With his background as a former head of state and later chairman of the Petroleum Trust Fund, it is clear that President Muhammadu Buhari understands that the provision or absence of infrastructure in the country, has a lot to do with the psychology and progress of the people. Since he assumed the mantle of leadership in May 2015, President Buhari has taken up the challenge of rebuilding the country’s dilapidated infrastructure across the six geo-political zones.
In fact, his determination to revive the nation’s infrastructure flows from his frustration, before assuming office, that despite the enormous oil revenue under the previous PDP administrations that Nigerians were denied the comfort of driving on good roads and utilising other basic infrastructure and amenities.
His administration is presently focused on reviving the railway sector while adequate attention is being paid to the problem of power and road infrastructure. Just recently the power generation level rose to an unprecedented 7000 megawatts and there are indications that with the resuscitation of the Mambilla power project and others in the country, that we will continue to witness an incremental rise in power transmission and distribution.
In the road sector, President Muhammadu Buhari will be recorded in history books as a president that gave Nigerians relief as his administration leaves no stone unturned towards ensuring that our roads network are in good shape and motorable. The immediate benefit of these infrastructural upgrade across the country is that it will stimulate economic activities and enhance both foreign and local investments.
It is indeed regrettable that most young Nigerians did not witness the glorious era in Nigeria when people and goods were moved from one end of the country to the other by rail. With the coming of President Buhari, Nigerians will once again relive the good times of travelling by rail, which will also serve to integrate people from different areas, ethnic and religious backgrounds.
This kind of integration helps in nation building and harmonious relationships. The abysmal level of road maintenance and general infrastructural decay in Nigeria before the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari was frustrating and had contributed to numerous road accidents with attendant loss of lives and property.
That road contracts are being executed with diligence under the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration can be attributed to his well-known integrity and insistence on working for the general good, rather than pursuing selfish or other narrow interests.
Going by the pace of work on the various road and other infrastructural projects across the country, there is no doubt that Nigeria will soon witness a complete turnaround in the areas of road and railway transportation, and power. This is achievable because the corrupt tendencies of past governments which had militated against rapid infrastructural development of the country are not tolerated under this administration.
Currently the Buhari administration is executing several road projects across the country. Some of them include the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway; Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, East-West Road; Abuja-Lokoja-Benin Expressway; Kano-Maiduguri Expressway; Second Niger Bridge; Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway. Recently, the Enugu-Oturkpo highway was awarded for rehabilitation.
It is also gratifying that the Buhari administration is determined to rehabilitate roads in the South Eastern part of the country which, it is believed, has suffered the most as far as bad roads are concerned. Perhaps the federal government needs to intensify efforts towards rehabilitating more roads in the South East, especially the Aba-Ikot Ekpene road and Umuahia- Ikot Ekpene road as a way of giving the people of the zone a sense of belonging.
The need for this gesture has become germane and more urgent considering that we are entering into the electioneering campaigns for the 2019 general elections. The campaigns will serve as a period for stock-taking and the achievements of the Buhari administration will no doubt win the people’s goodwill, support and votes at the election. It is therefore a win-win for the administration to use developmental projects to woo Nigerians for their support in the 2019 general elections.
Apart from the fact that providing basic infrastructure to the citizens is the obligation of the government at all levels, the citizens on their part owe it a duty to reciprocate by paying their taxes to government.
As a way of tackling the dilapidated road infrastructure, the federal government initiated the SUKUK fund which primarily was meant to cater for major arterial roads in the country. The federal government ensured that there was parity in sharing the money as each geo-political zone was allocated the sum of N16.67 Billion for selected roads across the federation.
For example, in the South-South geo political, zone five projects are on-going under the SUKUK fund arrangement. They include sections 1, 2, and 3 of Enugu-Port Harcourt road, as well as the rehabilitation of Enugu-Port Harcourt road section 4. The dualisation of Yenegoa to Otuoke , the hometown of former President Goodluck Jonathan and Bayelsa Palm road is also ongoing.
For the South West, three strategic roads are covered in the SUKUK fund and they include the Benin-Ofusu-Ore-Ajebandele- Shagamu dual carriageway phase 3 and 4 and the dualisation of Ibadan-Ilorin road section 2.
In the North East zone, the projects being undertaken under the SUKUK arrangement are the Kano-Maiduguri road sections 2, 3, 4 and 5, while the projects in the North West include the Kano-Katsina road phase 1, and the construction of Kano Western Bypass and the construction of Kaduna Eastern Bypass.
The North Central zone is also benefitting from the Sukuk fund with the construction of Loko-Oweto Bridge, dualisation of Abuja-Lokoja road sections 1 and 4. The dualisation of Suleja-Minna road phase 2 and the dualisation of Lokoja- Benin road section 1.
There is no doubt that the multi-faceted approach being adopted by APC federal government to rehabilitate federal roads and provide needed amenities across the country is the right step in the right direction. If this tempo of activities is sustained, definitely, Nigerians will heave a sigh of relief as their sufferings would have been ameliorated substantially.
Written by Chukwudi Enekwechi, an Abuja-based Journalist.
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