In Nigeria successive governments have always budgeted huge sums for infrastructural development in the country under capital projects with priority always given to roads, housing and transportation but at the end nothing significant comes from the proposal. It has become a recurring factor that each year when government allocates money for rehabilitation and construction of roads especially it ends up being done only on the pages of newspapers.
2017 was not an exception as the President Muhammadu Buhari government allocated huge sums of money for the construction of roads across the country and for the modernization and construction of rail lines as well as construction of houses.
On roads, the federal government set aside N300 billion for the construction and rehabilitation of 25 major highways across the country.
The roads, according to the Minister of Works, Power and Housing Mr. Babatunde Fashola, include Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa-Birnin-Gwari-Kaduna Road; Dualization of Oyo-Ogbomosho-Ilorin Road and rehabilitation of Gombe-Numan-Yola Road.
Others, according to him, are dualization of Kano-Maiduguri Road; rehabilitation of Sokoto-Tambuwal-Jega road and Kotangora-Makera road that transverse Sokoto, Kebbi and Niger States; rehabilitation and reconstruction of Enugu-Port-Harcourt road; rehabilitation of Enugu-Onitsha Dual Carriageway Road and rehabilitation of Aleshi-Ugep Road and the Iyamoyun-Ugep Section in Cross River State.
Also included on the list of roads being constructed during the year were the Bonny-Bodo Road, which is being jointly funded by the Federal Government and Nigeria LNG Limited, Apapa Wharf-Toll Gate Road in Lagos State, Abuja- Abaji-Lokoja in FCT, Odukpani-Itu- Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom and Cross River state and Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road in Lagos.
According to President Buhari when he presented the 2018 budget, his government has constructed a total of 766 kilomtres of strategic roads across the country.
The government during the year also made significant efforts on its strive to link the entire country by rail.
In August President Buhari had reportedly mandated the minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to connect the 36 states and FCT by rail. The minister himself had disclosed during the 15th Council on Transportation.
Prominent among the rail lines the government said work had commenced in the outgoing year were Lagos-Calabar, Kano-Kaduna, Lagos-Kano and Lagos-Ibadan.
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Still under the rail projects, the federal government during the year released a master plan for the construction of 10 new standard gauge rail lines across the country to cover 3,042 kilometres. The rail is to pass through Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Benin, Abuja, Kogi, Onitsha and Sokoto
Other identified rail projects government said was going on in 2017 were 300km Lagos-Sagamu-Ijebu Ode-Benin City East-West rail line, Lagos-Ibadan-Osogbo-Baro-Abuja and Ajakuta-Obajani-Jakuru-Sraj-Abuja.
Government said $5.85 billion had been earmarked for the construction and modernization of rail lines in the country while government during the year ordered for locomotives for the rail lines.
During the year also the constructed Abuja-Kaduna standard rail line was completed and commissioned for use.
The federal government during the year announced the provision of N35.4 billion to address the housing needs of its workforce through its National Housing Fund Programme under Social Investment Fund.
It was also revealed to Nigerians during the year that the federal government had begun the construction of 2,736 housing units across the country in 33 states in line with its national housing scheme.
Apart from government, a Nigerian based continental housing firm Defence City Project during the year launched a new housing project to build 200,000 units of homes in the 36 states and Abuja. In the pilot scheme each state is to have 1,000 units and each state under the private partnership programme (PPP) is to allocate between 100 to 200 hectares of land for the housing project.
In the area of provision of water, the Federal Executive Council, FEC, had on August 30 approved $5.79 billion (about N1.140 trillion) for the construction of the Mambilla hydro plant.
During the year some state governments also made significant efforts in the area of infrastructural development. Prominent among them is Akwa Ibom state where Gov. Udom Emmanuel, constructed and rehabilitated hundreds of kilometers of roads in the states and also rehabilitated schools, hospitals among others. Governors Nyesom Wike of Rivers, Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos state and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu had also during the year made significant strides in the construction roads and other infrastructural development in their states.
Former minister of Budget and Planning, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, said about $2900 billion was required for Nigeria’s infrastructural development from 2014 to 2044. He decried the infrastructure deficit in the country and said the estimates for infrastructure development were arrived at a few years ago when Nigeria’s 30 years Integrated Master Plan was developed. Usman stated this at a workshop on Review of 2018 Budget Estimates and Analysis organized by the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS) in Abuja.
He said there was need to address not only the amount of money earmarked for infrastructure but the quality of infrastructure that would stand the test of time.
He called for Public-Private-Partnership in the country’s development plan, stressing that private investors were interested in partnering government to develop infrastructure in the country.
But for a cross section of Nigerians, are of the view that government has always come up with lofty ideas on the provision of infrastructures especially roads but at the end, the contracts are either shabbily done or work abandoned.
Victor Ukutt, a lagos based lawyer, scored the federal government low in infrastructural development as most of the federal roads across the country during the year were still in deplorable condition.
But Udeme Udoh a business man said he is happy for the federal government initiative to award contract for the construction of Lagos-Calabar rail line in 2018.
