Minister Guarantees Continuous Funding Of Second Niger Bridge Construction

The Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Hon. Mustapha Baba Shehuri has guaranteed Nigerians of Federal Government’s determination to continue funding on-going construction works on the 2nd Niger Bridge linking Asaba, Delta State with Onitsha, Anambra State. He gave the assurance while on an inspection visit to the site.

2. Hon. Shehuri reiterated that since the present Administration came on board, its priority has, essentially, been on infrastructural development. He added that this has placed a huge obligation on the construction of an additional bridge to compliment the existing one built in 1965 as a crucial link between the Eastern and Western regions of the country.

3. Hon. Shehuri said the Federal Government will stop at nothing to ensure that funds are released, as at when due, to the contractor in order to  accomplish the project for ease of vehicular traffic and socio - economic enhancement.

4. The Minister revealed that since the commencement of the Main Works for the construction of this national infrastructure in 2017, after the completion of Early Works, Phases I - IV, there has been no delay in payments. This is evident in the appreciable progress achieved so far.

5. On the issue of compensation, the Minister appealed to the affected communities to co-operate with the Federal Government as the project, when eventually completed, would be of benefit to them, in particular, and Nigerians, as a whole.

6. Speaking earlier, the Federal  Controller of Works, Anambra State, Engr. Ajani Adeyemo established the fact that the Ministry has already paid compensations to the tune of N3.5Billion for claims on the project corridor. He also disclosed that compensation was paid from Km 23 - 34.9 of the project,  though there were still pockets of claims coming in from time to time. These  outstanding claims have already been forwarded to the Ministry for consideration and settlement, he added.

7. Engr. Adeyemo, while allaying the fears of Nigerians on the scheduled delivery of the project, further explained that the 2nd Niger Bridge, alongside two other Federal Government projects, are specially funded from the National Sovereign Investments Fund (NSIF) and as such will not experience paucity of funding. The Federal Controller, gladly, informed the Minister that, while the completion period for the contract is 42 months, it is presently at 17%  within 4 months.

8. The Project Director, Julius Berger (Nigeria) Limited, Mr Frederick Weiser stated that his Company has received payment on work done thus far and the communities have been co-operating as well. The major threat to the project, according to him, is the River Niger itself. He believes the river was going to rise between 10m to 12m as the rainy season was fast approaching. This, he said, calls for intensive work, 24 hours of the day, seven days a week to ensure it progresses before the River level rises.

Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN At The 23rd Meeting Of The National Council On Works

Address Delivered By The Honourable Minister Of Power, Works And Housing, At The NAF Conference Centre, Abuja On Thursday 20th July 2017

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen:

In choosing the theme of this year's Council, we, seek to raise the level and quality of our transport infrastructure to the globally acceptable standards.

As human beings, mobility has become a major commitment of the global urban agenda.

This must be so because our development, prosperity and sometimes our survival is tied to our mobility and so is our productivity, social and cultural interactions.

I am happy, first, to announce to you that Nigeria, under the leadership of President Buhari has played a critical and positive role in developing a common African position since 2016 that has helped to shape the Global Urban Agenda adopted in Quito, Ecuador this year to guide the global development until 2036.

What is left is for us as champions of that African position and urban agenda, is to begin to localize and implement its component parts for the benefits of our people.

Yes, we have to build roads, highways and bridges.

But the question then is: Roads, highways and bridges to where. Where do they lead?

Unless we know where these critical transport infrastructure lead to, they will either have failed to achieve the objective of mobility or will, at best, do so with difficulty.

Long before the development of the Internet and the proliferation of smart phones and apps, many countries have developed maps to help guide their citizens and transport infrastructure users through the labyrinth of their network of roads.

But these maps alone do not achieve the purpose without road signs, which indicates to road users, how far their journey is, how far they have progressed, how much is left to travel, and how far away they are from one village, city, local government, or from critical services like hospitals, fuel stations and hotels or motels to help ease the stress and tedium of long distance travel.

Sadly, these signs are either non-existent or largely insufficient on our highways.

So, imagine driving by yourself into a city you have never been, how do you know where to link the next interstate highway, or expect to buy fuel or plan to sleep for the night on a long journey or get medical help in case of a road traffic accident.

Have we considered the fact that the existence of highway signs is a reason why the car rental business and its collateral employment thrives in some countries and not in our own?

The proliferation of global, country and state maps on the handheld devices therefore creates a compelling urgency on all of us to start developing and installing signage on our roads, bridges and highways at interstate and intra-state levels.

This is one sure way of facilitating mobility and implementing the local component of the global urban agenda for the benefit of our people.

But it will not be enough to just simply erect any type of sign, in any place or indeed anyhow.

They must be produced according to specifications and enduring materials, and they must be installed to a minimum standard that ensures their durability, endurance and utility for commuters.

I would like to place on public record, my pride, and indeed my gratitude to the staff of the works sector of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing for their hard work in developing these specifications and standards.

Similarly, I will like to acknowledge the technical support and cooperation that the Corp Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and his team have afforded our team in the process of developing the size, quality and lettering specifications of these signs.

Ladies and gentlemen, helping commuters to navigate the journey is only half of the human benefit of signage and our mobility policy.

The other half is the direct economic benefits to those people who will benefit from contracts, jobs and the financial rewards that come from producing the signs, fabricating the steel, printing the signs, and the labour to be employed in installing them.

These benefits are also true of lane marking.

This is why we have chosen this National Council, where states are represented, professional groups are represented and the requisite technical personnel are present to unveil this policy and programme.

While our roads are still in various stages of completion, our economic needs compel us to refuse to wait until everything is done before we begin to confer the benefits of lane marking and street signage on our people.

We have met in the Ministry and agreed to compile the list of roads where significant sections have been completed, and prepare them for procurement and award of sub-contracts in collaboration with our main contractors, and this procurement will then  be advertised in due course as required by law and subject to an open and competitive bids.

As more sections of roads reach completion they will be subject to similar processes so we expect this to be continuous.

While we will implore on and insist that those who benefit from these contracts perform them to the highest standards of quality, we understand that signs can be damaged, and road markings require periodic touching up.

Therefore, we see a future of maintenance jobs and contracts going forward, to create sustained employment in our road transport sector.

Ladies and gentlemen, I could think of no better time, when our economy needs to be creative in order to provide inclusion for unemployed young able-bodied people, and I can think of no better forum than this National Council of Works, to discuss the economic, safety, and people-oriented basis of this policy, to address the theme of this council which is ‘Adequate Traffic Signage - An Essential Key for Highways Infrastructure, Safety and Comfort.’

I will now conclude by saying that everybody has an important role to play in order to ensure that the benefits of this policy reach all the sectors of our economy and the people they are designed for.

I sincerely hope that our government will be able to count on you as we have always done to ensure its successful implementation.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Honorable Minister for Power, Works and Housing

Thursday 20th July 2017