… but bandits, others pose roadblocks
Nigeria should see some reduction in food prices in the next harvest season and an upward trend in job creation as the Federal Government embarks on major road construction and rehabilitation projects across the country in coming weeks.
This is as the seasonal rains wind down and the Federal Government commits to a large scale roll out of road projects in the dry season, as announced by Minister for Works, David Umahi, and confirmed by his principal, President Bola Tinubu.
In times of economic downturn, governments across the world embark on construction projects to boost job creation and inflate the economy. The award of construction projects addresses two economic problems simultaneously, as in addition to boosting demand side through injections, revamped roads aid distribution of goods and services, most especially agricultural produce, enhancing their movement from the farm gates to the market.
Bismark Rewane, an economist and chief executive officer of Financial Derivatives Company, says the worsening conditions of many of Nigeria’s roads, particularly those outside Lagos State, are contributing to the escalation of prices for locally produced food items.
Speaking in an interview programme on Arise Television recently, Rewane said maintaining the roads had become an exceedingly challenging endeavour.
He said, “But the reality is that the state of the roads, except something is done, I think there’s some concessioning of the roads in Nigeria as federal roads. It is now clear to everybody, irrespective of who is the minister of works or whatever it is, that managing the roads in Nigeria has become an impossible task.”
He emphasised the need to prioritise the restoration of the roads.
Government’s road construction projects are coming side by side a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) scheme undertaken to prioritise the use of cheaper CNG fuel as against petrol, to drive much of the country’s commercial transportation vehicles, so as to lower transport cost.
Thus, the prospect is for smoother less cumbersome roads to navigate, resulting in reduced cost as well as cheaper fuels.
It is anticipated that both moves, if properly executed, will significantly lower transportation cost, which will bring down food prices as well as stimulate entreprise and create jobs in the short and medium term.
Crops grown in Nigeria include beans, rice, sesame seed, cashew nuts, cassava, cocoa, groundnuts, cocoa yams, maize, melon, millet, palm kernels, palm oil, plantains, rubber, sorghum, soybeans, bananas and yams.
Others farm produce include tomatoes, pepper, onions, carrots, oranges, assorted vegetables, avocado pear, pineapples, mango, pawpaw and garden eggs, among others.
To stimulate increased production, however, government will have to find solution to the growing menace of bandits who invade farms and kidnap farmers for ransome.
Government will further have to work to relocate farmers to higher ground or find outlets for storm water floods that have become rampant in the country in recent times.
While Umahi did not say how many jobs road projects under his portfolio would create, immediate past minister of works, Babatunde Fashola, had said during his tenure, the Federal Government constructed over 8,352.94 kilometres of roads, creating 339,955 jobs between 2016 and 2022.
This works out to the creation of 40 construction jobs per kilometer of road built. Experts say other spin-off businesses cluster around construction sites, creating even more jobs.
Meanwhile, Umahi says he has inherited 18,000 kilometres of roads upon which to work, or pay for work already executed, saying the ministry needs a total of N217 billion to finance 260 road projects and eight bridges across the country in the immediate.
The minister disclosed this while inaugurating four road project committees recently in Abuja.
He said the committees were being inaugurated not just to maintain the roads but also to ensure that contractors implement the contracts signed.
The committees are to monitor the reconstruction of the Benin-Warri Dual Carriageway (Section I, II and III) and dualisation of East-West Road Section III: Port Harcourt (Eleme Junction) Onne Port Junction road in Rivers.
“The directors in this ministry met and we agreed to constitute a taskforce that will be resident in these locations for efficient supervision.
“They will redesign the roads to meet the site situations and Article two of the contract we signed under Section 51 of General Conditions of contract gives us the permission and legal right to redefine the projects.
“Which means we can rescope the projects and quality, we are leveraging on that to save our people from the hardship. We will use one foot thick concrete to rebuild the road. We are already working on the bills to redefine it,” the minister said.
According to Umahi, the Federal Government is giving serious attention to the roads between Benin and Warri and the road between Eleme and Onne Port.
“Let me graciously announce that the ministry contacted Mr President on 260 projects that need very immediate and quick intervention across the federation.
“The projects are from the motions of the National Assembly, outcry of the public and compilations from controllers of our states and the total cost is N217 billion.
“We have sent it to Mr President and the National Assembly is aware and he has directed that we submit at FEC for discussions,” he said.
The roads are key factors for the revolution of the nation’s commerce, education, security and power, as President Tinubu is committed to the nation’s road infrastructure, he said.
Still on approval of funds, the former Ebonyi governor said the president had approved funds for the rehabilitation of the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.
The minister decried the failures of several parts on the East West Road, saying, “Last week, we had a lot of failures on our East West Road between Warri and Cross River.
“We had 12 points that totally collapsed and if we have another flood, the entire section may collapse. Three bridges totally collapsed and we have to reconstruct all of those roads.
“I will also announce that Mr President has not only approved but released money for immediate attention of these 12 points and three bridges that collapsed on our East-West roads between Warri and Cross River.
“Also, reconstruction of Shendam-Lafia bridge and Enugu bridge that collapsed a week ago, and the president has released money for the reconstruction of those two bridges.
“The projects are being worked upon so that we can allay the fears of our people. These are life-threatening emergencies and we must move very fast to begin on all those roads,” he said.
