Lack of maintenance culture in the country has been a known characteristic of the past administrations, and has indeed become an age-long ‘birth-mark’ in governance. President Jonathan’s administration is yet to prove otherwise with the physical results of the presently pursued goals of transformation in governance. Part of the transformation agenda is the recent pronouncement by the Finance Minister and the coordinator of the Presidential Economic Team, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Completion of a thousand & one government abandoned projects scattered all over the Federation, if successfully pursued and achieved would shift our present position & rating on infrastructure development to an advantage point under the ongoing transformation agenda.
Nigeria has suffered a great deal of losses (lives of very eminent and important personalities, alongside with that on millions of the Nigerian masses) through carnage on our roads. Just very recently, a very top government official lost the lives of his aides and driver in a road accident. These losses sincerely tell (directly or indirectly) on the nation’s economy, negatively. Apart from the fact that this is a singular source/contributor to the nation’s low life-expectancy (with respect to our population and the very high counts of deaths through road accidents involving the greater percentage of our youths), it is also a wasting source of trained professionals and very brilliant brains in the land.
Good roads improve the mental alertness, concentration and calculations of a driver on the wheels; in making sound decisions while contending with the road traffic. This comes to bear drastically reduced cases of carnage on the Federal Highways. The contrary is the case with badly damaged roads, full of potholes and undulated spots as a result of erosion and cracks on the highways. One early morning in the month of August, i travelled by road from Abuja to Onitsha. Just from the Abuja metropolis, all the way down to River Benue bridge (along Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja road) we recorded very fresh ghastly road mishaps (about nine cases within a space of fifteen to twenty minutes) because; it was raining “cat & dog” that morning. It was a worrisome observation indeed, which would have been averted were the roads to have been in good shape. This made families to lose their loved ones because of distractions created for the drivers/road users due to the multi-faceted potholes at specific spots. People at the same time lost their exotic cars, got them mangled and smashed beyond repairs. In addition to these, very unbearable road traffic jams that set in for hours each time such accidents occur; all contributing towards the nation’s economic losses.
This worrisome situation is indeed very painful when the cost of the suffering masses (the inter-city commuters) is counted. One very good example is the notorious Ore spot (along the Benin-Ore highway). Human beings who cannot afford to travel by air, suffer untold hardship by spending hours on a “near-madness” replica of jam-packed vehicles (cars, luxurious buses, trailers and various shades of tankers) all scrambling & struggling to gain access on a single lane way. This piece should sound and as well serve as a reminder to the Federal Ministry of works, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and possibly their states’ counterparts, especially at this season of the “Ember months” with the Christmas season just next door (fast approaching). There is no point mentioning other deadly spots like the Shagamu-Ibadan road (along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway) ,Ugwuoba-9th mile (along the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway) spots and many others in the Northern parts of course and the South-South (the Ikot-Ekpene road leading to Aba).
I have the opportunity to observe what people experience/pass through at Ore area just last weekend when i travelled to Lagos by road from Onitsha. This shouldn’t be at all, especially now that the government is preaching and confessing the promises of good governance and all the attached democracy dividends to the masses. The Federal Ministry of works and the FERMA should sit up and be up & doing in fixing our roads. The Christmas rush is just by the corner!
Whenever i try to compare notes with what obtains or goes on in some other countries of the world; where i always observe the ways these things are done right by them (like in China and in our own South Africa) i shudder. Their own kinds of our FERMA tackle these issues to the minutest level, on daily basis. Yes, this i know because, i have severally observed where you (for instance) ply a way and on your coming back the same way after a few hours later, behold, the road was already being resurfaced afresh within hours. I lamented in South Africa one day after observing such patriotism in them. The same striking note took place somewhere in China, when a local TV station constantly featured in their news, what i personally consider ‘a non issue’ by our own standard or in our own society; how Taxis & Buses were falling into a shallow pothole in the city of Guangzhou (along SangYuAnli road). Under 24 hours, that spot was fixed.
What does it take our FERMA to be doing the same? Is it due to lack of fund or poor management, or what? These death traps on our Federal Highways ought to be promptly and timely fixed/maintained so that further lives will not be lost due to our own negligence, recklessness and carelessness.