Developing Nigeria requires developing and maintaining its infrastructure. Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola has a significant role in the infrastructure renewal, expansion and development programme of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
It is a responsibility that demands, in Fashola’s words, “an expansion mentality.” His work and the passion he brings to it highlight the connection between infrastructure development and economic development.
When Fashola visited Lagos last week to inspect federal bridges in the state, he was reported saying more than 50 bridges were undergoing repairs and renovation across the country in line with the Federal Government’s national asset maintenance programme. The ongoing bridge maintenance and rehabilitation programme in Lagos is part of the big picture.
It is noteworthy that there are 524 ongoing road projects across the country. Each state has at least three ongoing road projects, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. At least 80 of the 524 projects are scheduled for completion in 2020/2021.
Fashola was quoted as saying when he updated the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the ongoing road and bridge construction/ rehabilitation nationwide: “The projects on completion will bring about reduced travel time, lower vehicle operating costs and improve the comfort of road users as well as improve the ease of doing business in the country and ultimately boost the Nigerian economy.”
The roads include Lagos-Ibadan-Ilorin-Jebba-Kotangora-Jega-Sokoto-Niger Border; Warri-Benin-Lokoja-Abuja-Kaduna-Kano-Daura-Niger Border; Port Harcourt-Aba-Umuahia-Okigwe-Oturkpo-Makurdi-Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Maiduguri-Gamboru; and Calabar-Ikom-Ogoja-Katsina Ala-Jalingo-Yola-Bama-Maiduguri.
Others are the Lagos-Otta-Abeokuta-Ibadan; Onitsha-Ihiala-Owerri—A.3 Junction at Umu Uyo; Chikanda, Kosubosu-Kaiama-Kishi-Ilorin; Mayo Belwa-Ganye-Serti-Mayo Selbe-Gembu; and Jibiya-Katsina-Kano.
These federal roads connect states, including the FCT, link cities with high economic activities and carry the majority of heavy vehicular traffic en-route to different parts of the country.
Roads with heavy traffic, roads leading to ports, roads sponsored by counterpart funding, roads that connect border communities, roads leading to agricultural areas and roads within tertiary educational institutions are considered first in deciding on road projects to execute.
Under roads leading to ports, there is the construction of Agaie-Katcha-Barro Road in Niger State and the construction of Baro Port to Gulu Town in Niger State.
Road intervention projects within tertiary educational institutions show that Fashola’s roadworks are not limited to inter-state and inter-city roads. At University of Benin, work is ongoing on the rehabilitation and asphalt overlay/construction of Reinforced Concrete Drains and Kerbs and Asphaltic Surfacing of three Car parks of 1.1KM Internal Road.
Also, there is rehabilitation and asphalting at Bayero University, Kano; Federal University, Oye Ekiti, Ekiti State; University of Maiduguri, Borno State; Federal University, Lokoja; Federal College of Education, Katsina; Federal University of Technology, Owerri and the University College Hospital, Ibadan.
Others include Kaduna Polytechnic; Federal University, Gashua internal roads, Yobe State and rehabilitation and asphalt overlay of 2.3 km internal road at Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State.
Bridges are important too. Four bridges are listed under priority projects: the construction of Ibi Bridge across River Benue connecting Taraba and Plateau states, completion of construction of Chanchangi Bridge along Takum-Wukari Road in Taraba State, construction of Ikom Bridge in Cross River State and emergency rehabilitation/maintenance of Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.
“The Second Niger Bridge is at about 46 percent completion. We hope to commission the project before the end of our tenure in 2023,” President Buhari said when he presented the 2021 Federal Budget Proposals to the Joint Session of the National Assembly. This bridge connecting Asaba in Delta State and Onitsha in Anambra State is perhaps the biggest ongoing bridge project in the country. The project is progressing under Fashola’s supervision.
Buhari presented road plans, saying his administration has “awarded several contracts to rehabilitate, reconstruct and construct major arterial roads, in order to reduce the hardship to commuters and increase economic activity.”
It is significant that Fashola will oversee the execution of these road projects. His record of performance is reassuring. The projects are in good hands. He will be aided by the Buhari administration’s “innovative financing strategies to pull-in private sector investment.” The president recently approved an Infrastructure Company, an “infrastructure development vehicle, wholly focused on making critical infrastructural investments in Nigeria.”
This Infrastructure Company, according to Buhari, “will raise funding from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, the Africa Finance Corporation, pension funds as well as local and foreign private sector development financiers.”
Fashola’s work will also get a boost from the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme. Under this scheme, the federal government is “undertaking the construction and rehabilitation of over 780km of roads and bridges, nationwide, to be financed by the grant of tax credits to investing business.”
Ongoing projects under this scheme include: Construction and Rehabilitation of Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba-Ilorin Road Section II (Obajana-Kabba) in Kogi and Kwara states; Construction of Apapa-Oworonshoki-Ojota Expressway in Lagos State; and Construction of Bodo-Bonny road with a Bridge across the Opobo Channel in Rivers State.
I saw Fashola at work in January during his two-day tour of Niger State to inspect federal highway and housing projects. It was serious business carried out in a business-like way. He had emphasised the concept of “road economy” or “the economy of road construction,” pointing out how the road projects have a ripple effect economically.
It’s one thing to develop infrastructure, it’s another thing to maintain infrastructure. Lack of maintenance is at the core of the country’s infrastructure problem. Fashola had told four journalists who travelled with him about his ministry’s approach regarding the issue of maintenance. “In each state, every two weeks, a controller must tour all federal roads under their control to detect failures and take action,” he said.
It is clear, as Fashola observed, that an improved road network will improve interconnectivity and boost economic activities. Throughout the tour, he emphasised the importance of infrastructure as “the key driver” of development. “A nation’s wealth is also measured by the quality of its infrastructure,” he stressed. He spoke with conviction, and it was obvious he was driven by conviction.
Developing and maintaining infrastructure requires effort and takes some time. There is no doubt that Fashola is making progress progressively. His roadworks are testimony to his concentration on his responsibility. (The Nation)
