The Nation Newspaper

Tag: roads

  • FERMA begins work on federal roads

    FERMA begins work on federal roads

    The Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has begun work on the Ekparakwa-Iwukem-Azumini Road, Ikot Ekpene –Umuhia Road and Aba-Ikot Ekpene-Itu Road, it was learnt yesterday.

    A board member representing FERMA, South-South Zone, Otuekong Idongesit Nkanga, spoke to reporters in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital.

    Nkanga, a former military administrator of the state, said FERMA acted on a presidential directive ordering it to improve the condition of roads in the state and those linking it with neighbouring states.

    He said the Federal Ministry of Works was working on the roads but the contracts were re-awarded due to the contractors’ poor performance.

    Said Nkanga: “You may have noticed, particularly those of you from this area, that for some time now Akwa Ibom State has been locked out because of the poor condition of the federal roads.

    “The roads in the state are tarred, but those linking it with other states are not in good condition. There is a presidential directive that FERMA must repair the roads linking it with other states.

    “I need to let you know that the Federal

    Ministry of Works has been working on these roads. Contracts were awarded but because of the contractors’ poor performance, they were terminated.

    “FERMA couldn’t have been working on these roads at the same time the Federal Ministry of Works is working on them. We have three contractors working on the roads now.”

  • A most apt expose on Eha-Amufu roads

    The article published in your renowned newspaper about the plight of my people as a result of the deteriorating state of federal roads at Eha-Amufu  including broken bridges en route Eha-Amufu in Isi-Uzo Local Government of Enugu State to Nkalagu in Ebonyi State, could not have come at a more opportune time.

    For decades on end, we have gone through a most harrowing period, the experience of these sufferings and unfortunate neglect are better imagined and no one will wish his enemies such debasement. The rains are pounding the town and the surrounding villages continuously thus worsening the impassable roads.

    The Mainland Eha-Amufu is permanently cut off from their brothers and sisters who live on the farmlands because of the broken down bridges. Our people are painfully returning to the stone age of either ferrying their goods and human beings on their backs or risk the hazards by swimming across.

    It is disheartening that a people who had done no wrong would be allowed to continually face such punishment. Yearly, millions and billions are being read out during budgets. Is it not surprising, nay amazing, that such a very vital link road to the first major cement factory in the country East of the Niger, has been abandoned and does not qualify as a priority road?

    In those good old days, I grew up to learn of ‘Trunk A’ roads, which were federal roads, always well maintained and treasured and Obolloafor-Ikem-Eha-Amufu-Nkalagu roads prided as such ‘Trunk A’ roads. Alas! successive federal governments have left my people in the lurch.

    The story making the rounds in the villages at my home town, is that the abandoned road has been finally captured in the 2014 budget but that the money allocated can barely complete the construction of the roads let alone attempt rebuilding the three collapsed most important bridges.

    My appeal is that whichever ministries are responsible – Works and the Finance Ministry too – should release the money on time and that whoever is awarded the job must be competent enough to commence work immediately and of course do a credible work.

    We are all going to be on the watch, monitoring the progress of work when it commences and will cry foul if any shoddy job is contemplated or embarked upon. Haven’t our rights been trampled upon enough?

    James Agbonchikiri

     Eha-Amufu Town

     Enugu State.

  • Anambra decongests roads

    Anambra decongests roads

    Nwanosike Onu

    Things are looking up in Anambra State. Governor Willie Obiano, taking off from where his predecessor Peter Obi left off, has mounted a campaign to rid the state of criminals, setting up a special task force to realise the objective. Now, his administration has turned its sights on the state’s congested roads, cluttered with all manner of disused and abandoned vehicles. Another task force has been set up for that purpose, and it has started yielding dividends.

    The battle began on May 12, and has been on with state Commissioner for Transport, Chuma Mbonu and the Permanent Secretary, Transport, ENC Ogbaji leading the charge.

    Also, members of the Anambra State Transport Agency (ASTA) with Emma Onwughalu as the Commander General have been on rampage impounding all damaged vehicles blocking the streets.

    The exercise has taken the groups to the capital city, Awka, the commercial cities of Nnewi and Onitsha and environs.

    The Agency is working in tandem with the military, the police, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and other paramilitary agencies in the state.

    Not only that, the transport commissioner Chuma Mbonu, told the Nation in Awka that Anambra state must be clean before the 100 days in office of Obiano this June.

    Besides the transport ministry, other ministries such as environment and local government have also come together to fight the war.

    Already, designated parks had been provided to alleviate the hardship the situation could create.

    Also, dumping sites for confiscated vehicles had been created appropriately in designated areas in the state, while provisions had been made where people will park their vehicles.

