States and Deplorable Federal Roads

BY PUNCH EDITORIAL BOARD


One of Nigeria's federal roads

The claims staked by state governments for refunds of money spent on rehabilitating federal roads underscore the failure of successive administrations to undertake their basic responsibilities.  Faced by an irresponsible centre that refuses to maintain its own highways, state governments, taking up the slack, are having a hard time getting Abuja to reimburse them for undertaking the repairs of federal roads passing through their territories. The solution lies in a multi-pronged approach that will see the settlement of all verifiable claims and a more responsible approach to the maintenance of public infrastructure.

In Lagos, the state government has presented a bill of N50 billion to the federal authorities, being the amount it claims to have spent on the repairs of the 117 federal roads in the state. Governor Babatunde Fashola lamented that instead of refunds, all it has received from Abuja so far are “acknowledgements”. In Akwa Ibom, Governor Godswill Akpabio says his administration has spent over N100 billion reconstructing major federal highways passing through the South-South state. Cash-strapped Ekiti State  wants the N8 billion it says it has spent so far rehabilitating the federal roads traversing its territory refunded. Several other states, among them Ondo, Ogun, Kwara, Rivers and Gombe, have had to spend parts of their meagre resources repairing roads for which the Federal Government appropriates billions of the taxpayer’s money every year to maintain but signally fails to do so.

Yet, here is a government that takes the bulk of revenues generated in the country. With 52.68 per cent of revenues accruing to it from the Federation Account (leaving the states with 26.72 per cent and local governments with 20.6 per cent), our profligate centre still fails to provide the basic service delivery. The nation’s infrastructure is deplorable, the worst among the world’s major oil exporting countries. As in the health, education and power sectors, the Federal Government’s track record on roads is dismal. Of the nation’s total 198,000 kilometres of roads, only 35,000 kilometres are owned by the federal tier, while the states have 34,000kms and the local governments, 129,000kms. Yet, the entire country is criss-crossed with federal highways that the eminent diplomat, Emeka Anyaoku, once described as worse than those in war torn countries. 

There should be limits to ineptitude, corruption and sheer impunity. The National Assembly should demand accountability for all the sums approved at the weekly Federal Executive Council meetings for roads. In 2012, it approved N176 billion for the roads linking Lokoja-Okene-Auchi-Benin, Gashua in Yobe linking Bayamari in Borno State while the Kano-Maiduguri rehabilitation project awarded at N172 billion in 2006, but (as usual) never executed, was re-awarded at the cost of N285 billion. One report said the President Goodluck Jonathan’s government awarded road and related projects contracts worth N927 billion between August 2011 and June 2012. Since they are closer to the people, state governments say they have been repairing and rehabilitating federal roads instead of waiting in vain for Abuja to do the right thing. But this has run into arguments over who authorised such repairs in the first place and exactly how much the states spent. On some occasions, the Federal Government has expressly forbidden some states from rehabilitating or expanding some federal roads.

The central government is simply not responsive and continues to neglect the nation’s most economically important roads. That is why it leaves the Lagos-Ibadan, Sagamu-Ore-Benin, the East-West, Port Harcourt-Aba and many other strategic roads unattended to. As Fashola remarked, “One can imagine the economic impact of watching the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway to be unmotorable.” Without the intervention of the state, this road that links the nation’s major seaports, the Lagos-Badagry, Ikorodu Road and the Ahmadu Bello Way on Victoria Island that also have immense economic importance, would be worse than they are now. Awash with oil revenues but with no single good federal access road, Akwa Ibom has been rehabilitating and reconstructing federal highways which Akpabio says has so far cost it N100 billion, while Abuja has agreed to refund only N43 billion.

There should be a new and more purposeful approach to road infrastructure maintenance. First, the Federal Government should immediately verify and evaluate all work done by the states and reimburse them accordingly. The government has no excuse not to adequately maintain its highways. It should stop its monumental waste and corruption and stop borrowing and spending on graft-fuelled power, refinery, industrial and railway projects.  Money wasted on these could be better spent on roads, irrigation, health, education and environment infrastructure. The N500 billion that Works Minister, Mike Onolememen, says is required each year for roads can easily be raised by cutting waste and looting. Even the N110 billion he said was released out of N143 billion budgeted for his ministry in 2012, should be properly accounted for.

We question the continued relevance of the non-performing Federal Roads Maintenance Agency which has failed woefully to justify its existence since it was created 11 years ago. FERMA should be scrapped and road rehabilitation and maintenance outsourced to reputable international companies – not Nigerian power brokers.

A new transport policy should seek private sector investment in new highways, water transport and especially high speed rail. The government should be content with regulation and allow private investors to invest in railways to take the pressure off our roads that account for 95 per cent of all transport in Nigeria.