Despite the poor revenue claims by the current administration, awards of contracts have continued, especially the construction of new roads, to the neglect of existing ones, most of which are deplorable.

From the Olusegun Obasanjo?s administration to the barely two years present administration of Bola Tinubu, there are sadly piles of abandoned roads across the country.

The ugly trend, poor state of existing roads and other projects were recently captured by Henry Mbadiwe, registrar, Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN), when he alerted that the value of abandoned road projects in Nigeria hovers around N17 trillion.

The projects such as roads and power projects, were amongst those awarded by previous administrations, but abandoned due to poor budgetary allocations and poor project management.

According to him, ?Abandoned projects in Nigeria stand at over N17 trillion today, and research has shown that the main causes of abandoned projects in Nigeria are lack of articulated vision and objectives that multiple administrations can stand behind, lack of proper project planning from the onset and monitoring as well as absence of proper budgetary allocation for the project, among others.?

Like many Nigerians, Peter Obi, the Labour Party?s presidential candidate, recently narrated the ugly experience he encountered on one of his trips by road to a community in Edo State, to attend the burial of his friend?s mother.

Obi?s experience is reminiscent of the everyday experience of ordinary Nigerians who ply roads daily, across the country.

Obi, recounting his experience said, ?Today, again, I came face to face with the deplorable state of Nigeria roads as my desire to join a great friend and brother, General Cecil Esekhaigbe, in Esan Central of Edo State, who was burying his mother, was marred by bad roads.

?I had set out at 8am by road to Esanland to join him and bid his beloved mother, Mrs. Ebaidebheki Esakhaigbe, farewell, but little did I know that it would be a mission impossible.

?Due to my previous experience with bad roads, while going to the place previously through Benin, I decided to avoid that route entirely and go through Agbor.

?On getting to Agbor Junction, I turned toward the direction of my destination and was shocked by the very bad shape of the road, which was almost not passable by car,? Obi narrated.

He persisted and continued on the journey for about 25 minutes into the road until it became completely blocked by a faulty trailer that had impeded movement, causing gridlock.

He also revealed how he decided to take an alternative route going through Ugoneki Road, which would have also led him to my destination. ?Again, getting to the road was another nightmare, making my journey impossible. The poor condition of many Nigerian roads breaks my heart.?

The former Governor of Anambra state, said following the experience, he had to turn back when he could not navigate further.

?I use this opportunity to continue to plead with our political leaders, at all levels, to concentrate on maintaining, rehabilitating, and reconstructing our existing roads and other infrastructure rather than embarking on new projects that will never be completed,? he admonished the government.

In the same vein, Aisha Karuba, a 45-year-old fertiliser supplier from Goniri-Ngamdu, in Benue State, expressed her frustration regarding the delayed completion of some major road projects. She plies the highway to Maiduguri once every week. The poor condition of the road causes her more stress and jeopardises her business, she said.

?There have been instances where I couldn?t travel back to Goniri-Ngamdu from Maiduguri. I have to sleep in the park until the next day because after 4:00 pm, no car is allowed to enter Goniri-Ngamdu, and the road is very bad,? she said.

Theresa Eme, a trader in Cross River State, who travels to rural market in Akwa Ibom State, every week to buy foodstuff and other products to sell in the big market, lamented the deplorable Calaba-Uyo Highway, Ikot Ekpene-Aba and Ikot Ekpene-Umuahia roads, which coupled with the high cost of transportation are the major reasons the prices of commodities and foodstuff are increasing daily.

?With the fuel situation and bad roads, moving the products is very expensive these days and we have to push on the cost to the consumers in order to remain in business.

?Tinubu?s government should help us by completing the abandoned road here, especially Calabar-Uyo and Calabar-Ikom because passengers encounter robbers who collect their money on these roads,? she said.

However, Amos Tongman, Federal Controller of Works in Borno State, said that Tinubu?s administration has set up a panel to review abandoned projects and ensure their completion.

While awaiting for their completion, Dave Umahi, Minister of Works, has continued to push for award of contracts for new projects, especially roads.

In September, this year, Umahi announced the approval of N1.24 trillion for the construction/rehabilitation and repairs of roads by the Federal Executive Council in some states including; Cross River, Ondo, Osun, Ebonyi, Abia and Imo.

Other road projects include; the Gamboru Bridge along Gambor-Ngala/Kala-Balge Road in Bornu, Maraban-Kankara/Funtua Road in Katsina State and construction of 258 kilometer three-lane carriageway, a component of the 1,000 Sokoto/Badagry Super-highway, Section 2, Phase 2A.

According to him, FEC also approved the contract for the construction and dualisation of Afikpo-Uturu-Okigwe Road in Ebonyi, Abia, and Imo States (Section 2).

?We have 14 road projects and bridges that were approved for construction, they were badly affected by floods and some of the bridges were being threatened. We have Ado-Ekiti/Afe Babalola in Ekiti State.

?We have the JB Lamba Road in Adamawa State, Kuku-Besse-Zaria-Kata Road in Kebbi State, construction of Ngutuk to Demeshi Road, Amasiroposi/Uburishagu to Enugu State.

?We have Awo-Iwe-Ata 20.3 kilometer Phase 1, Ebom Road in Cross River State, Ilesha-Oke-Igbo, Ondo State, Phase 1, Ilesha-Oke-Igbo, Ondo State, Section 1, Lafia/Shendam Road in Plateau State, a section of Abakaliki/Afikpo Road Section 1, dualization of Bodoken/Kitti/Koroma Road in River State, and dualization of Afikpo/Uturu/Okigwe Road in Ebonyi, Abia and Imo states.

?These 14 roads were awarded and then you have a contract for the repair and rehabilitation of Gamboru Bridge along Gambor-Ngala/Kala-Balge Road in Bornu State.