    Mbonu warned that defaulters of this directive would have themselves to blame, adding that owners of accidental vehicles should remove them within the stipulated time or have them removed by the task force at an unpleasant cost to the owner.

    According to Mbonu, “note that in line with the programme of activities of the task force, the decongestion exercise has taken off in earnest and we are not joking about it”.

    However the commissioner commended the people of the state for their cooperation so far in the exercise.

    But one problem has been hampering the movement of the task force and that is lack of vehicles from the Government.

    Therefore, the ministry requested for additional two vehicles to be attached to the task force.

    The task force has equally requested for identification tags to be provided to them to differentiate them from others.

    The Awka Commander of the (FRSC}, Hygenius Omeje has warned the operators of the agency that the exercise must be prosecuted with decorum.

    He said  that any impounded vehicle that stays for six months without the owner claiming it, the Task Force would not have any other option than to go to court.

    “Our high ways are not parking yards, we are going to place further notifications after those sensitisations and already, we have notified transport owners in the state”.

    For E.N.C. Ogbaji, the permanent secretary in the ministry told the Nation that the exercise is not to witch hunt anybody or group but to keep in line with the direction of Obiano’s administration of making Anambra the cleanest state in the land.

    Furthermore, to show his seriousness in sanitizing the state in some areas, Obiano said on Thursday that his administration would soon strengthen, existing laws to guide unhealthy environmental practices in the state.

    He said this during the world environmental day in Awka which had the theme “Small Island developing state”.

    Obaino said the state was being confronted with deforestation, bush burning, indiscriminate waste disposal, blocking of flood channels pollution and excavation.

    According to the state commissioner for Environment, Evarest Uba “we are planning to introduce into the state government’s statues community service for defaulters who cannot pay fine or those we do not want to send to jail”.

    Prof. Frank Ezeonu of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, said “Nigeria was yet to embrace the entire spectrum of waste management”.

  • Sanitising the roads

    Sanitising the roads

    Shuttling from one part of town to another has always been a headache to the authorities of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). But they keep trying to bring order on the lanes.

    The territory is vast but that has not made transportation any easier. Commuters still find it difficult moving around. Even the authorities are not having fun either. They have had to monitor taxi drivers as much as they have closely watched the activities of unpainted cab drivers in the FCT.

    Now, with the ban of mini-buses and worse, the bomb scare, residents are changing their movement patterns. Most prefer standing on the speed lanes to board taxis, or private cars because they seem to be a lot safer these days.

    Communters now hardly use designated car parks and the indiscriminate parking of cars to load passengers in both the city and satellite towns creates traffic congestion in places where such congestions should not be. These behaviours worry the FCT minders.

    Although residents are aware of the danger of boarding commercial vehicles outside designated parks,  with the increase of fraudsters in the city, most still prefer to risk it to going to designated parks which they now call the lions’ dens.

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), through its Transport Secretariat, has reminded residents that ignorance of the law is no excuse, and that if they break traffic rules, they will be punishment, if caught.

    Secretary, Transport Secretariat FCTA, Mr. Jonathan Ivoke who addressed reporters during a routine raid, said that touting is not permitted in the FCT and the secretariat has gone as far as arresting some touts.

    He added that the level of indiscipline among motorists and passengers in the FCT if not checked, will turn the territory into a lawless place, which is what the authorities want to avoid.

    His word, “This is part of our daily enforcement duty, from time to time, i come out, to try to add vigour to the enforcement , the position we are right now is on the speed lane in area one, vehicles are not suppose to stop to pick passengers or even drop, because this is a speed lane.

    “The designated speed here is more than that of the service lane but because this drivers are so indiscipline, it is the reason we come out from time to time, working in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies like the Police, Civil Defence, Road safety and even the Nigerian Prisons.

    “They help us to add to the manpower and equipments; just behind, we have the area 3 terminal that is spacious enough to accommodate all the vehicles, but they will prefer to stay on the road, which has caused a lot of accidents and we don’t want this situation to continue.

    “What we want to do is station our men here in collaboration with the police so that they will not be attacked and this will be done all over Abuja, in conformity with the master plan. We have licensed these taxi drivers and one of the contents of the licensing process is that they will have to obey traffic rules and regulation. Last month we issued them a query and what we are going to do is that, some of them that are very stubborn, we are going to withdraw their licence.

    “We will be impounding most of these vehicles and once we do, we will take them to the mobile courts and the magistrate will impose fines on them, we will then collect the information of the driver, his biometrics and fingerprint and when we arrest him again, a stiffer penalty will be given to him.

    “On a general scale, we are amending the bylaw, the FCT road transport regulations; the last one was done in 2006, we are going to make sure that it is very comprehensive.

