To drive economic and social wellbeing of any nation, a good road infrastructure can be likened to arteries, veins and capillaries that comprise the human circulatory system. These blood vessels ensure that digested food, water and oxygen are sent to where they are needed; and the dangerous stuff are shipped out. If, for instance, a blood vessel is blocked so much that the right amount of oxygen is not sent to the brain on time, the individual could suffer a stroke.
In the same vein, its social and economic wellbeing could suffer a stroke, if any nation, especially the developing ones like Nigeria, refuses not only to build, but also to expand and maintain its road infrastructure. Raw materials must be moved to manufacturing centres, imports must move from ports to warehouses, exports must be moved to the ports for shipment to their destinations, finished goods must go to the market and to individual consumers, workers and others must commute from home to work. Apart from economic reasons, movements also serve social and cultural needs of the people. So, let’s score President Goodluck Jonathan on road infrastructure.
The question is simple: has the present federal government under Jonathan delivered good road infrastructure to support the smooth operation of economic activities, big and small, in Nigeria? The answer, however, cannot be a yes or a no. A little overview of the context can help.
Before Jonathan, according to the Federal Ministry of Works, there are 35,000 kilometres of roads belonging to the federal government. As at 1983, that is 32 years ago, 80 per cent of these federal roads were constructed and 150,000 vehicles were plying Nigerian roads. The Ministry of Works further asserted that by 2000, the number of vehicles on the roads had increased to 1.3 million, further jumping to nine million in 2012. All this time, the total number of bituminous roads in the country did not witness any appreciable increase. The available road network was therefore put under enormous pressure. Meanwhile, rail system, which could have provided an alternative means of transportation, especially for haulage, has been in coma, more or less, for years. The rail is talk for another day, lest we digress.
For many years, therefore, it was a nightmare to travel on Nigerian roads, with many of these roads described as death traps. The deplorable condition of these roads exposed travellers to all sorts of hardship and risk. On Benin-Ore-Shagamu expressway, Abuja-Lokoja highway, Kano-Maiduguri expressway, Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway, Onitsha Head Bridge and many other corridors across the country, you meet the same frustrating scenario. Motorists spent days on the roads, especially during rainy seasons and festive periods. Governments came, governments went, and the situation remained the same for many years. At times, motorists had to take alternate routes, meandering through bushes to evade long stretches of bad roads. Robbery gangs took advantage of the deplorable road network, ambushing and robbing travellers of their valuables and sometimes their lives.
Today the story is different. President Jonathan has not rebuilt all federal roads in Nigeria. No. However, it is safe to simply state that his administration has supervised the most massive construction and rehabilitation efforts on federal roads that Nigerians have ever seen. The Jonathan administration is making a concerted effort to develop a sound road network across the country, an infrastructure that would drive economic growth.
The beneficiaries include Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja dualisation road project, the Kano-Maiduguri dualisation road project, the Onitsha-Enugu road project, the Ibadan-Ilorin Road, the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, the Gombe-Bye-Pass in Gombe State, Katsina-Daura Road, Katsina State, Aba-Owerri Road, Eleme Junction Flyover and the sualisation of Access Road to Onne Port, Phases I & II in Rivers State, Lagos-Ibadan expressway and so on.
The Nigerian economy is better off for it. Goods and services are moved from point to point in reduced time and cost, as travelling on new and improved roads becomes easier and safer.
Research shows that majority of Nigerian road-users found it easier to travel to their different destinations in various parts of the country during the last yuletide holiday, unlike the previous years. These ones feel that the roads are indeed better. The proof of the pudding is indeed in the eating.
So how do we score President Jonathan? Should we leave it to those road-users who heave a sigh of relief anytime they use the newly refurbished federal roads? Should we score Jonathan based on reduced passenger travel times, reduced vehicle operating costs, and reduced traffic-related fatalities? Nigerians have witnessed all these indices go up as a result of the effort of the present administration under Jonathan. Let everyone score the president on road networks according to facts on the ground and dictates of conscience.
• Adelusi, a social commentator, lives in Akure, Ondo State.