Victor EzejaPERTURBED by the poor condition of roads in Nigeria, Senate on Tuesday urged the Federal Ministry of Finance to as a matter of urgency release adequate funds to Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to carry out emergency repairs of all federal roads in the country.
The upper legislative chamber urged the Federal Government to immediately declare a state of emergency on federal roads in the country.
The motion which was titled “Motion on Nigeria’s Bad Roads And NUPENG’S Impending Nationwide Strike”, was sponsored by Senator Gershom Bassey.
Coming under Orders 42 and 52 of the Senate Standing Orders, Bassey noted that the 36,000 km federal road network is the largest and most valuable single public infrastructure asset owned by the Nigerian government.
He said, “The deplorable state of the federal roads in Nigeria have become a national shame and an unnecessary embarrassment as scores of innocent people are kidnapped by bandits, robbed, mutilated and killed daily in avoidable accidents on account of bad federal roads.”
The lawmaker lamented that the Petroleum Tanker Drivers branch of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) workers have threatened to go on a nationwide strike if the bad roads are not rehabilitated.
Bassey recalled that in 2019, he made a similar call through a motion for increased funding for maintenance and rehabilitation of the country’s federal highways, but despite several calls, nothing has been done to improve funding for maintenance and rehabilitation of highways.
He pointed out that from 2016-2020, the actual funds released to FERMA for road rehabilitation was just about 17 percent of the required sum, adding that poor funding and neglect of Nigerian roads have led to the terrible state of federal roads in the country.
He disclosed that the federal highways in Nigeria require the sum of about N215 billion per annum to rehabilitate the 3,500km of federal roads for 8-10 years for total rehabilitation to be achieved.
The Senate in its resolutions urged the Federal Ministry of Finance to immediately as a matter of urgent national importance, release adequate funds to FERMA for urgent repairs on all federal roads across the country.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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