    “Our officers are all over Abuja including entrances into the city like Nyanya and Kubwa; they will have to rise to the occassion and impound airing vehicles and take them to the mobile courts, that is our daily assignment and we have to do it. We want the residents of FCT to see what is happening and the sensitisation will continue to go on. We are hoping that some of them that are genuine drivers will go to the parks, terminal or bus stops pick their passengers and go on which is why we renovated these parks.”

    He pleaded with residents not to patronise unpainted and unregistered taxis, saying they can be dangerous.

    A resident Tajudeen Shittu who witnessed the raid while waiting patiently for a bus at the bus stop, said, “Well I was told that it is not safe to stand on the speed lane and that whoever dies, would have died for nothing. So the idea is good but I dont know why they’ve started arresting people and they will not make public announcements so that people will know and be careful.

    “The way they are going about it now is unfair and God will reward them.”

    Angry residents at the Eagle Square shouted back at Ivoke as he insisted that more than 15 buses move to the Square terminal before passengers could board.

    The team, by the end of its tour of Area 1 down to 3, Centra Area and Wuse, impounded more than 20 vehicles and their owners were told to report to the mobile courts.

  • ‘Our roads will last more than 15 years’

    ‘Our roads will last more than 15 years’

    Sabitu Amuda, an engineer and Special Adviser to Governor Rauf Aregbesola on Works, spoke with SEUN AKIOYE

    What is the philosophy behind the road constructions being undertaken in Osun now?

    Simply to increase the revenue generation of the state.

    How is that possible?

    It’s simple, people are saying that we are constructing roads and at the same time talking about revenue generation, the amount of money we have spent so far in the construction of the roads in the state remains. The only percentage that goes out cannot be said to be five percent.

     There are foreign companies working on the road and definitely they must be returning profits to their home country?

    Thank you, when I say five percent, I am talking about salaries only and that is for those workers who are being paid as foreigners. When it comes to the materials being used, except for a small percentage, all of them are sourced from this state. Granite  and sand are found here. The cement, whether we construct roads or not people are building houses so we have distributors everywhere, the reinforcement rods, we can say they are being rolled out in Lagos but they are bringing them here and we can still say they are sourced here.

    So when we are talking about the construction, we are using the money to buy materials to construct the roads so no matter how much it costs, the money is still entrenched here.

    How bad were the roads before this administration?

    We can say the condition was poor. That is giving it about 30 percent, even the roads that were constructed, you go back after four months they are gone. When they make budgets for road construction this year, they will make the same budget for the same number of roads in the next budget. You will not see an increase in the number of roads being constructed, it is because of the methods they employed in constructing the roads.

    A lot of roads are being constructed in Ilesa and other places, what is happening in Osogbo, the capital?

    Let me start from the major road works. There are two that can be said to be seen physically within the state capital that is Oba Adesoji Aderemi bypass which is totally within the city. It’s from the existing stretch of the West bypass which starts from Ikirun roundabout by the stadium to Iwo roundabout where we call ‘Dele Yes Sir’ area. It’s a roundabout that connects Iwo road and that West bypass. It ended there before, but we now want to complete the loop, we want to finish the ring. It starts from Iwo road roundabout and goes the whole of 17.5 kilometers to link back to the roundabout at Ikirun road, so that you have a complete Ring road round Osogbo.

    What are the features of the road?

    It’s a dual carriage way, there will be no interference with any other road, you are not waiting for another vehicle to pass, when you move from Channel 0, you get to the rail line and fly over it, when you get to Ataoja area where it crosses Gbongan road, there is going to be another flyover, so you have a full clover leave interchange similar to what we have in Ketu and Mile 2 in Lagos. Flyovers that allows you to complete the ring of a total length of 26 kilometres within the state capital.

    We have another one that is starting at the centre of Osogbo; the old garage road dual carriage way to terminate at the boundary of Kwara State. We will be taking the road to fly over two railway crossings at two locations namely Okuku and Ilesa areas. Whether the Oba Adesoji Aderemi by-pass or the Kwara boundary road, we are going to have street lights on them. We have another one, a single carriage way that will be constructed alongside the dual carriage way which will form a crescent because of the Dagbolu hub that we want to put in place.

    Just about two kilometres from the steel rolling mill, you have the Dagbolu settlement. Now, in between Dagbolu and Oba-Ile, there is the land where we will develop, an international market which we call the Dagbolu hub. It is yet to commence but we are preparing the access roads to that market. This market is going to sell the way they sell wholesale in Lagos because government is going to be responsible for hauling these products from Lagos, so the traders can sell the same price they sell in Lagos.

