Barrister Babatunde Fashola, SAN |
Given the scale of the challenges
facing Nigeria over infrastructure and Barrister Babatunde Fashola’s unique
position in which he has been saddled with fixing it on the three most critical
fronts, it is understandable if the Minister of Power, Works and Housing
sometimes seems overwhelmed. When he said at a town hall meeting in Lagos the
other day that the Federal Government needs about N2.0 trillion to complete no
fewer than 226 on-going road projects across the country, he sounded just as
exasperated as he did in an earlier statement during one of the 2016 budget
defence sessions, that the government was indebted to road contractors to the
tune of N1.0 trillion, in respect of over 200 on-going road projects in the
country. There is so much to do but so little money available for the task.
Even so, for such a man of rigour
with painstaking attention to details as Fashola, ‘’over 200 on-going
projects’’ and ‘’ no fewer than 226 projects’’ or the amount of government’s
indebtedness for on-going projects at N1 trillion while about N2 trillion would
be required for the completion of the still on-going projects, advertises a
certain inexactitude that gives little room for a full appreciation of the real
state of things. Not the minister’s fault though. These gaps would have been
bridged if the government had emplaced a Federal Roads Authority, which has
variously been recommended, to deal with road-related issues. Now is the time
to establish that authority.
Glaring evidence that there exists
not yet a comprehensive and complete information on the scope of the on-going
road projects and the financial out-lay needed to see them through, it can
easily be deduced from the budgetary proposal of a mere N423 billion for
Fashola’s three-arm ministry: power, works and housing. Graciously, the
National Assembly moved his budget by N77 billion to N500 billion, an amount
certainly inadequate for the enormity of the work that needs to be done.
It important to emphasise that road
infrastructure is very crucial to effective and productive socio-economic
activities in this country, especially in the face of absence or poor
availability of better and cheaper alternatives. The state of the nation’s
roads is intolerably disgraceful. It is a well-known fact that there has been
no greater killing field than the roads as many citizens have lost their lives
principally as a result of their dilapidated state. The nation’s economic and
productive business activities have significantly been frustrated as a result
of the bad roads and the toll on the overall economy is immeasurable.
Suffice to say that road cannot be
treated as another infrastructure but as an economic and national security
asset. To arrive at road infrastructure that the nation can be proud of would
require proper understanding of the present situation, proper planning and
funding plus an aggressive implementation of such plans. The need for the
establishment of enduring road standards and enforcing them is also imperative.
When proven that a contractor has failed to keep to standards, payment should
be denied. These days in Nigeria, unlike in the pre-independence and up to the
mid-1980s, roads newly constructed or rehabilitated become dilapidated just
after one rainy season.
Given the current revenue squeeze
and the huge capital needed to fix the roads, the Nigerian government should be
creative in determining how it can pay off existing debts to road contractors,
complete the on-going road projects and initiate new ones. Examples of areas
worth considering or reconsidering include: well structured private-public
partnerships, build and operate arrangements, low-cost long-term financing from
multi-lateral financial and development institutions, and re-establishment of
the toll gate system with excellent controls to check leakages. Of course,
private organisations can collaborate under joint venture arrangements to build
or maintain roads.
Further from the foregoing is the
need to ensure good governance practices in the award, execution, supervision,
monitoring, certification and payment of contracts. These will go a long way in
checking corruptive tendencies, cost over-runs, contract abandonment and
failures as well as poor quality performance by contractors. The private sector
stakeholders will also assist in managing cost effectively and ensuring value
is received for money spent.
In the final analysis, to save
citizens from the agony of inadequate and poor or non-functional road
infrastructure being experienced all over the country, the nation should
strategically commence the development of an integrated functional
transportation system covering road, rail, water and air. Well planned and
executed, this promises to profoundly improve current conditions especially by
providing convenient alternatives at affordable cost, to the people.
Fashola’s capacity to do a good job
is not in doubt but the financials can make the most astute of managers a
failure. Government must therefore be creative in finding non-burdensome ways
to pay its debts to road contractors and ensure the completion of on-going
projects if mere lamentations would not continue. (Guardian)
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