By Owei Lakemfa
I WAS on the road last week, undergoing what many Nigerians experience; spending thrice the number of hours on a journey due to what is referred to as ‘roads’ in the country. The road from Lokoja to Kabba that should take about 50 minutes, I made in over two hours through  death traps. We had to take the  longer route of going first to Okene and then Kabba,  a road I am told is far better than taking the direct route.  This road to Golgotha, proved far better and safer than the Kabba-Iyamoye Road. The state of that road made me question; have we had  governments since colonial times?

With  the state of roads in the country which is  less than fifteen percent motor able,  the Senate is working hard  to reintroduce tollgates across the country. We had tollgates before 2004 when the Obasanjo administration dismantled them at the cost of N400 million. That was half the annual income of the toll gates. The government removed them because it wanted to increase the price of petroleum products. Its argument was that with the increase and the inherent tax in it, it was unnecessary to further tax the populace in the name of toll gates. Its correct analysis which still holds true today, is that it would amount to double taxation.  Another truth  for removing the toll gates was that they engender  corruption and gross inefficiency.

Those arguing for the return, claim that a country in recession needs more money to implement basic projects like road repairs and construction.  I agree, except that a people   repressed by recession, need all the money available to survive the times; they need assistance. It was in the Great Depression, America found innovative ways to engage its poor and fight poverty. We cannot deepen poverty at a time the Nigerian people are in dire need.

They argue that tollgates are a global phenomenon. So what; is development, which is lacking in Nigeria not  global?  If our roads are fixed and made functional, the argument to construct tollgates would be plausible; but to advocate building tollgates on  roads which are essentially, death traps, can in fact be provocative. Did it escape these advocates that tollgates would mean higher cost of transportation in the country. That it would gravely affect workers who may need to go through them, increase the cost of food which must be transported and generally add to the burden of Nigerians, who actually need relief?

The argument that government needs money in order to repair and maintain the roads is the trite chicken and egg one; which should come first, we pay for the death traps in order for them to be repaired or they are repaired before the gatemen erect their barriers for tolls?

Given our experience, lack of money cannot be a logical argument; the country has poured in a lot of money into road maintenance and  construction with little to show for it.  In fact, during the Obasanjo administration, there were public queries about  what happened to N300 billion allocated under a particular Minister. Why can’t these advocates of pouring more money into road maintenance not wait to see how much mileage we will get  this year from  the N200 billion allocated in the 2016 budget?

One  culture of waste over the years,  is awarding road  contracts  to foreign companies  who simply repatriate the ‘profit’.   For almost all our road needs, we  do not require foreign expertise because road technology is hundreds of years old, and we have Nigerian workers and companies who can do a good job.  Some of the best and most enduring roads in   Western Nigeria, were built by local contractors. The main contractor being  A. Oni and Sons. This Way, we employed Nigerians and ensured that money expended on roads, circulated within the country.

The old Public Works Department , PWD, now Federal Ministry of Works, was primarily responsible for road construction and maintenance. Even where contractors, including foreigners were engaged such as in the construction of Badagry-Seme, Benin-Shagamu, Zaria-Kano and Lagos-Ibadan express ways, they were  supervised by the staff of the Ministry. In fact, in the case of the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way which for decades now, has become a drain pipe and a nightmare for motorists, it was the Ministry of Works that collected toll gate and  maintained every kilometre. As we know,  the life of a road depends  on its maintenance. To ensure proper repairs, the Ministry had maintenance gangs for every ten-kilometre which ensured immediate repairs of any failed  portion.  That way, potholes were filled and repaired before they could become   craters.  Then,  the corrupt ‘privatised’ the road; toll was collected but no maintenance.  With this, we periodically spend more money for repairs than the total cost  of the road, yet it remains time consuming, life wasting and a nightmare for motorists.

The issue about our roads is not primarily  the lack  of funds, but to what use these have been put. It is an open secret that countless roads have been ‘maintained’ or ‘constructed’  in the books, with nothing on ground to justify such huge expenditure.  In fact, some of the highways  like the Abuja-Lokoja and East-West Road have been under construction for over a decade. If the Senate, in the tradition of the elite politicians  wants to impose more taxes on the overburdened populace, it should say so and not hide under road repairs and construction.

The people may have to prepare  for more taxation in the guise of petrol price increase. In the last few weeks, we have been treated to the drama of ‘experts’ flying the kite of  fuel price increase followed by heated denials. The Forum of retired and serving Group Managing Directors of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC,  had flagged this off by claiming that the N145 per litre pump price  was unrealistic. Officials later took to the air waves to deny any planned increased. Then a top NNPC manager said the N145 litre is unsustainable. Again the body ‘clarified’ the comment, and now another clarification has come on the heels of the organisation increasing the pump price at its stations from N141 to N145. In reality, in Abuja, the NNPC mega stations like that near Gwarinmpa before now, sold a litre at N143 not N141 as claimed.

Left to the populace, they  would want to survive the recession,  keep their heads above water and keep their families afloat. But would their representatives give a listening ear?

On the long run, we need to build the rail system which would ensure safe and cheap mass transit, remove pressure from the roads, reduce  dependency on petrol    and ensure development.