    There is a railway station there, so that is an advantage. We will transport agric produce from Dagbolu hub to Lagos and we are bringing finished products from Lagos down to Osogbo and government is going to bear the cost of haulage, look at that. We want to build the economy of the state, we are not just constructing roads, we have the economy at the back of our minds. We want to create a conducive environment enough for people to come back and do business here because Osogbo has been relegated.

    Businessmen think if they come to Osogbo, where is the market for their products? But if we could have all these roads in place, like we are linking Gbongan to Osogbo with another dual carriage way so that the dual carriage way from Lagos will continue like that to Osun.

    What about townships roads?

    We have many single carriage ways in Osogbo, Ede, Ilesa, Iwo, Ife and a number of other local government roads, not directly financed by the state but enhanced because the government is supporting them with loans from the banks. The roads are on the average six kilometres all over the 30 local government areas including the area office. The actual number of local government roads built to the same standard is 228 kilometres. We want the local government roads to be the same standard, so that in the next 15 years, we will not come back to it.

    We will not do any major work on the roads in the next 15 years, I am assuring you. If you look at the terrain where these roads traversed you can imagine what must have gone into building the roads. You can see the road lane markings too, they are modern.

    How about maintenance, what are the things you are putting in place for constant maintenance?

    As we build, we are also grooming an agency to constantly monitor the roads. That is the Osun Road Maintenance Agency (ORMA). They have the responsibility to monitor and maintain the roads all over the states.

    You said you empowered local contractors when there are many foreign companies

    Let me tell you, Ratcon has its headquarters at Ibadan, but Slava- Yeditepe has its main operation here in the state, if you can go to their camp you will see the facilities they have. Sammya is fully Nigerian; any white person there is an employee. But whether Ratcon or Slava, in terms of staff their foreign input is less than 20 percent. Majority of the workers are sourced locally. Not all sector within these companies is foreign, many of our people are in charge.

    In total, how much has the government spent on these projects?

    For now, we are spending in the range of N80 billion. There is one in the bracket of N29 billion; one in the bracket of N18b, there is one of N15 billion and N17.5 billion etc. The local governments’ road is costing us about N21 billion, it is 228 kilometres single carriage way. Add that together we have about N110 billion.

    What are the immediate economic reactions to these projects?

    All petty traders along these roads can in retrospect admit that profit has improved because people can easily access their businesses and they can have quick turnovers. The roads we are constructing have opened up their businesses. Same for grocery sellers and other small scale businesses. The population of Osogbo is also increasing. Hotels are also springing up showing that the standard of living has improved in this city. That is the effect of what the government is doing, it is not a normal growth, it is anchored on the level of infrastructure government is putting in place.

    Now, sell Osun State to me when all these are completed, what do you see?

    I want to see the Ring road; I want to look at the most busy road in Washington or Broad Street in Lagos. The transformation that will happen to the properties along this road will be unprecedented. If you have a plot there, you will be thinking of having multi-storey building there. By the time we have the airport, picture it yourself, the good road networks in the state, the market hub in Dagbolu, a busy modern town, Osun is going to be great.

  • Good times getting back on Lagos roads

    Before 2010, Lagos residents had different stories to tell on the condition of roads in the state. But the experience of Mr. Oloruntoba Adeola was indeed harrowing, though interesting.

    Every other month, Michael had to visit his mechanic to complain about either worn-out shafts or leaked absorbers. For him, driving on Lagos roads was a nightmare which he wouldn’t want to experience if he could avoid it.

    But that was then, the music today has changed and Adeola is now singing a different, refreshing tune. Just last week in Lagos, he said the nightmares of those years “have ended and the new era has come.”

    He, also, acknowledged that he now “drives with less time and less pains, at least on the key roads in the metropolis. I no longer visit mechanic workshops as often as I did in 2009 and even 2010.” According to him, this means I spend less on car maintenance. For instance, I changed my absorbers in 2012, and they are still in good shape.

    It must be noted however, that in the daunting task of ensuring effective road maintenance, the Lagos State Public Works Corporation (LSPWC) recently completed an asphalt production plant which has capacity to produce 160 tons per hour while another plant in Badagry is already at the 30 percent stage of completion.

    Another resident Modupe Isiaka also told The Nation a similar tale of bad and good time on Lagos roads. Even though several roads are yet to be reconstructed, Isiaka, a legal practitioner, said almost all the state roads “are now well-maintained.” He said the state of roads in the state now has reduced his travel time and traffic congestion. “Things have really improved, though there is still a lot to do.”

    But this improvement could not have been possible without the reform of the Lagos State Public Works Corporation (LSPWC), an agency statutorily saddled with the critical responsibilities of road maintenance and rehabilitation in the state. In 2010, for instance, the corporation unveiled a five-year roadmap, which it said, had been implemented, at least up to 80 percent just after four years it was developed.

