Road Infrastructure Revolution Nationwide has Started, Courtesy of the Renewed Hope Administration of Mr President. Read to Know Your Role   1. The attention of the Federal Ministry of Works has been drawn to the concerns of the public on the deplorable situations of some sections of the Federal roads throughout the Federation as reported in many media platforms, especially social media, the front page, pages 4,5,6 and 14 of the publication of Sun Newspaper of 26th November, 2023. Most of the sections of the roads frequently reported but definitely not exhaustive are: the Makurdi-Nsukka 9th Mile Road, East West Road, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Benin bypass road, collapsed bridges of Enugu- Port Harcourt road, collapsed bridges of Shandam-Plateau State, Abuja-Kaduna- Zaria-Kano road and Gombe- Bauchi etc.    2. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR is aware of the state of our road infrastructure which he inherited on the 29th day of May 2023. Without prejudice to all the good efforts of the past administration on road infrastructure development which they tackled within the limit of their resources, the work to be done to change the ugly state of our roads is quite enormous.   3.  Mr. President is not complaining of the challenges he inherited in nearly all sectors of the economy, especially as it concerns our road infrastructure, but he is quite courageous as he had promised to tackle the problems head-on which he has started to do not minding the debt burden inherited especially the funding gap of over Six Trillion Naira (₦6T) from most of the inherited on-going road projects.   4. Mr. President has since reeled out plans of commitment, consistence, and innovations towards actualizing a sustainable road infrastructure development throughout the country. He has just approved a 2023 Supplementary budget of Three Hundred Billion Naira (₦300B) for the Ministry of Works comprising of One Hundred Billion Naira (₦100B) for immediate palliative works in 36 States and FCT and Two Hundred Billion Naira (₦200B) for continuation of most of the inherited ongoing projects and very few new but critical road projects.   5. Mr. President has directed that works in those palliative projects must commence before 1st December 2023, while observing all due process. On the sections being frequently complained of by the public in all regions of the North and South of the country, Mr. President has equally isolated them and directed immediate actions on them and indeed work has started on all such roads. The public can crosscheck our claims and report back to us.   6. The engagements of the Federal Ministry of Works will not be limited to these isolated reported cases but shall be holistic in our approach through these approved palliative measures and the interventions of FERMA in all the 36 States and FCT also.   7.  The public is hereby requested to assist the Federal Ministry of Works and FERMA by supervising the contractors that will be engaged in these palliative works and indeed all ongoing projects of the Federal Ministry of Works and FERMA. It is the right of every Nigerian to have value for their money deployed to the road infrastructure sector and therefore must show both interest and passion in all the ongoing projects by the Federal Ministry of Works and FERMA, and indeed all projects of the Federal, State and Local governments. All poorly constructed roads should be photographed and reported immediately to the following contacts: 08030986263, 08037086137, or 08106423197; showing the name of the contractor, the location and type of contract and defects observed. The Federal Ministry of Works will document such reports, verify and take effective action to correct such infractions. The Federal Ministry of Works shall also periodically recognize publicly those who made such reports that are genuine in a public engagement forum to be hosted quarterly by the Federal Ministry of Works and will sanction such erring contractors publicly too.                               8. THE USE OF ASPHALT AND CONCRETE PAVEMENT IN ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT   a. The Federal Ministry of Works is shocked to observe the various acts of darkening counsel without knowledge on the position of the Ministry on the use of asphalt and concrete pavement in the development of our road infrastructure by people who have vowed not to release their hands off the brake of our road infrastructure development just for their selfish gains. b. The Federal Ministry of Works has at no time banned the use of asphalt or directed that concrete pavement shall be the only means of road pavement structure. For the avoidance of doubt, the new policy of the Federal Ministry of Works is simply put as follows: i.    contractors for all the ongoing projects are simply requested to have a choice to continue to use asphalt or have their projects redesigned on concrete at no extra cost to government following the underlisted conditions: ii.    Use of asphalt: contractors shall stick to only 5% Variation on Price (VOP) in line with the signed contract agreement throughout the period of the project and the signed contract shall not be subject to review especially on bituminous items. iii.    