By Efosa Taiwo

Ammar Bello, a civil engineer specializing in infrastructure design and management, has called for a shift toward data-driven and resilient road construction practices in Northern Nigeria, stressing the need to address the region’s worsening road conditions through long-term, science-backed solutions.

Bello explained that rising road traffic fatalities in the region are closely linked to declining construction quality, weak regulatory enforcement, and the near absence of predictive maintenance frameworks — particularly across arterial and inter-state roadways.

“We are not just facing potholes,we are witnessing accelerated structural failure,” Bello stated.

“From pavement fatigue to drainage collapse, the early-stage design errors and material inconsistencies are now manifesting in dangerous ways.”

Having analysed field data across Northwestern corridors, Bello identified material durability, drainage efficiency, and construction workmanship as the most critical determinants of road safety outcomes. 

He stressed that deficiencies in these areas are directly correlated with elevated accident rates, increased severity of injuries, and long-term economic losses due to vehicle damage and traffic delays.

“When asphalt integrity drops below load-bearing thresholds, roads buckle under climatic and vehicular stress,” he explained.

“In regions with high axle loads and extreme weather variation, failing to use weather-adaptive materials or adequate sub-base reinforcement is simply negligent.”

Beyond the technical breakdown, Bello said the governance structure surrounding Nigerian public

infrastructure is in urgent need of re-engineering. 

He emphasised that project commissioning alone is no longer sufficient in today’s development context.

 

Lifecycle planning, forensic audits, and performance-based contract models must become industry standard.

“Contractors should not be paid solely for delivery — they should be evaluated by how the infrastructure performs over time,” he said.

“If a road degrades two years after completion, that is not wear and tear — it’s bad engineering.”

Bello, who is currently pursuing advanced research in construction systems optimization in the U.S., advocates for a hybrid model that blends engineering science, data analytics, and localized construction knowledge to improve project outcomes in Nigeria.

“The path forward requires a technical renaissance,” he said. “We must integrate soil data, traffic forecasting, and maintenance AI models into our planning stages. And we must build for 30-year resilience, not 3-year turnover.”

He called for the establishment of an independent National Pavement Performance Registry that would track failure patterns, maintenance records, and construction histories to support data-driven policymaking.

Bello warned that Northern Nigeria’s economic development will remain constrained unless infrastructure integrity becomes a national engineering priority.

“We cannot talk about regional growth or safety if our roads remain structurally unreliable. Quality infrastructure is not a luxury — it is the spine of national stability.”