    As a result, about 705 roads were maintained across the local councils in 2012 alone; no fewer than 988 roads rehabilitated in 2013; and a minimum of 1,400 roads already projected for maintenance under the 2014 fiscal year. For many certified civil engineers, this projection, might be difficult fulfill due to the amount of resources and materials required to put the roads in good shape all through the year, especially during the rainy season.

    But the corporation’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Gbenga Akintola told The Nation that there was nothing to fear. Better than in the previous years, Akintola said the Lagos State Government “has honed its approach to road maintenance and rehabilitation in order to make impact on almost all parts of the state be it in the urban centres or the suburbs.” He said the state government had built the required capacity for road maintenance.

    Akintola said the state government did not just come out with a plan to maintain and rehabilitate, that number of roads this year, but did so because of the completion of a new asphalt production plant in Imota, which he said, started operation December 2013. Enumerating the advantages of having the plant at Imota, he said it has already regenerated the area economically and socially. He acknowledged that as it is now, we have witnessed the influx of people to the area. People are now making inquiry to buy land in the area. A lot of indigenes have been employed in the area.

    “Also, 404 roads will be effectively maintained due to the siting of the plant. Six local councils in Ikorodu, Epe, Ibeju-Lekki and Eti-Osa will benefit from the plant,” he pointed out.

    He also spoke extensively on how the plant had benefited the local population, especially in Imota and other areas in Ikorodu noting that since the plant “have started production in December, all the people that were engaged at the site are from Imota and axis.

    “More than 30 persons have been engaged among the locals when the project was going on. We are still going to employ more people for security, monitoring and other areas,” he explained. But to make bad roads, Akintola said the state had a plan “to site asphalt production plants in each senatorial district in Lagos State. We now have in Badagry to serve Lagos West,” which he said, was already at the 30 percent stage of completion.

    Beyond what the state government has been able to do, Jaiyesimi, a fellow of Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE), said road maintenance “is wide and requires a lot of issues,” which he said, could only be resolved through what he described as the robust culture of road maintenance. He said the country had not really imbibed the culture of road maintenance.

    However, Jaiyesimi acknowledged that Lagos State “takes road maintenance very serious.” He added that the state’s road maintenance agency under its current leadership “is really trying. The agency has really improved on its performance in the last four years. We see what it is doing across the local councils, making trips from one part of the state to the other much easier for the motorists and other road users.”

  • Cranes, trucks turn Delta roads into death traps

    Cranes, trucks turn Delta roads into death traps

    While the Delta State Government is spending hugely on rehabilitation of major roads and highways in the state, its efforts are being undone by activities of truck drivers and heavy duty equipment companies who turn the roads to death traps, report  SHOLA O’NEIL.

    On the eve of Christmas, a gold colour Honda Accord sedan (popularly called End of Discussion (EOD)) was cruising through the recently dualised Refinery Road in Effurun, Delta State. It was going towards the Effurun/Sapele end of the road.

    The driver of the car, like millions of Nigerians across the country, was excited about being alive for the celebration. He had some provisions in the car to make the event memorable for him and his loved ones.

    Suddenly, his joy turned into sorrow. It happened before he could comprehend how it did. First, the car’s headlights picked up a pothole on the middle of the road, close to the median. Then, as he swerved to avoid it, he rammed into a low bed Mark truck parked on one lane of the dual carriage road.

    Without any caution sign or reflector on the truck or the road, it was impossible for driver to see the lurking danger in the foggy harmattan night until he smashed into it.

    Although he was able to avoid ramming the front of the new car into the truck, he was not able to get the front passenger side away from it.When our reporter visited the scene a few hours later, what was left was a badly mangled mass of what was a glittery car. The owner of the truck and a few friends were seen around the vehicle. A towing van was waiting to remove the wreckage from the road.Unfortunately, the accident was not an isolated one; it merely highlighted the dangers that the busy road has been turned to in recent times, particularly during the yuletide seasons.

    Although a Federal road, the strategic road linking Effurun/Sapele Road to the busy Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) was given a turn around by the Uduaghan administration as part of its infrastructural development agenda.

    However, rather than being the magic wand to ease traffic flow on that axis, owners of heavy duty trucks, equipment leasing companies and others have turned the road into a death-trap in the past one year.

    Although figures of accident that have occurred on the road were not readily known, residents and users of the road alike lamented that mishaps like that involving the Honda EOD have become a daily occurrence around the area.

    “Owners of trucks, low beds and even tractor and bulldozers have turned the road into their parks. They carelessly park and leave their heavy duty trucks on the road without care about the safety of other road users.

    “The most painful part is that when accidents occur, they merely go back and nonchalantly remove their trucks and take them to another part of the road. The government, security and road safety agencies are not doing anything about it,” a resident of Obada Close told Niger Delta Report.

