By Alabi Williams / 27 January 2025
Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, says the Federal Government (FG) has approved N18 billion as compensation for property owners and individuals impacted by the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway
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One must commend the rehabilitation of a seven-kilometer stretch from U-Turn inward Toll Gate, along Lagos-Abeokuta expressway. Although the expressway has been on the drawing board of the Federal Ministry of Works (FMW) for 20 years, that portion became hopeless and unusable during President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight years.
The road was completely abandoned, compelling motorists to search for costly and winding alternatives. Kudos to those who finally rescued the portion. But the quality and nature of work is just remedial. It cannot survive another decade of abandonment.
Beyond the Toll Gate, which demarcates the Lagos end and begins the Ogun State side is a sad story. Throughout the last rainy season, the Ogun end was a peculiar mess. It is like that every year. Apart from the crater-size potholes, motorists had to practically swim their way through. Under the bridge at Ota (Sango) was a nightmare. To save face, government had to hire a miniature draining machine to attempt a de-flooding. It was a joke, but trust government: that ludicrous exercise must have cost government a fortune, just to reimburse some pockets.
Descending the Ota bridge into NEPA Bus Stop, is a portion that mimics an abandoned mine pit after illegal miners had ravaged the land. At the peak of the rains, there is a major drain problem here, which feeds the entire pit like a disused dam. Ahead, at a place called Singer and on to Ifo, Papalanto on to Abeokuta, it is a daily toil for motorists. In those harrowing wet days, a visitor would ask if there was government in that part of town.
For context, this immediate portion pictured above is within Ado-Odo/Ota, the second most industrialised local government in the country. Domiciled here are major steel companies, pharmaceuticals, distilleries, breweries, cement, tertiary institutions, food, electric cables etc. Data for manufacturing companies in Ota posted 81 A-list companies that yield hefty taxes and IGR for Ogun State and the Federal Government. Yet, this is one of the most abandoned local governments, where companies and the people are poorly served in roads and other infrastructure.
Apart from bordering Lagos, which provides opportunities for competitive peer-reviewing, Ado-Odo/Ota leads to the Idi-Iroko border town, yielding a flourish of cross-border commerce that further boosts government revenues. There is also a major ECOWAS highway here that has been on the drawing board for decades. Rehabilitation work is ongoing, but the efforts don’t seem to match what was advertised. More on the ECOWAS highway later.
Back to Lagos-Abeokuta expressway. The contract was first awarded by the Federal Government during the Olusegun Obasanjo years. The project was divided into three components- dualisation from the Lagos end, expanding it to three lanes on both sides and construction of an overhead bridge at Ota. Of the components, the expressway has been dualised; there is an overhead bridge at Ota, but ensuring three lanes on both sides is not fully accomplished. Continuous maintenance and comprehensive drainage system are also absent, leading to recurrent dilapidation and decay.
At the Ikeja-Along stretch by the Lagos airport, the three-lane dualisation on both sides was achieved at the onset of the contract, but that has now narrowed into a constrictive two-lane on both sides, no thanks to encroachment by the Lagos State urban transport services. Modern and daring transportation activities that could have gone underground are crowded on the surface to create traffic nightmare for motorists. This is compounded by a timidity to demand appropriate right of way and pay compensations to deserving encroachers.
The way it is, the bottleneck Lagos State has forced on the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, especially at Ikeja-Along and up to Abule Egba is an infraction that is bound to constitute a future development challenge, if not already. Though one is not a road engineer like the Works Minister, David Umahi, it is obvious that the original concept of the road contract in 2004, as a three-lane on both sides to ease traffic congestion, has been compromised.
There may be need for more critical stakeholder engagement before the Lagos BRT Lane is extended beyond Abule-Egba to Toll Gate, to avoid bastardising that portion of the expressway. Yet, one must commend Lagos for doing some things.
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Due to failure to execute the road contract as originally designed, the project has endured endless and wasteful reviews, compounding costs, having regard to inflation, depreciation and currency devaluation.
Unfortunately, road contracts are gleefully announced by government at weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meetings, without a thorough and disciplined analyses of funding implications.
In 2018, under Buhari, Lagos-Abeokuta Road contract was re-awarded at a value of N22.387 billion. On that occasion, the Director, Federal Highways, Southwest, Olalekan Busari, announced with fanfare at the flag-off that the total rehabilitation was to begin at Ile-Zik Bus Stop at Kilometer zero, up to kilometer 80 in Ogun State.
