the services. When you want to start a new housing estate, it is always better for government or the developer to deliver on the roads the way we have done with the Eyi Yato Housing Estate by giving support to the developers in terms of infrastructure development within the estate.

    “That’s not what happened in the case of Oke Ila Housing Estate which has been there for the better part of the existence of Ekiti State,” he said.

  • Roads: Getting it right in Ogun

    SIR: The provision of a good road network, especially in a city like Abeokuta, is certainly in the interest of its residents. Beside its necessity for easy access and communication across the city, it harbours a lot of economic benefits. Contrary to the thinking in some quarters that the road re-construction and expansion in the state is a total failure and wasting of money, I make bold to say that the re-construction and expansion of roads in the state under the administration of Senator Ibikunle Amosun, remains the most successful and uncommon programme ever run by the state government since the creation of the state in 1976.Anybody who says that the funds meant for the road re-construction in the state have not been judiciously applied may have deliberately blindfolded himself such that he cannot see the progress being made by the Senator Ibikunle Amosun-led administration.

    Ogun State since its creation has structures and infrastructure that even dates back beyond its creation in 1976 courtesy of the Obafemi Awolowo government in then Western Region. Successive government in their own way had ensured that certain social amenities like road, water, healthcare, education etc are in place in one form or another in most part of the State. So Amosun certainly has structures to re-build in virtually all sectors of the society.

    It must be pointed out however that in the provision of new infrastructure and amenities, the people has to be carried along to minimize the negative impact of unintended consequences. One is talking about sensitization and mobilization. A 6-lane road, flyover and foot bridges are certainly novel thing for many motorists and pedestrians alike. Enlightenment is needed for the people to appreciate that these facilities requires new attitudes and modification of behaviour.

    Apparently, the people were not prepared for the unintended consequence of the “re-building” agenda of Amosun.  This understandably have fuelled emotional out-burst even from persons who ordinarily should be enlightened enough to appreciate that birth pains are not death throes in this rebuilding strategy.

    In all one must accept the need to re-build in Ogun state with all its unintended consequences.  Let the government do more within its resources and forget about opprobrium from some quarters on its priorities.

     

    • Ademola Orunbon,

     Abeokuta, Ogun State.