Almost
every road statistics in Nigeria hardly deviates from the fact that
our roads are heavily pot-holed and recklessly punctured in a state of
disrepair .To be precise , 85 percent of Nigerian roads are in a bad
condition according to statistics by Rural road access and mobility
project [RAMP].
That
only slightly above 16,000 sq.km. of secondary and tertiary roads in the
country were motorable . The local government roads were the worst hit
about 70 percent of these roads were impassable .Unfortunately 70
percent of Nigerians lived in the rural areas .
Out
of over 160,000sq.km. of secondary and tertiary roads in the country
with an average registered network of 4,000km.per state ,only 10 to
15percent is paved .And a large portion of this mess
remains in the rural areas which are in a very bad condition with only
15 percent of federal roads in good condition.It is sad that these
roads which constitute about 67.7 percent or 132 ,000km. of the entire
road networks in the country which ought to have received emergency
attention long long ago continue to stall economic growth but none so
far has been repaired or status upgraded over a dozen years of
democratic dispensation. Even in Lagos the supposed center of
excellence over 60 percent of the roads are in bad state yet patching
of roads goes on, on a daily basis .
Farmers
faced excruciating pains of shouldering economic growth alone subsiding
the nation with their agony and sweat .The challenges of protracted or
long travel time ,increasing rate of motor accidents ,perishability of
crops ,growth rate of starvation and hunger due to impassable access
roads are some of the consequences of bad roads in the country ..More
than 20 percent of the agricultural production never reach end users
and half of farmers outputs are destroyed annually in the process due
to lack of infrastructure like lack of storage facilities and bad roads .
How
come close to 500billion naira is spent every year on these roads yet
their deplorable condition and status remained unchanged ? The routine
cost and periodic maintenance for the road network is put at 2billon
dollars per annum .The question is not about the money -a mere
fiduciary resource but the opacity involved -a condition that has
incessantly retarded the sanity needed in fund management and funds
being daily disbursed for the purpose of turn around project.We
earnestly desire and clamor for change but when will this change come ?
Although with the emergence of GEJ administration some roads may be wearing a new look as the administration undertakes thorough revamping of the state of Nigerian roads .Even at that with its exit in 2019 only time will tell.
