What is the logic behind the proposed reintroduction of toll gates not long after they were demolished by the government?

The issue of returning toll gates is not just a single item. It is part of the holistic package to reform the road sector. This will include our views on concession, private partnership in building roads, getting a road fund, creating a federal Highway authority within the Ministry of Works.

*Senator Eze

It will include involving the whole stakeholders in closing the funding gap on our road sector. It will also include trying to create and design a new budgetary cycle for the road sector. Yearly budgetary cycle for the road sector will not suffice.
This yearly budgetary cycle will not suffice because by the time you finish with procurement, the cycle of the budget is already coming to an end. I think that certain infrastructure like roads, railway, power, waterways should be taken away from the yearly budgetary cycle.

These should be put on a rolling plan, you can programme for 10, 15 and 20 years. And you are sure that there are funds that are rolling over those years. You are not under the strictures that are imposed by yearly appropriation.

Actually the toll gates are necessary to come back but they would not just come back until all our roads are cleaned and made motorable. Two, until we create secondary arteries so that those who do not have the resources, the capacity or the appetite or the inclination to pay toll gates by taking federal highways will go through those secondary routes and arrive at their destination.

If where you are going is not very urgent and you want to take a leisurely ride, you can take a secondary route and find your way. It will take longer, but it will surely bring you to your destination.

The motorways are for those who are able to pay or who have the inclination to pay and who want to use a good motorable highway to go fast to their destination and maybe return. And what people are going to pay is not much. It is just to recover enough cost to ensure that those roads are continually in good shape because government funds the construction, reconstruction and maintenance of roads.

Are you saying these condition you just mentioned must be in place before the return of these gates again.

Off course, roads must be motorable before can toll them. You cannot toll pothole ridden roads, or roads with failed sections or roads with washouts. You have to toll roads that are in motorable conditions that people who ply them will get a sense of being able to get a value for the money.

It is not something we are going to do in a hurry. It is part of a holistic package to re-programme the road sector, repair the roads, reform the funding architecture within the road sector. And then create several levels of roads: the highways and the secondary routes.

So we are not expecting the return of the toll gates next year as being speculated?

If we are able to finish all these things by next year, the toll gates will come. But if we are not able to finish it, of course the toll gates will not come.

Is that the proposal of the Senate or that of the ministry?

We are all talking together. The vision of the Senate coincides with the vision of the ministry. And I believe that we are on the same page on this.

There is the argument that in the past, toll gates were built more in some parts of the country, whilst the roads in these parts appeared to be worst and the least maintained. What criteria will be used?

The toll gates will not be built on sentiments but on empirical data because there are going to be facilities to be installed on the road to assess the volume of traffic and that will determine the number of toll points to be established on that road. This will be governed by the expanse of the road in terms of lanes. I don’t believe that any particular place will have concentration of toll gates to the exclusion of others.

All these things will be assessed and measured and established in a manner that will ensure equity, fairness and justice to all Nigerians.

What is the impact of non availability of other means of mass transportation on the road network?

The impact is much. And I have said so. The collapse of intermodal transport system; the railways are not working, the airways are not working. The waterways are uncharted and completely undeveloped. So everybody is on the land. And that land is designed for a maximum weight limit. The axle load on our roads is 42 tons but now you see trailers with 60 tons and 100 tons or even more running on those roads.

We must develop the funding gap for the infrastructure especially rails, airways, waterways. Unless the intermodal transportation system is up and running and efficient, the desire to attract foreign direct investment will continue to suffer setback.  No investor will come where he is confronted with all these headaches.

What is the fate of the proposal for a second Niger bridge?

The second Niger bridge is a priority of the Jonathan government and it is going to be done. The process will commence in 2012. I can assure you. Just two days ago, the IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank was here and was discussing with the ministry.

They are ready to bring some level of funding to start the study. What is delaying the take off are proposals that it will take a minimum of between 30 to 50 months for the design to be completed. They are looking for people who can complete the design faster and ensure that actual construction starts. If it is not finished in the life of this administration, they must have advanced to such a level that further funding cannot become a problem.

The person coming in will not become reluctant to continue with the project. The new idea is that it is also going to carry a rail track in the middle. It will connect the railway running up to the North and the one running from PortHarcourt up to North, through the South East. You know the SE was cut off in the railway master plan that was done in the past.

This one will carry a rail track so that the SE will not be completely cut off. That is also part of the design. The minister spoke with me and spoke about the commitment of the President and there is no going back. Whoever is saying the minister said this or that is on his own.