NIGERIA’S HIGHWAYS OF RISKS AND INSECURITY

FERMA should live up to its responsibility, writes Boniface Enekwechi

While it can be acknowledged that infrastructure remains a top priority of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, there are still concerns among travellers, road users, transporters and indeed most Nigerians about the dilapidated state of most federal roads where terrorists and kidnappers have now turned into their operational areas.

Because some sections of the roads are so deplorable, drivers plying such roads usually ask passengers to disembark to enable them drive through the very bad portions. That is when the unsuspecting passengers often come under heavy attack from hoodlums who emerge from the surrounding bushes.

In most cases, such ugly experiences result in the loss of innocent lives, the relations and family members of the victims will be traumatised while some of the victims remain in the den of the kidnappers. What about the very negative impression such illegal acts give to foreigners and tourists about Nigeria!

Apart from the kidnappings being experienced on the bad portions of our federal roads, vehicles owners also suffer huge losses on their investments as the luxury buses, mini-buses, cars and trucks are regularly damaged, thereby resulting in high cost of maintenance. These nefarious activities of hoodlums also result in low revenues and patronage for the transport companies and the resultant effect is that many of them are folding up with the concomitant job losses. This ugly state of affairs occasioned by the deplorable state of the roads also discourage local and foreign investors from showing interest in the country’s transport sector, and this weighs down the economy and complicates the unemployment situation in the country.

Nigerians recall with nostalgia the presence of federal highway patrols teams in the past, and one wonders why those outfits have gone moribund. In the light of the existential threats posed by kidnappers, robbers and bandits, time has come to revive the outfits to help in securing lives and properties, especially along identified black spots where these crimes usually occur.

Similarly the lending institutions like banks presently do not want to lend money to transporters for expansion, and the reason as already enunciated is obvious. With the deplorable state of our roads and the incidents of kidnappings it becomes highly risky for the banks to lend their funds to transporters and this portends more danger to the society as a lot more people will be rendered jobless, thereby creating another cycle of hoodlums.

It must be acknowledged that the transport companies have over the years played a patriotic role by employing so many youths, and if they are forced to start laying off their workers, this set of people and area boys will be willing tools in the hands of bandits and kidnappers, thereby worsening an already complicated security issue. In short they will be easy recruits by bandits and terrorists organisations.

Meanwhile due to the negative impact of the bad roads on their investments, transporters still in the business cannot expand as expected, while the ultimate losers are Nigerian road users who must contend with limited choices in the vehicles/companies to patronise as well as the imminent hike in transport fares.

It is common knowledge that the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) was established for the primary purpose of rehabilitating such dilapidated portions of federal roads by applying palliative measures, but the reality is that the agency has not lived up to expectations, and their approach has been very lackadaisical. Otherwise, they ought to have identified the critical areas that pose danger to motorists and travellers and make frantic efforts to address them urgently. By failing to do this they are failing in their responsibility as well as derailing in the president’s avowed commitment to develop the country’s infrastructure with a view to stimulating the economy.

With the increasing risks which the dilapidated portions of our federal roads pose to commuters’ lives, time has come for the FERMA to wake up from their slumber by immediately taking statistics of the most dangerous portions of the roads and commence palliative work on them immediately. There should be no further delay or excuses as human lives, properties and huge capital investments are daily being endangered as long as the bad portions of the federal roads are not repaired.

It is regrettable that a journey that ordinarily should last between eight and nine hours from Lagos to Abuja today takes between 17 and 19 hours, and the transporters still collect the same fares from passengers. Again while the cost of diesel has risen to N345 from N65 per litre, the transporters still bear the brunt of high cost of diesel and other attendant operational costs. For example due to the bad condition of the roads, the lifespan of new vehicles has been reduced to two years at most, and this comes with huge financial loss to the investors. Similarly the negative impact of this has chased many transporters out of business. At present we have about 10% of them remaining in the business.

The question is for how long will this continue, as the transporters are already choking under the heavy burden of subsidising road transportation? The FERMA must lead the charge towards ensuring that they activate the early warning systems where dilapidated roads are likely to pose danger to commuters. Once these areas are identified, emergency measures bereft of any bureaucratic bottlenecks should be put in place to restore the areas to good condition, and by so doing lives of the travelling public and the huge capital investments of vehicles owners will be saved.

With the numerous challenges on the economy, all hands must be on deck to support the President Buhari administration’s efforts at creating jobs for the teeming youths, and so far the FERMA has not lived up to expectation.

Furthermore, there is the need for a synergy among the various tiers of government, FERMA and security agencies in order to curtail the nefarious activities of highway kidnappers and other criminal elements who take advantage of the bad portions of the highways to unleash terror on innocent citizens. Such synergy will entail establishing proper communication channels and desks set up to coordinate their activities.

There is also the need for FERMA to synergise with the transporters to identify the dilapidated portions of federal roads. This clarion call has become urgent as a situation where transport fares are increased across board it will lead to an instant social dislocation in the country with the attendant consequences. The implication of any transport fares increase is that the cost of transportation for Nigerians will triple and the travelling public will bear the brunt.

As a people we must make concerted efforts towards curtailing the activities of highway kidnappers, and one of the ways is for communities where these incidents occur to always raise the alarm on the dangers such deplorable portions of the roads pose to travellers so that the relevant government institution will swing into action.

Enekwechi is a Public Affairs Analyst