He said: “The project was divided into two sections, the first section, which starts from Ile Zik in Lagos State spans about 20 km, while the second section, which falls in Ogun State is 60 km. It is a complete total rehabilitation of the entire road this time around.” The contract was for a period of two and half years. But nothing of significance has happened.
In the intervening years, it was back and forth between Lagos and Ogun states and the Federal Government, on how to permanently fix the expressway. It was reported that the states were willing to undertake the project, but that didn’t work out, until the current remedial efforts under President Tinubu. The previous government had told states to stay away from federal road projects. States were accused of presenting exaggerated refund claims.
That doesn’t appear to be a problem any longer. The Minister of Works, Umahi, in October 2024, directed that the seven-kilometer stretch (within Lagos) be re-constructed with a concrete pavement to address the threat of water. He assured that funds would be released for that to happen. This column is alerting the minister that what was done on the said portion was not re-construction and it was not done with concrete pavement. He needs to revisit to verify what he ordered and what was served. Concrete pavement is a different process, with reinforced steel and concrete.
For this particular rehabilitation, only bad portions were scrapped and resurfaced. To be on the same page with taxpayers, the minister will do well to explain how the contractor was nominated and how much was paid for the job. We are aware that there are due processes to follow in public procurements.
Umahi also confirmed that Ogun State government had taken over the portion that falls within its jurisdiction. Very commendable. Who is responsible for the funding, the state, federal or a joint arrangement? This is important because at the end of the day, the minister still oversees all federal roads, irrespective of who the funders are. He is the one to issue a certificate of completion and ascertains if the job is well done or not.
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A trip along Ota-Abeokuta Road on January 5, 2025 did not reveal any serious reconstruction work. The drum holes are still there, except that the dry season has revealed the underbellies, making it easy for motorists to slowly thread. Vehicles plied one-way at many spots to avoid horrible craters, which is really dangerous for night driving. There are no streetlights.
Towards Ifo is terrible; same with around Papalanto; even the frontage of a popular cement company at Ewekoro is hopeless. There were no signs that construction was ongoing. Neither were there signposts to announce which contractor is doing what and for what duration. There were however signs of fresh remediation at some spots, most likely after the last rains ceased towards end of last year.
At a point last year, motorists had to abandon the expressway completely, to meander through neigbouring villages for escape route. Let it be known that if serious work is not done on the stretch soon, the experience in 2025 could be disastrous when the skies open.
The minister should also pay attention to the Ota-Idi-Iroko border expressway. Work is ongoing there, but the standard is not spectacular. After pulling down structures to give impression of a mega project, what is added to the existing road does not meet expectations of road users.
There are no signs to explain which contractor is at work on the project and for how long. The reinforcement for the drains does not inspire confidence. Instead of pre-fabs, workmen are mixing concrete by the roadside and coupling something that looks like 8mm rod, just the way neighbourhood street contracts are done.
Knowing the taste of the minister for quality jobs, he needs to visit and assess this project. The work pace is sluggish, maybe there are funding challenges.
Of many obligations government owe to citizens, roads are crucial. Nearly everyone commutes, from one point to the other. Therefore, government should pay attention to roads infrastructure. It begins with budgeting and sincerity of purpose.
Unfortunately, after the budgeting process, road contracts do not get funded sufficiently within the stipulated durations. There used to be challenges with revenue but not now that fuel subsidy has been removed, there is more than enough money now and government must be aware that the best way to announce performance is through delivery of quality roads.
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It is criminal when the capital component of budget 2024 is not executed. Shifting that component into the first six months of 2025 when the rains are already heavy, is a recipe for failure. There was a Supplementary Budget in 2023 to fix roads. We didn’t see much of it despite minister Umahi’s bombastic promises.
Many will be shocked to read that the Lagos-Ibadan Road rehabilitation, originally commenced by Goodluck Jonathan in 2013, is still on the drawing board in 2025. The initial N167 billion contracts handled by Julius Berger and Reynolds Construction Company (RCC), have been terminated after repeated reviews. It will be represented for fresh bids.
So much for contract gimmicks!
Note: This article was first published by The Guardian Newspaper.
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