Of Umahi and Nigeria’s Infrastructure Revolution

Eni Chima in this piece stresses the need for property owners along the on-going 800 kilometre Lagos-Calabar coastal highway to see reason with the federal government towards ensuring that the N15 trillion project under the direct supervision of the Works Minister, Senator David Umahi, is completed as scheduled.

Not many people will relate President Bola  Tinubu’s insistence on adopting Renewed Hope as the payoff of his march to Nigeria’s Presidency. As the strategic pathfinder to the historic merger of feeble opposition political parties into the mega All Progressives Congress (APC) that ousted an incumbent in 2015, he did not want to diminish hope of Nigerians.

Those who kept track of governance in the preceding eight years must have noted the less than excellent delivery of the promised change that ushered in the APC Federal Government.

But, President Tinubu, determined to right the wrongs of the past, decided to assure Nigerians that all hope was not lost. And so, the Renewed Hope Agenda became inevitable. Addressing Nigeria’s failed attempt to deliver on infrastructure uplift was an essential plank of that thrust.

It was in a bid to ensure that his administration delivers excellent outcomes in the infrastructure score that Mr. President appointed a hands-on engineer as the Minister for Works.

Senator David Umahi’s coming as Works Minister raised public expectations on how determined President Tinubu was to walk the talk of revitalising critical infrastructure in the country. Over and above that promise, as Governor of Ebonyi State, Umahi had transformed his state through massive infrastructure development by his sheer engineering wizardry.

But, barely six months on the saddle as Works Minister, entrenched political interests, ethnic jingoists and business-as-usual contractors put up hurdles across the path to the Renewed Hope Agenda infrastructure train.

Every move the Minister makes to repeat the engineering marvel he prosecuted in Ebonyi State across Nigeria, has been met with one controversy or another. From his insistence that contractors must keep to the terms of their contract, through rigorous supervision to resolve on meeting contract timeliness, Umahi continues to encounter man-made obstacles.

Recently, I was nonplussed at the orchaestrated attempts to pitch the Minister and property owners over the payment of compensation for the right of way in the signature Lagos to Calabar Coastal Highway Road project.

As one who had seen how focussed Umahi can be to deliver on his mandate, I believe he should be allowed to concentrate on his job without politically motivated distractions.

Opposition politicians should also reckon that for the reason that he makes himself ever accessible at every project site should not be used as avenue to issue threats, plan physical and verbal attacks against his person. The plot may be to frighten the Minister to discard his policy of strict personal supervision that road projects deserve.

Minister Umahi likes to be himself. Those who know him, knows that he is not a desktop engineer that derives pleasure in reclining in the office to work on second hand data and information from field officers.

Rather, the workaholic Engineer insists on being at project sites to see things for himself and provide guidance before things go awry. God blessed David Umahi with boundless mass of energy that our country deserves to tap from.  He is often hyper-active when it comes to project inspection.

As a precision minded official, he is so meticulous to the point of irritation to staff and contractors. Apart from time consciousness, the minister will stop at nothing to ensure international best practices. He is a stickler for price efficiency, best quality and aversion of asset depreciation.

Umahi could be said to be in a hurry to meet the expectation of his principal and the Nigeria public. As a  genius in mathematics,  the Works Minister does not fail to crosscheck every figure presented before him without exceptions. With calculator always handy and his pen on the ready, no contractor dares bamboozle him with crazy engineering drawings, befuddling designs or contrived computations.

Nigerians applauded the Minister when they saw him active in the field, taking contractors to task about quality. He evaluates measurements, scrutinizes casting, digs up base soil, and tests every tiny details to confirm the findings and reports of resident or project engineers.

Ever ready to commend and encourage good jobs, the Minister is wont to condemn with equal energy every trace of bad work.  Because he values feedbacks, Umahi usually creates multiple channels to get feedbacks from stakeholders on every project.

It was therefore depressing to see how such project stakeholders’ meeting and public enlightenment opportunity for the Lagos- Calabar coastal highway disposed a distraught woman to indecorous behaviour.

It was agonising that the woman broke all known conventions on civil interactions to personally attack the minister. 

Eyewitnesses alleged that the woman’s grouse was that several of her properties were demolished despite having the necessary papers and authorizations from government to develop the lands.

Claiming that she led 2023 election campaigns for President Tinubu, the woman heckled, issued serious threats and accused the minister of diverting the road to her estate to spare those of the minister’s friends and other highly placed individuals.

One recalls how not long ago, similar allegations were hurled at the Minister by some Igbo businessmen. Could these be the sacrifice public officers make to serve the people?  

While the latest outbursts and vituperations could pass as feedbacks from the project site, the woman in question and those of similar mind-set should recognise the import of project stakeholders in an objective context.

Stakeholders in its holistic meaning, comprises the nation’s citizens that will be affected negatively or positively by the project and country people whose resources are being expended.

 Then stakeholders must include government at all levels, especially the federal government who are by law the actual owners of waterways, shorelines and beach fronts. The understanding of stakeholders should not be situated in the exclusivity of property ownership, the quality and quantity of certificates and authorizations not withstanding.

Even properties legitimately acquired and properly documented may still be demolished if there is overriding public interest.  The extant laws are there, certificates and authorisations as landed property documents are not irrevocable, even Nigeria’s rigid constitution can be amended, how much less, property title documents.

Despite the abuse and misbehaviour of excited stakeholders, the need for enlightenment cannot be overemphasised. But, a good argument should not be based on whether or not property owners have documents and authorizations, as that become more appropriate when compensation is at issue.  The kernel of the matter is and should be whether or not the properties affected by demolition actually stand on the way of the N15trillion Lagos- Calabar coastal highway.

Further, it includes whether the shorelines belong to the federal government or not. Of course, any wrong done on legitimate land owners or developers can be remedied in law and procedures exist for impartial valuation and compensation.

 All said and done, the legacy Lagos-Calabar superhighway, which is designed to connect Lagos to Cross River and traversing Ogun,  Ondo,  Delta,  Bayelsa,  Rivers and Akwa Ibom States, will bring positive revolution in Nigeria’s transportation industry.

On the flipside, delivering on the project could cause demolition of  buildings, attract barrage of criticisms from many Nigerians, particularly those that fault the timing of the project.

But the gains outweigh the setbacks. No forward looking citizen would fault the potential of about 800km road infrastructure to enhance the movement of people, goods and commerce across Nigeria.

 The massive economic activities to be unleashed will not open up the countryside, but also empower rural dwellers that have been yearning for social development and escape from multi- dimensional poverty. If, then, all are agreed that the project is good, that means that the timing is also good, because experience proves that the best time to buy any item has always been the previous year.

If common-sense and price intelligence agree that constructing the superhighway now is right, opposition should do well to stop stretching hands of needless distraction through some self-seeking property owners.

Nigerians marvel and praise the beauty and grandeur of Indonesian Airport. But, back home we should acknowledge the fact that projects of such magnitude come at huge financial and associated costs.  Nobody makes omelette without breaking an egg.

At all times however, our decisions must be guided by the need to secure the greatest good for the greatest number. That is the standard in utilitarian calculus and the very essence of democracy. Let us support government to provide similar critical infrastructure that we admire overseas. 

-Dr Chima writes from Abakaliki.