In 2010, the President Musa Yar’Adua-conceived Vision 20:2020 development plan admitted, rightly, that ‘the current transport infrastructure in the country is inadequate to meet the needs of a 21st century economy.’ The promise was to create ‘an integrated and sustainable transport system that will be safe, reliable, and cost efficient. Specifically, investment will be encouraged through concessions –BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer), BOD (Build, Operate and Own) – in rail, road, water and air transport.’ Furthermore, the plan stated that ‘for land transport, the government will construct eight major roads (six lanes at the minimum) to link the country: Kano-Port Harcourt and Ilorin–Yola, and four (4) spanning the borders of the country: Sokoto-Maiduguri, Sokoto-Lagos, Lagos –Calabar, Calabar –Maiduguri, and also Lagos –Benin-Onitsha-Enugu-Port Harcourt. The roads will facilitate inter-zonal transportation, while states will construct feeder roads to link with the major roads.’ That was a Federal Government commitment 14 years ago.
It is estimated that since the coming of representative democracy 24 years ago, N2.4 trillion has been spent (or more correctly put, budgeted for) on road construction in this country. And what to show for it is a puny 34,000km of largely poorly constructed and even more poorly maintained federal roads across nearly a million sq. km of the Nigeria land mass.
It is not for a lack of the knowledge, skill, experience, and even money that government roads are in bad condition. First, two federal organs deserve mention in this connection. The Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) has a Road Research Department comprising three specialised divisions with the mandate to ‘conduct integrated research and development activities into all the varied aspects of the road construction industry and transport sector of the economy. The Department further provides consultancy services on professional, technical, and scientific activities relating to roads, transportation and road construction industry to the public and private sectors.’
On its part, the mandate of the Federal Ministry of Works (FMW) includes ‘formulating and implementing the policies, programmes, and projects of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) with respect to Road Transport, Highways planning and design, monitoring and maintenance of federal roads and bridges nationwide.’ With 15 professional departments and seven units to fulfill its remit, the current state of roads can be safely said to reflect the performance of the FMW. Besides, it also speaks a lot about the transparency (or otherwise) of the government in respect to the expenditure on Nigerian roads.
Second, the budget for roads, at nearly N2.5 trillion in 24 years, is quite substantial enough to deliver better roads than what obtains. Nonetheless, Toluhi calculates that 0.5 to 1.0 per cent of GDP allocated annually to roads since 1970 is inadequate; he recommends three per cent.
Umahi is not the first to weep at the condition of Nigerian roads, especially the ones owned, operated and maintained by the ‘mighty’ Federal Government. Once upon a time, Diezani Allison-Madueke, as minister of works wept at the deplorable state of the Sagamu-Ore-Benin road on which she reportedly claimed the Obasanjo government spent more than N450 billion in eight years. Since the Obasanjo administration, tonnes of money have been budgeted for this and road infrastructure generally. A national newspaper computed the federal budget for the road sector at a total of N754.48 billion in the three years of 2015-2018. And yet, the roads remain in bad shape.
The overall cost, in human and material terms, of bad roads is enormous. In 2003, the then minister of works, Adeseye Ogunlewe, reportedly put Nigeria’s loss at N185 billion a year. By 2016, Toluhi calculated the annual costs of bad roads as follows: Vehicle Operating Cost (VOC) N500 billion and the loss of 10 billion man-hours with a monetary cost of N1.02 trillion. He added, rightly, that the ‘cost of impairment, trauma, and life in crashes is simply not easily quantifiable’. All things considered, it bears, regrettably, repeating that, in the words of Toluhi, ‘Nigeria seems to be the only large economy in sub-Saharan Africa that is yet to embrace reforms in the management of its road assets.’
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) puts the population of vehicles at about 11.76 million running on a road network of a meager 194, 5000 km. This is most inadequate. Toluhi’s well-researched paper made some recommendations on what to do. First, it advised that, to meet the Vision 20:202020 target of the Yar’Adua administration, Nigeria’s total road network should be increased to ‘a minimum of 300,000 km’, ‘total network of paved roads from 60,000km to 200,000km…implying that (the country) must provide 21,000km every year in the minimum for four years’. Furthermore, ‘to effectively meet these expectations, Nigeria must make a planned and sustained N250 billion (at 2016 naira-to-dollar value) expenditure on its roads (including) a reported N140 billion maintenance expenditure every year (till 2023)’.
Nigerian roads, like every other sector of Nigerian life have suffered what Toluhi appropriately phrased as ‘a history of maladministration and mismanagement’. The problem with Nigerian roads, opines Ezugu Nice, National Chairman of Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers, ‘is the wrong administration of contracts, from the design to award and management. That is why when roads are constructed; they become dilapidated in less than five years’.
Minister David Umahi, a civil engineer with work experience in the private sector, has so far approached his challenging assignment with appreciable enthusiasm, vigour, and the professional understanding of one who is familiar with his turf. His proposition, to use cement instead of asphalt and bitumen for the roads, besides other changes, is welcome. Cost-benefit analysis supports the long term value. Indeed, this is an idea that had been suggested to Nigerian authorities decades ago but ignored for reasons that only government people can explain.
The success of the minister will, however, depend on the weight of support his principal, President Bola Tinubu, grants him. But, as the saying goes, a fish begins to rot from the head. The roads will begin to improve to the extent that President Bola Tinubu commits to it as promised in his Action Plan for a Better Nigeria working document.
This government says it will ‘embark on the creation of a truly nationwide highway system…rehabilitate and expand existing federal roads and expressways… accelerate the construction of new roads as well as the rehabilitation of existing ones via creative funding mechanism including accessing capital markets and PPP…(enhance the) use of our railways (as) a cost-effective and safe way to reduce the strain on our roads and expressways.’ This is well said.
The causes of bad roads in Nigeria are well documented. Under the ‘umbrella of corruption’ they include poor design and construction, use of substandard materials, contractor incompetence, and lack of regular maintenance. In this country, there is never a shortage of good ideas. But the gap between idea and execution assumes a chasm in Nigeria such that every sound idea on paper becomes un-implementable. The Tinubu administration is hereby challenged to make a difference for good. To this end, and as civil engineer, Ezugu Nice, rightly admonishes, ‘the way out (of continued corruption-laden mismanagement of the road sector) is to follow due process.’ The detailed provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 is of especial relevance in this connection.
The call in some quarters for an emergency on road infrastructure is a good idea that governments at all levels should consider and act upon. In the meantime, availing itself of the benefit of the large amount of policy documents, private sector proposals, and research papers on Nigerian roads, the Federal Government should now begin to set a good example for the lower tiers of government by walking its talk as enunciated in the Tinubu action plan document. Needless to say, under its ‘Rule of Law’ commitment, policies on road infrastructure must be implemented with the utmost transparency, as provided in the Public Procurement Act. Above all, President Tinubu must restructure the country into a more acceptable federal system where states can take full charge of roads and other infrastructure within their domain.
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