    Worried by the activities of encroachers on the road, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, accompanied by security men, went to clear the road in 2013. He was unhappy that the road which was supposed to ease the flow of traffic had been turned into trailer parks, mini markets and workshops etc.

    However, our investigations revealed that rather than solving the problem the governor’s action opened an avenue for some unscrupulous security operatives to make quick money. Our checks showed that owners of trucks and equipments blocking the road regularly give money to security agents and local government council officials to look the other way.

    Further checks revealed that the unsavoury situation does not only occur on the Refinery Road area of the twin city of Effurun and Warri. It was gathered that the even the busiest and most popularly Warri-Sapele and Airport roads as well as the NPA Expressway are not insulated from the activities of tanker drivers, heavy duty trucks and crane operators.

    Specifically, a year earlier, an accident similar to that on Refinery Road occurred around the Urhobo College area of Effurun, leading to the death of at least four persons, who were said to be very close friends. A fifth sustained life-threatening injury. They were returning home from a social event during the yuletide when their car ran into a stationary truck loaded with steel road. The truck is owned by one of the biggest steel stockists in the state. That accident was only one of several accidents caused by the trader’s trucks.

    “As far back as 20 years ago, that man has been involved in face-offs with local inhabitants, companies and security officials over indiscriminate parking of his trucks on the Effurun-Sapele Road even before it was dualised. If his drivers are not causing accident, they are holding up traffic while offloading. Unfortunately, the Uvwie Local Government Council has been unable to deal with the situation,” a staff of a motor company in the area said.

    An FRSC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also told our reporter that prior to that accident they had fought and lost several battles with the owner of the truck to remove them from the road. Even after the sad event the trucks remained a landmark on that axis of the road, much to the angst of the families who lost their members.

    Contacted on the report, the Warri Unit Commander, FRSC, Dr Joseph Toby, assured road users that such misdemeanours on the road would soon be a thing of the past with the establishment of the Delta State Traffic Management Agency.

    He disclosed that heavy duty tow trucks had already being acquired to remove such trucks constituting nuisance on streets and highways. He urged vehicle owners to ensure discipline in their use of the road or risk consequences.

    The Public Relations Officer, Delta State Command, Mr Julius Bassey, said the traffic on the NPA Expressway had been taken over by the Army.

     

    It was the end of what he had planned to be a joyous Christmas and New Year celebration for the man and his passengers.

    Although their fates could not be immediately ascertained at the time of this report, the wreckage of the car told the story of the calamity that became of a cruise.

    Car body repair experts (panel beaters) told our reporter that the car was a ‘complete write-off’, meaning that it could not return to the road. While reports that could not be independently confirmed indicated that the driver was seriously injured.

     

  • Obio-Akpor residents to govt: give us good roads

    Obio-Akpor residents to govt: give us good roads

    Their case is that of the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg, but has nothing to show for it. The people of Nkpor, Aka and Rumuolumeni communities in Obio-Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State play hosts to many multinational and local oil companies and services companies.

    With over 35 high profile companies in their land, they are second only to Trans-Amadi Industrial Layout in terms of concentration of economic activities in the state.

    Regrettably, when Niger Delta Report visited the areas recently, the deplorable state of the road passing through the areas told the stories of neglect and underdevelopment in the communities. Our reporter also found out that the people are confronted with lack of basic amenities. Residents said they have been living with the burden of deplorable roads for many years.

    It was gathered that the rainy season is usually hellish for residents of these areas as roads leading into and outside the communities are usually flooded to the extent that people’s compound and living homes are submerged. They pay heavily to get to and from their destinations. The prices of transportations are hiked indiscriminately by commercial drivers who risk the treacherous roads.

    Residents and motorists, who spoke to Niger Delta Report, appealed to the communities leaders, government and the multinational companies operating in the area to stop playing politics with peoples’ lives, as the deplorable roads have turned death traps.

    The angry residents were particularly unimpressed that the heavy duty vehicles and trucks of the multinationals operating their lands contribute to the destruction of the road.

    “Yet the companies remain adamant to several complaints about the suffering of the people over the deplorable road,” one residents said.

    Similarly, they slammed the state government, to whose coffers taxes from the multinationals’ go, for not living up its obligation to the people and firms. In the same vein, they slammed their leaders who they accused of using the deplorable road to negotiate their personal deals with the companies in the area.

    A tricycle (Keke) driver Uche Onwumechiri, who spoke while trying to manoeuvre his cycle from a crater on the road, said for more than three years motorists and other road ushers had been faced with suffering and loss of revenue due to the deplorable condition of the road. He said his only means of survival (Keke) was trapped on worse spot on the road while he was trying to escape another bad spot.

