Victor Emeruwa, AfricaNews reporter in Lagos, Nigeria
Poor road maintenance has been identified as one factor that slows down commerce and development of small and medium scale businesses in Nigeria. Nigeria's former President Olusegun Obasanjo said the poor state of a chunk of the federal roads in Nigeria must be addressed as a matter of urgency.
“What exactly is the problem with our roads? Is it maintenance, is it workmanship of contractors? Why don’t our roads have a long lifespan,” Obasanjo queried a team from the ministry of works, housing and urban development.
The former president urged the ministry in charge of road construction and maintenance to pay more attention on awards of contracts to companies that are incapable of delivering roads with long lifespan. “The roads in Nigeria do not justify the investments put into it,” Obasanjo said.
According to the Minister of Works, Dr. Hassan, close to $48 million was set aside in the 2008 budget for road construction and maintenance but the roads are still in bad shape.
Obasanjo noted that the deterioration of roads was worsened by the collapse of the rail system and inland water ways is responsible for the burden of haulage of all industrial, agricultural, petroleum and commercial goods and services to road network.
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