In this report AIDELOJE OJO deconstructs the political undertone in the rift between the federal government and the Niger state government over provision of infrastructure as federal roads in the state remain in state of disrepair, among others
Collapsing federal roads in Niger state has no doubt taken a toll on the administration of Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, which is fast tending towards bottled-up friction between the two levels of government.
2011 Campaign Promise To Reconstruct Suleja – Minna Dual Carriage Way
In 2011, the stakes of the presidential election were high and former President Goodluck Jonathan desperately needed the votes of Niger state. When the former president climbed the podium in a campaign rally in Minna, he quickly announced the award of contract for construction and converting the dilapidated old Suleja – Minna road to a dualise expressway. However the ovation that followed this announcement soon varnished into thin air as soon as the election was over and Jonathan coasted home with victory. The only thing that can quickly be remembered is that the contractor handling the project disappeared from site abandoning the project ever since. Today, the road is a shadow of its past, of course, causing nightmares for people travelling from the two most populous cities of Minna and Suleja in Niger state every passing day.
Blueprint correspondent at the weekend gathered that those who ply the road and survived to share tell-tale experiences on the road. They always count themselves lucky to have survived any journey because of the ghastly accidents regularly occurring on the several bad portions on the road.
The road according to records made available by the Federal Road safety Corps (FRSC) in the state, is the number one killer in accidents. Motorists have continued to narrate stories of how they wasted eight to ten hours on the 96km Minna to Suleja road due to its dilapidated condition, a journey they said used to take about 45 minutes when it was good. But the Niger state Governor Abubakar Sani Bello is not sleeping on the issue. It was learnt that the pains and cries of the people occasioned by the worsening situation of the road have touched the governor who promptly sent an SOS message to President Mohammadu Bhuari through the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatude Fasola, asking for their quick intervention in fixing the road. As if to have a first hand experience, Governor Bello was had a ride on the road in an inspection tour some days ago but got stuck few kilometers from Minna in the neck breaking traffic grid that swallowed his convoy. Forced to step out of his car to a higher ground, Bello addressed a crowd of lamenting commuters and motorists plying the route on that fateful day. Amidst the galore of complaints, Bello regretted that despite his administration’s effort at rehabilitating the road with contract of N500m, it had collapsed, attributing the situation to the sudden influx of heavy duty trailers and trucks that were usually overloaded.
He therefore called on the federal government to direct the contractor handling the project back to site. The Niger state governor lamented that the road was beyond the scope of the state in terms of financial implication which he said had made it imperative to appeal for the federal government to fulfill its promise and intervene in the construction of the road.
Kainji Dam, Kainji National Park and Inaccessible National Monuments
However, while Governor Bello and residents of Niger East Senatorial District were groaning over the collapsed suleja – Minna road, elsewhere in Niger North District, anger, anguish, frustration and outrage have been the mood over the years caused by total neglect of provision of essential services by the federal government especially infrastructures like roads. When the Emir of Borgu, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Dantoro spoke with Blueprint in New Busa on the state of federal roads in his domain, his mood was not different from that of Governor Bello.
Corroborating the position of some of his subjects that had earlier spoken with our correspondent in random interview, the monarch stated that the presence of federal government’s monuments in the area have not produced necessary benefits to the residents of the area. He argued that most of the monuments located in the area had become inaccessible. He described the lack of roads in the area as major security threat responsible for the rampant cases of kidnapping and armed robbery that had become very rampant in the axis. The royal father made particular reference to Mokwa – New Buss = Wawa – Agwara and Roffia road that had been abandoned for over 40 years. This he said had led to booming criminal activities along the axis as communities were cut off from each other and major cities kept incommunicado.
Blueprint learnt that the Mokwa – New Busa – Agwara – Roffia road was a vital component in the construction of the Kainji hydro electric power station built around 1968 but was abandoned as soon as the dam was completed and commissioned. It was also learnt that the efforts of President Mohammadu Buhari in the 90s as the chairman of the default Petroleum Trust Funds (PTF) to revive construction of the road with fresh contract yielded minimum results as the work was abandoned as soon as the fund was scrapped by the civilian administration that stopped payment to the contractor handling the project. Checks by our correspondent revealed that a third attempt at constructing the New Busa – Wawa – Agwara – Roffia road was made in 2010 again at the heels of the 2011 presidential election. A contract for the construction of the road was said to have been awarded by the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FEMA) at the time former governor of Niger state, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kure was the chairman of the FEMA board. Again, the contractors failed to mobilize to site. Our correspondent on a visit to the area discovered that the only sign showing that the road was awarded in 2010 was a FEMA sign board with the inscription “Wawa – Roffia road construction, contract No. MMR- 10 – 104” conspicuously displayed at Roffia town by the edge of river Niger.
Historically, the people of Borgu Chiefdom are affiliated to the people of Dahomey in Benin Republic. It is not therefore surprising that most of the towns of the chiefdom are located in the buffer zone of the two countries. Blueprint further learnt that most of the imported vehicles in Nigeria are smuggled in through porous borders existing in the area where federal road do not exist. Despite this condition, Immigration and Custom officers are seen station at intervals along abandoned roads apparently watching out for smugglers. But the smugglers are said to have since devised other routes in the vast forest far away from the collapsed road to beat the security agencies making gains from their illicit business at the expense of the federal government.
Agony Of Truck Drivers On Niger Axis of Lagos – Kano Road
Many drivers plying this route will not know the stress of the journey until they enter Niger state and arrived at spots where they have to engage the gear and steering for hours without moving an inch. Checks revealed that most truck drivers pass night and days trying to get over several notorious spots that had dotted the only famous route between the North and Southern parts of the country. Afolabi Wasiu is one of the several trailer drivers that is conversant with the road transporting goods from Lagos to Kano through Niger state. He told Blueprint that his nightmares began when he arrived the Mokwa – Tegna axis of the road where long portions of the trunk A road had been turned into mudding ponds that magnet their trucks for days.
A Plea For Baro Port To Boost Economy
Speaking in an interview with Blueprint, the Niger state commissioner of Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa stated the need for Federal Government to as a matter of urgency revisit all dilapidated federal roads across the State, especially the Agaie, Katcha Baro road which was re-awarded last year but had become abandoned project.
He said, “the over 30km Agaie, Katcha – Baro road which cost the federal government about N17.5 billion was awarded in January 2015 and expected to be completed by January 16, 2016. The road has been abandoned and neglected; we want the federal government to put its roads in Niger state in good condition because presently, no federal road is motorable in the state.
Federal Government’s Efforts
It is however pertinent to point out that the federal government has been making efforts at repairing portions of roads that broke down in the state. Although the controller of federal roads in the state was not available for comment on this issue, our correspondent gathered in Minna that selected dangerous sections of roads have been rehabilitated by the federal government through FEMA and World Bank assisted projects. It was learnt that while work has been completed on the Jebba – Mokwa axis of the Lagos – Kano road and that of the Mokwa – Buda road, rehabilitation works are ongoing in the Kontagora axis particularly around Magama – Ibeto – Kontagora road. However the presence of FEMA seemed to have disappeared from the roads in terms of sustained maintenance in recent years thus giving the impression that federal government had shifted attention from the roads.
It is however imperative for the federal government to pay more attention to keeping its trunk A roads in good shape in order to stop the carnage being experienced daily on its roads across the country because it is not only in Niger state that the federal government has failed in its obligations. Some contractors who spoke to Blueprint off camera regretted that non-release of funds had stalled most roads projects two years after coming into office by the Buhari-led administration. It is therefore necessary for the federal government to pay priority attention to funding road projects despite its complaint of lack of funds to execute projects since it came to power.