    “Commuters are now being stranded on daily basis. Most commercial drivers that ply Rumuorlumeni, Nkpor and Aka road could not drive due to bad road while some drivers who manage to operate were forced to increase their fares,” Onwumechiri added.

    NDR recall that during one of the rainy seasons which flooded Nkpor, the state governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, urged the people and their Aka neighbours to tax the companies operating in their area to contribute to fixing their roads as part of their social responsibilities. The governor also informs them that government had awarded contracts for Rumuolumeni and others roads which would be handled by the companies operating in the area.

    Investigation revealed that internal roads in Nkpor, Aka and Rumuorlumeni communities including the road leading to the palace of their kings are as bad as the major roads. The Highness and Mission roads both in Nkpor community are in a deplorable condition.

    Our reporter’s attempt to speak with the Paramount Ruler of Rumuolumeni, His Royal Highness Eze Ndubueze Wobo, was rebuffed. A security detail who took the message to him came back with the reply that “the monarch was not in the mood to entertain any visitor.”

    A chief in Nkpor community, who pleaded anonymity, said the bad condition of the road including that of Rumuorlumeni road was as a result of corruptible Chiefs and Elders in the area, saying, “Many companies are operating in this community but they find it difficult to fix the road because most of us who are the representative of the community have in one way or the other betrayed the trust repose in us by the community.”

    Speaking in the same vein, Mr. Ejike Ihunwo, a driver and native of Nkpor community buttressed the point, stressing that the people are playing politics with the road.

    Ihunwo recalled that “Three or four years ago one of the companies operating here volunteered to fix the road. But along the line when some leaders in the community discovered that the company was serious to fix the road, they rose against him. The Managing Director of the company was petitioned and almost arrested and an order came from above and asked him to stop the job. What was his sin that he wants to fix the road without getting permission from the community? Of course, that was a big lesson from other companies who now prefer to pay bribe than executing any project.”

    There have been instances when temper rose among drivers who tried to meander through the good section of the road quickly. Some of the issues were resolved with fisticuffs and exchange of vituperations.

    Mr. Obodo Chidah, a commercial driver, whose car was dented by another driver, made his point with his fist. He told our reporter afterwards: “Look at how we are dragging the road because the road is bad and everybody is in a hurry to go. That is the reason why this stupid driver hit my vehicle at the back.

    Having failed to get government’s attention over the years, the youths of the area took the uncanny measure of digging up a huge hole on the road to ensure total blockade.

    Confirming the action, Chairman of the youth group in Mgbualimini, Rumuolumeni, Comrade Ogbonda Ndamati, said they wanted to cripple the operation of the companies and force them to do something about the road.

    The move seemed to have worked. Ndamati said they extracted assurance from companies that the road would be fixed very soon.

    He said: “The people are suffering especially the business men and women of the community who transport their goods from one place to another. It is not only Rumuolumeni road that is bad, the communities under Rumuolumeni such as Mboshimini, Nkpor, Aka and Rumuokprikon roads are all bad even the road leading to the palace and Trans-Olumini Road are in a bad shape except the Eagle Cement Road.

    “On different occasion heavy duty trucks have somersaulted on the road due to the bad road, State government is not helping matter and the companies who also have the social responsibility to assist the community have totally abandoned us.

    “We also entered an agreement with the company that those bad spot should be fixed. But after sometime nothing happened which was the main reason of the protest by the youths of the area leading to the total blockage of the road.”

    It is yet to be seen if the strange action of the youths was the solution, but for now the people of the area and their visitors must contend with the situation.

     

  • ‘Greatest problem with road projects is lack of funding’

    ‘Greatest problem with road projects is lack of funding’

    Hon. Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi is the Chairman, House Committee on Works. SEUN AKIOYE met him.

    Do you think the increase of the contract sum of Abuja-Lokoja road from an initial N42billion to N116billion is justifiable, especially with the level of work done so far?

    The problem of that road is not basically different from the challenges other projects in the country face. I have to say emphatically that the greatest problem we have with the delivery of road and infrastructural projects in this country is always lack of funding. There are some other reasons like inappropriate design, unanticipated geological issues due to incomplete investigation before the projects were awarded. That also can be attributed to the haste in the award of these projects by the government to prove a point that it is working, which is understandable.

    Abuja -Abaji was awarded in 2006, broken into four sections for a cumulative contract sum of N42billion. But almost five years after, the completion was just about 38 percent. The Ministry of Works has come out to explain the funding pattern that in 2006, there was zero budgeted allowance and if we look at it, you find between 2006 and 2010, the cumulative release was about N20billion in five years, and only 50 percent of the whole contract sum was released in five years. Once there is no adequate budgetary provision and insignificant release, it also affects implementation and delivery. It’s what you put in that you get, that is what affects projects in this country and if you look at the funding pattern, if it continues, what it means is that it will take about 10 or 15 years to be completed.

