THE NATION FRIDAY, JANUARY 30, 2015
2
NEWS
NIGERIA DECIDES
Has Jonathan f •From left: Head, Roofing and Ceiling Business Unit, Nigerite, Christ Adegbile, Chief Finance Officer, Nigerite, Alli Gbolahan Tijani, Chief Operating Officer, Nigerite, Mr. Bart Verlincten and Managing Director, Nigerite, Mr. Frnk Lebris at a press conference by the company at Ikeja, Lagos...yesterday. PHOTO JOHN EBHOTA
•Jonathan
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• From left: Principal, Agidingbi Senior Secondary School, Mr. Bakare Olufemi, Tutor-General, Mrs. Iyabo Osipeso, Pastor Niyi Oshinubi, the Pastor in Change of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Isreal Assembly, Pastor Femi Onasanwo and Pastor Dapo Awosika at the inauguration of a clinic at Senior Seconday School, Agidingbi, Lagos. PHOTO: ABIODUN WILLIAMS
•General Trade Director, West African Milk Company (WAMCO), Mr. Adewale Arikawe, Marketing Director, (WAMCO),Tarang Gupta; Managing Director, Rahul Colaco; Corporate Affairs Director, Ore Famurewa and the company’s Sales Director, Wilco Djiken at the inauguaration of Friesland Campina Wamco Our- Happy-Mums-Healthy-Families products in Lagos...yesterday. PHOTO: DAYO ADEWUNMI
•From left: Director, Academy Press Plc, Mr Wole Olaoye, Dr Olusoji David Popoola of the College of Arts and Social Sciences, Igbinedion University, Director, Academy Press Plc, Tunde Dabiri, Chairman Academy Press Plc, Chief Simeon Olusola Oguntimehin and Managing Director of the Press, Mr Gbenga Ladipo at thwe Customers’ Forum 2015 in Lagos...yesterday. PHOTO: SOLOMON ADEOLA
IGERIA is in a fix. In 16 years of uninterrupted civil rule, roads remain death traps. The Federal Government, under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), takes credit for the horror and carnage. Nigeria has been worse for it in the last six years of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration. Citizens have given up hope on the possibility of virgin roads being built. Their main worry is that the existing ones have not been rehabilitated. Potholes, gullies and erosion stare tax payers and other road users in the face. According to the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), although accidents occur through human and technical errors, many roads contribute to the high rate of deaths because many inter-state roads are eyesore. Also, the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) has generated darkness more than light in the last 10 years, despite the billions of dollars sunk into the power sector. Even, President Goodluck Jonathan and party leaders go to campaigns with generators in anticipation of power outage. The turn-around maintenance of the railway, aptly described as relics of colonial legacy, is being over-advertised to the gullible as an achievement. But, to discerning Nigerians, it is shadow-chasing and window-dressing. Is the President really fighting the infrastructure battle? Is the Transformation Agenda truly on course? As the nation warms up for general elections, the people are in sober reflection. The broken promises on infrastructural development are eliciting condemnation. The gap between expectation and reality has created a hollow in the record of Jonathan. The Commander-in-Chief has been tested. On the podium, he is reeling out fresh promises on infrastructural development. But, can he be trusted? The Federal Government’s score card has been anything but impressive. In its progress report, it could only cite few projects, including the Apapa-Osodi Expressway; BeninOre-Sagamu Highway; Enugu-PortHarcourt dual carriage way; KanoMaiduguri Expressway; Abuja-AbajiLokoja dualisation; Akure-Ilesa and Enugu-Abakaliki Road. None of them have been completed. During the PDP presidential rally in Lagos, Ondo State Governor Segun Mimiko showered encomiums on the President for embarking on the rehabilitation of the
• Fashola By Emmanuel Oladesu Group Political Editor
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The implementation of the project, however, has progressed at a snail-like speed. The All Progressives Congress (APC), which has challenged the PDP to a debate on the state of the infrastructure, has doubted the Federal Government’s commitment to complete the rehabilitation on schedule. Decrying government’s hypocrisy, APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said: “The latter-day construction of the LagosIbadan Expressway is a vote-winning gimmick that has back-fired as the project has only progressed at snail speed, apparently for lack of the much-needed funds, while Nigerians have continued to die and suffer daily on that road.” Following the neglect of federal roads in some states, governors have filled the gap. But, the Federal Government has not reciprocated to reimburse them for taking on the responsibility. At a rally in Apapa, Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola said the Federal Government is still owing the state N50 billion, which was used to re-construct and rehabilitate federal roads in the nations former political capital. His Oyo State counterpart, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, said that President is indifferent to the infrastructural decay in the Southwest. He said all efforts to get reimbursement for federal roads tarred by his administration havealso been futile. Their counterpart in Kwara, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed recently asked the Federakl Government to refund the billions of naira the state government invested to fix federal roads. In some opposition states, the Federal Road Maintenance Authority (FERMA) has been on collision course with state authorities trying to patch the roads. Skirmishes have been recorded. The bone of contention is that states have been rehabilitating federal roads without approval. This has created strains on inter-governmental relations. One of the dark sides of the neglect of infrastructural renewal is the loss of the complementary gains of employment for skilled and unskilled labour. A huge construction site is bound to raise the level of economic activities in the environment. The effects impact positively on artisans, peasants, vendors, raw material suppliers, labourers and others in the in-