By Emeka Nnaka
It was like a shuttle
in a projectile – let’s call it the BRF projectile. Of course, BRF being
Babatunde Raji Fashola, the three-in-one federal minister in charge of Power,
Works and Housing. He has been on a blitzing visit of major road projects
across the country. Starting a few weeks back with on-going roads in the
southeast zone of Nigeria, his last run was across seven states of the Niger
Delta – in three days.
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| *Fashola in Benue State (pix: Guardian) |
As one of the
reporters in the shuttle, my verdict is: how not to work. Imagine starting a trip
by road from Calabar to Uyo, then Aba to
Yenegoa, Port Harcourt to Sapele and then Benin City – in just
three days!
On paper, it may look
easy and straight-forward, but out there on the poorly kept and dangerous
Nigerian roads, it surely is an excruciating way to carry out a task. Of
course, there are modern digital mapping devices that can locate projects even
in the most remote outposts and highlight them with real life high definition.
But understandably, such facilities are not available to the ministry right now
but that must be the way forward.
The first call of the inspection was the over 200 kilometres
Calabar – Akampa – Ikom – Ogoja – Ugep – Katsina-Ala highway. A long-winding,
seemingly interminable and indeed treacherous road. After travelling for about
two-hours of twisting and turning and side-tracking endless streaming of
heavy-duty trucks, it turned out that one of them had upended ahead before the
project site. BRF had to make a U-turn, missing the first target.
This road which
connects about four states and leads up to Makurdi in Benue State is as
strategic as highways go. It is a single-carriage road, which is bad enough;
but it is dilapidated and derelict in many sections. When the rains come,
according to Cross
Rivers State
deputy governor, many sections are flooded impassable.
The contractor, Messrs
Sermatech that had abandoned site for over two years for lack of payment is
back at work. He was mandated to commence remediation work quickly before the
rains. Important too is that hundreds of people are back to work once again:
goods and service will move and zonal economy will flourish.
From the Akwa Ibom
axis, the Ikot-Ekpene-Aba Road
has suffered total collapse at Umuakpo. The Minister had to do a detour through
bush paths and remote village tracks to re-enter the highway. This road that
connects two very important towns of Ikot-Ekpene in Akwa
Ibom State
and Aba in Abia State
was also awarded but unfunded. The contractor abandoned site. They are back
now.
On the Aba-Port
Harcourt section of the now notorious Enugu-Port Harcourt highway, BRF and his
team did on foot, a very long stretch of the project under-going massive
renewal and expansion on foot. It has numerous on-site workers and as we
learnt, is generating hundreds of auxiliary jobs in material supplies, food and
drinks vending.
