State of Nigerian roads needs urgent reform – NIHTE, others
BY Matthew Denis
In a bid to reduce road accident rates across the country to minimum stage, the Nigeria Institution of Highway and Transportation Engineers (NIHTE) has called for urgent Reform bills to deliberately fix the roads by the Federal and state governments.
The National Chairman of NIHTE, Engr. Saidu Hassan made the disclosure at a training work managing infrastructure Assets by the International Road Federation (IRF) today.
He Said “the absence of a functional road maintenance and rehabilitation framework has left the nation’s highways in a state of disrepair.
“the dire situation of the roads has hindered transportation efficiency, increased the risk of accidents, and skyrocketed expenses for drivers and transport operators.
“The much anticipated Reform seeks to create the Federal Roads Authority as an Executing Agency and a Roads Fund to provide a sustainable source of funding for road maintenance, adding that the Reform had been attempted as early as 1971, but without any success.
According to him Nigeria had the best network of roads in Sub-Saharan Africa in the late 1970s and early 1980s. unfortunately; these networks of roads were allowed to deteriorate without intervention. In recognition of the gravity of the problem, the Federal Ministry of Works brought up the Road Vision 2000, a comprehensive document to bring about the necessary Reforms in the Road Sector.
“The 8th and 9th Assemblies passed the Road Reform Bills but they were not assented to the then President. NIHTE is appealing to the Hon Minister to take deliberate steps to get the Bills passed into law.
“As a matter of urgency, we urge the Honourable Minister to facilitate the Presidential assent to the Road Sector Reform Bills with the view to addressing the existing constraints in the sector.
“Rigid pavement should be encouraged for use at heavily trafficked routes and sections with poor subgrade. We enjoin the Ministry to immediately begin to control Axle Loads on our roads and highways by introducing weigh-in-motion systems. The new policy should be subjected to research and professional considerations in collaboration with public and private sector stakeholders across Nigeria.
“We urge the Honourable Minister to liaise with his colleague in the Ministry of Solid Minerals to accelerate the exploitation of the bitumen reserves in the country through private investors. This will help in conserving our foreign exchange and greatly assist us in the provision of good roads in the country at reduced costs.
“We recommend very strongly that the Honourable Minister should urge his colleague in the Ministry of Steel to urgently complete the Ajaokuta steel complex with the view to enable access to local steel production to reduce the cost of pavement construction.”
Also Speaking, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and several other stakeholders, have expressed deep concern over the deteriorating state of Nigerian roads.
They, however, urged the current Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, to leverage his position and facilitation capabilities to push for the much-needed presidential assent of the Road Sector Reform Bills.
They made the call during a conference to kick-start a four-day workshop for industry players on “Managing Road Infrastructure Assets'”, organized by NIHTE, in partnership with International Road Federation (IRF), held Monday, in Abuja.
The Managing Director of FERMA, Engr. Chukwuemeka Agbasi, said: “We are in a period where we are constantly being challenged to do more with less. How can you do more with less if you don’t know how to manage the little that has been given to you. So, I think that’s what this workshop or training is about.”
On his part, the National Secretary General, NIHTE, Engr. Bola Mudasiru, said: “We don’t have enough budget to ensure that we’re taking care of our roads in terms of construction, maintenance as the case may be and that there will always be improvements on budgetary allocation for all these. We hope things get better.”
The highlights of the programme was training of transportation Engineers in partnership International Road Federation (IRF).