?We have approval of two contracts of roads, one in Cross River and the other one in Kabba, Kogi State, down to Ado-Ekiti Road in favour of CCECC. We have the Abuja/Kano Road, 82 kilometre dualized, it is a project of Julius Berger that has been ongoing and we inherited from the past administration about 62 kilometres and it was completed for a total sum of N393 billion,? he concluded.

Considering the many new road contracts, especially the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road and Badagry-Sokoto Super Highway, amid many abandoned ones, some concerned Nigerians and road experts said that the Federal Government is rather not doing enough on roads.

They argued the rationale for the new ones, when the number of roads begging for construction is overwhelming.

A source, who worked in the Goodluck Jonathan administration, said that the administration then determined that it needed $50 billion per year for 10 years to bring Nigeria?s infrastructure up to date, but could not achieve that due to many challenges, especially losing power to the opposition then.

For John Iwuze, an Abuja-based businessman, the federal government needs to urgently rehabilitate existing roads to enable people to travel by roads during the yuletide season as many may not be able to travel due to bad roads and the high cost of airfare.

?I think the President needs to get his priorities right. You don?t embark on new projects when most roads are begging for attention.

The ordinary Nigerian is always at the receiving end of poor policy implementation.

As we speak, our existing roads are like death traps, all they will require is small funds, but we are daily inundated by the award of new contracts,? he decried.

Luke Etinon, a lawyer, who resides in Calabar, said that there was no assurance the newly awarded road projects would be completed by the Tinubu?s administration before its leaves office.

He pointed out that he would prefer this administration to complete the abandoned highway and road projects, than initiate multiple ones at the same time.

On his part, Obinna Nwagbara, executive director, Youth and Students Advocates for Development (YSAD), described it as a case of political expediency superseding economic rationality.

He said that fixing the roads will bring succour to Nigerians, but noted that the present administration wants to construct new roads that will most likely join the plethora of abandoned projects in the country.

Nwagbara argued that government spending should be impact-based, and not to glorify those in power, noting that projects should be based on the needs of the people, which should be prioritized.

?Our priority as a country should be to fix already existing roads, most of which were awarded over 20 years ago,? he said.

Ugochukwu Okezie, public relations expert with Rhema University, Aba, said that the Federal Government is confusing Nigerians with its array of new road projects in the midst of a harsh economy.

He accused the government of insincerity, noting that those in government keep playing dirty politics with the people?s lives.

?If not insincerity and dirty politics, how else can one describe a situation where a government turns a blind eye on existing bad roads only to take loans to build new ones,? he noted.

In light of the economic hardship faced by majority of the populace, Ogbodo urged the Federal Government to reevaluate its spending priorities.

He noted that the agricultural sector, which employs a significant portion of the population, is in dire need of support, especially as climate change and inadequate resources have stymied productivity.

?By prioritizing agricultural reforms, the government could combat food insecurity and reduce reliance on imports, thereby addressing one of the main causes of inflation affecting Nigerians today.

?Investing in irrigation, storage facilities, and modern farming techniques could yield immediate and sustainable benefits than road projects, which may take years to complete and yield indirect economic benefits,? he noted further.

He also disclosed that investment in quality education could empower Nigeria?s large youth population, equipping them with skills to secure better-paying jobs or start small businesses.

?Addressing energy infrastructure is another critical need. Regular power outages in Nigeria severely hinder businesses and industrial productivity, and improvement in this sector would arguably yield immediate economic benefits than new road construction. A more reliable energy supply would enable small businesses to operate efficiently and reduce reliance on costly fuel for generators, thereby supporting both economic growth and poverty reduction,? he said.

On the claims of lack of funds by the government, Hassan Idrissu, an Economist and bank executive, queried what the government is doing with money saved from fuel subsidy removal.

The Abuja-based banker noted that the government should not even tax the people as subsidy removal alone has hugely boosted its revenue base.

?Considering today?s economic realities, the government should judiciously use the revenue it generates, invest in projects that will impact the people and not celebrated projects they will abandoned half way.

?If you tell the masses to tighten their belts, you government should be prudent in your spendings. But the reverse seems to be the case and that?s why many prefer completion of abandoned roads and repair of deplorable ones to construction of new ones,,? the banker said.

As well, Blessing Wikina, an information management expert and retired public administrator, wondered where the gains of subsidy removal had gone for the federal government to plead ?no money? still.

?The issue of ?no money? appears like a mere play on words. The agenda behind removal of subsidy was to free up funds for infrastructure. Now, without any to point at, without maintaining the myriad of bad roads, plus the increased taxation across the land, the government cannot complain of no money.

?It is either absence of direction, or the freed-up fund is not being deployed in governance as well as the borrowed funds,? he said.

Meanwhile, a school of thought, thinks that a balanced approach is necessary. While road infrastructure has undeniable long-term benefits, it should not come at the cost of immediate needs of Nigerians, which is addressing inflation and consequent high cost of living.

They advised the government to consider alternative funding mechanisms, such as public-private partnerships (PPPs), to ease the financial burden on its resources, while still pursuing the infrastructure projects.

According to Ogbodo, Public Private Partnerships (PPP) have been successfully implemented in some countries with similar economic conditions, allowing the government to leverage private capital and expertise, while focusing on more immediate social needs.

?Encouraging private investment or even granting concessions to companies that build and maintain certain highways could enable progress in infrastructure, without diverting critical funds from other sectors,? Ogbodo said.

While the government is bent on constructing the new roads, many concerned Nigerians called for a transparent framework to monitor and evaluate the projects to ensure funds are used effectively, stressing that stronger accountability measures, such as independent audits, could improve public confidence and prevent cost overrun. (BusinessDay)

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