The collapse of Makera bridge along Mokwa – kontagora – kaduna road, abandoned by sucessive governments over the years, has resulted in diversion of traffic including articulated vehicles to the Suleja – Minna – Bida road. AIDELOJE OJO takes a critical look at the pressure on this road and why it is a death trap.
Few days ago, a fatal accident occurred on the Minna –Bida road in which five lives were lost. The accident occurred when an articulated vehicle coming from Lagos crushed a passenger bus bound for Bida while both drivers were avoiding a deep gully on a failed portion of the road. As the bereaved families were still mourning the untimely death of their beloved ones, another fatal accident occurred along the Suleja–Minna road close to Kwakuti village through a head-on collision while attempting to dodge deep pot holes.
Records available from the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) indicate that there has been astronomical increase in deaths along that road due to the bad condition of the road. Blueprint gathered that the road has also become nightmare for travellers and motorists due to reoccurring gridlocks that usually remains for days particularly around the Kwakuti – Farin Doki portion of the highway.Road users bare their mindA Minna-based commercial driver, Usman Mohammed, told Blueprint that although gridlocks are common sights on the 92 kilometres road due to its deplorable state, however, his seven-hour experiences on Thursday, September 12, 2019 while travelling to Abuja was traumatic. According to him, “The unpleasantly frightening gridlock persisted for over one week while this state government claimed to be working on some failed portions. The pathetic reality is that the same portions keep failing as soon as contractors leave the spot thereby rubbishing the claim by government that billions of naira are sunk into the repairs.” Checks revealed that recent down- pour created lots of hardship for motorists plying that road as flood eroded portions of the road.
The situation worsened when a tanker which attempted to navigate through a gully fell thereby blocking the road altogether as a result of which travellers were stuck for hours.
In a plea to the state government, the state chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Alhaji Garba Musa Bala Kontagora, lamented that his members now sleep in their vehicles most of the times. He called on the government to face the situation squarely instead of engaging in approaches that do not yield desired results. While appreciating the state government for its efforts at providing palliatives for travellers with the patching of failed portions of the road, he said movement of heavy trucks hinders fruitful results. N5b expended so far – state gov’t/ decries attitude of tanker driversSpeaking with journalists recently, the chief of staff to the governor, Malam Ibrahim Balarebe, disclosed that government had expended over five billion naira on rehabilitation of the Minna – Suleja road in the past four years. He however expressed dismay over the attitude of heavy duty truck driver whom he said refuse to divert to alternative road at Lambata village to enable the completion of works on the Minna–Lambata road.
According to him, the state government’s efforts to repair the road is being sabotaged by tank drivers who carry over 66,000 litres of fuel products “We have been pleading with these articulated truck drivers to use the alternative route to Bida town without coming into Minna but they don’t want to listen. The portions of the road we worked on caved in the moment trailers go through the spot and return us to square one. This has been our dilemma and we want the drivers to understand our plight.”He stated that the state has the highest number of federal roads in the country but non of them is motorable thereby putting so much pressure on Suleja – Minna- Bida highway. He however agreed that heavy duties vehicles resorted to the popular highway because of the state of Mokwa-Bokani-Tegina-Kagara-Birinin Gwari and Lambata-Lapai-Agaie-Bida roads which are also in bad shape. He said, “Like all federal roads in the state, the Minna-Suleja highway is old and obsolete with the capacity and structure already down. The designed- life of the road has already expired and requires redesign and reconstruction. The federal government is aware and that is why it awarded contract for its reconstruction but lack of fund had stalled the project.” Gov’t insensitive to us – Tanker driversHowever, one of the truck drivers, Ishaiku Abubakar told Blueprint that the Lambata – Lapai – Agaie – Bida road which the state government is compelling his members to ply is worse than the Minna – Suleja road. According to him, forcing trailers on that road is the same as sending them on suicide mission. “That road has since become a death trap and no go area to us. The government attempted some times last year to ban us from the Bida –Minna road by erecting barriers on Bida. This was resisted vehemently until Bida Emirate Council intervened. This year, the administration first restricted our movement on the Minna –Suleja road even though as citizens we have right to travel through any part of the country. Now, they is pushing us into the road that has collapsed over the years. We have come to the conclusion that the state government is insensitive to our plight and this is very unfortunate.”No political will – AnalystsApparently worried by the development, Governor Abubakar Sani Bello directed the state Ministry of Works and Infrastructural Development to carry out emergency repairs on the failed portions of the Suleja – Minna-Bida road.
Analysts however believe that both federal and state governments have been paying lip service to the reconstruction of the road without making funds available. They noted that the road is symptomatic of the dilapidation federal roads across the state is noted for. This has become more obvious against the backdrop that works on the road have been on for the past nine years having been awarded, in 2010, to Salini Nigeria Limited in two phases with the first section stretching 40 kilometres from Dikko junction. The first phase which include provision of dual carriage way was reportedly awarded at the cost N9, 951,051,335.18. The second phase on the other hand, includes the construction of new carriage way from where the phase one stops up to Chanchaga bridge and the reconstruction of the existing carriage way from Dikko junction to the same spot as well as the rehabilitation to the Minna city gate. Checks reveal that Lambata-Kwakuti axis of the road covering about 30 kilometres has been reconstructed and that despite spending over N4 billion, the road still constitutes a nightmare to travellers because of the destructive effect of overloaded heavy duty vehicles plying it. The government is said to be contemplating deploying weighbridges along that road with a view to checking overloading by heavy duty vehicles order to avoid its effect on the road.Lack of fund stalled project- controllerThe federal controller of works in the state, Engr Iheanacho Umeh, while speaking with journalists acknowledged that paucity of fund had earlier stalled the project but said the federal government is doing all it can to complete all ongoing projects across the state. “The Federal Ministry of Works is discussing with Salini which is handling the project to avail it with progress works and cash flow requirement to complete the phase one before the next rainy season,” he said.
According to him, the contractor has covered 26.7 out of the 40 kilometres target for phase one and achieved 78.87 completion. For the second phase, he said the contractor has covered 27 kilometres on rehabilitating the existing carriageway while clearance and earthworks have been done on the new carriage way. He also explained that like, the first phase, the ministry has asked for the scope of works and cash flow required for the second phase which have been submitted.
Between state gov’t and FG, who is saying the truth?Analysts believe that if the assurances of the controller is anything to go by, the federal government and the administration of Governor Bello may not have been on the same page on the involvement of the state government in the repair of portions of the road on which the state government claimed to have expended about five billion naira.If it is true that the state government actually expended five billion on the road as claimed, the question people are asking is if the state government secured approval from the federal government to intervene on the road the basis for which the administration could request for refund of capital invested on the project. Investigation by Blueprint shows that the state government might not be interested in running after the federal government for refund of money expended on the road which could have been channelled to provision of other dividends of democracy. Although not many are of the conviction that the state government actually expended that humongous amount without commensurate results.