    Now inflation will set in, prices of materials will also rise and contractors will say look, the problem was not ours, they will ask for augmentation of cost, that was what affected Abuja-Abaji road and that also affects all other federal government projects in Nigeria. On the justification, our committee will look at the review again; we will subject it to critical compliance test and ensure that the money is justified. We have to track that to ensure that the increase is justified, that is our responsibility and we will not let Nigerians down.

    So what is the way out?

    Until we have adequate provision for every project and also know that obligated funds should not elapse at the end of the financial year we will continue to have this problem. But our committee on its own part have studied the situation looking at the best practises all over the world and come to a conclusion that the only way we can have great infrastructure projects carried out to scheduled time is to carry out reforms in the road sector.

    We must have a National Road Fund and Federal Road Authority. These two agencies will operate independent of the annual budgetary system and they will have their own budget, manage and apply it to the execution of road sector projects. That is what is obtainable in Malaysia, South Africa and Ghana. The agencies are autonomous in their operation.

    Critics will argue that your new Federal Agencies raise questions about corruption, open to abuse because we have the SURE-P funds which the Ministry has drawn heavily from?

    Let me tell you, it is only in the Federal Ministry of Works that you have the regulator doubling as the operator. In Aviation, you have all these agencies, in Transport, you have NPA etc. The essence of this is to create an autonomous body that would seek the quick implementation of these projects. Road sector development is private sector driven in other climes, but to do that you need a regulatory framework that would be independent of the bureaucracies of government. This would give investors confidence that there is a regulator and that the rules will not be changed in the middle of the game.

    Is that a long term approach?

    No it is not, the bill that would create these agencies have already been read on the floor of the House of Representatives today. My committee will ensure that the bills are given the importance they deserve and granted accelerated passage.

  • Roads, roads everywhere…and good to travel

    The views across Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State and other towns in the state are lately inviting. There is a stamp of newness all over.

    Passing through the roads is no longer stressful, courtesy of the road rehabilitation and urban renewal programmes of the administration of Dr. Kayode Fayemi. A traveler is greeted by dark, shiny, smooth tar and dualised lanes at the entry points to the state capital, such as Iyin-Ekiti, Iworoko-Ekiti, Ijan-Ekiti/Federal Poly axis, Ikere-Ekiti and Ilawe-Ekiti.

    Within the township, main roads, including the Police Headquarters-Basiri-Fajuyi road, Fajuyi-Adebayo road, Fajuyi-Okesa-Okeyinmi-Old Garrage Road, Bank road, NTA road, Old Garrage-Ijigbo-Ajilosun road are now also well-paved, double-carriage and widened.The streets are illuminated with bright lights; functional traffic lights are supported by ever-vigilant State Traffic Control Officers. This decrees a regime of sanity in vehicular operations in daytime. The medians, which house the traffic poles, are lately going green with grasses.

    Hold-ups are gone in areas, such as Old Garrage/Post Office/Oja’ba, Okeyinmi and Ojumoshe junctions and Fajuyi/Okesa roundabouts as a result of access roads rehabilitated about the town.

    Moving from the capital into the hinterland, especially towards Iworoko-Ifaki, Ajilosun-Ikere and Fedpoly-Ijan, the challenges road user used to face are gone.

    Today, sights of abandoned/disused vehicles along the highways are rare.

    The effect of the new age is already being felt by members of road transport unions who admitted their travel time has been better than halved.

    Mr. Babatunde Oluwafemi, a driver and bus owner who plies Ado-Fedpoly said: “I am always happy to drive whenever my passengers are complete. Within minutes of hitting the road, I am at the Federal Polytechnic.

    “Lest for needs to allow passengers come down at some points as you go on, the journey from this (Ijigbo) junction to the school, a distance of about seven kilometers, would not take you more than eight or ten minutes. Both the go slows and hold ups around Odo-Ado have gone finally. I now use less fuel and don’t see my mechanic too often.”

    Tope Umoru, a Kogi State indigene resident in Ado-Ekiti, who regularly travels from Ado to Ikare-Akoko in Ondo State admitted the journey is no less smooth.

    According to him, “from Ado passing through Ijan, Iluomoba, Aisegba, Agbado to Imesi which is the end of Ekiti State and the boundary between the state and Ondo State, a distance of about 70 kilometres, can be covered in a little around forty minutes.”

    The state has rehabilitated 750 kilometres of the 1,334 kilometres state and federal roads; another 488 road projects are ongoing.