The thickness of the asphalt pavement as designed must be strictly adhered to by all such contractors and the design shelf life for the asphalt (at least 15 years) shall be guaranteed by issuing an insurance bond through a reputable insurance company in favour of the Federal Government. This is in line with Article 2 of the signed contract and clause 51 of the general conditions of contract (which is part of the documents forming the signed contract with contractors which authorize the client through the Engineer to change the scope of the work, the quantity of the work, the quality of the work as the client may deem fit at any time etc.) for all the ongoing projects. These directives to the contractors do not in any way violate the Federal Ministry of Works' signed agreement with the contractors. iv.    For the use of concrete, contractors must abide by the 5% VOP and 50 years design shelf life using concrete grade 40. c. Those who are complaining and demarketing this policy are simply those who do not wish Nigeria well and they are the same people that use adulterated bitumen in their projects while putting pressure on our Naira through the importation of adulterated bitumen instead of developing our abundant God given bitumen deposits in Ogun State and other parts of Nigeria. Insofar as this new policy has not violated any law, the Federal Ministry of Works is forging ahead with this new policy.  As at today, most of the ongoing projects are still ongoing with asphalt pavement in line with this new policy while some are redesigned on concrete pavement, depending on the terrain and with full understanding of the affected contractors of those projects.   9. The Federal Ministry of Works is very concerned with the supervision of our projects and effective 1st of December 2023, there will be a revolution in the ways and methods the Federal Ministry of Works supervises her projects nationwide. All concerned are HEREBY put on NOTICE as the Ministry will not spare anyone found culpable in his or her assignment.    10. The Director of Works of the 36 States and FCT and  FERMA have been directed to audit all projects in their States and FCT especially equipment on and off sites with their pictures, personnel of contractors, status of all projects including financial status (contract sum, date of award, period of construction and time table, amount paid, challenges, % of work completion, augmentation of project if any, VOP claims etc). This assignment must be completed before 30th November 2023. Note that this directive was given since the past two months.   11. The Federal Ministry of Works wishes to thank Mr. President for his directive that all inherited projects from the past administration be continued while he makes frantic efforts to source for funds for the completion of these ongoing projects and the critical new ones within his 1st 4 years of his Divine 8 years of purposeful and fruitful divine administration through the power of God who divinely brought him to  leadership at this critical moment of our Nation’s history.   12. On the part of the staff of the Federal Ministry of Works, I pledge to strictly and Godly follow the divine Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President, and God willing, we shall continue to support Mr. President and deepen the good efforts of Mr. President in all our road infrastructure development.   Signed: H. E. Sen. (Engr.) Nweze David Umahi, CON, FNSE, FNATE Hon. Minister.   ...

FG is Committed to the Engineering Values in Road Infrastructure Development as Supervision Occupies a Centre Stage in the New Policy of the Federal Ministry of Works   The Federal Government under President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR is committed to outstanding quality, value for money, innovation, responsiveness, fast deliveries and technical expertise in road infrastructure development in Nigeria. This was contained in the message of the Hon. Minister of Works, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi, CON when the national leadership of Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) led by its President, Engr.   Tasiu Sa'ad Gidari Wudil paid him a courtesy call in his office in Abuja on 23rd November, 2023.   The Hon. Minister emphasized the importance attached to quality delivery of construction works by the Renewed Hope administration of Mr. President stressing that the 'business as usual' syndrome in road construction is no longer tenable under the Renewed Hope administration of Mr. President. He reeled out the new policies on road infrastructure to include:   • good stabilized and tested subgrade, sub-base course before pavement placement. • expose subgrade, sub-base and base course to 60 days vehicular movement and continuous sheep-foot rolling before pavement placement. • introduction of reinforced concrete road pavement in most roads’ carriageway and shoulders. • continuous maintenance of all roads under construction throughout the life of the project under contract. • effective design of road infrastructure anchored on detailed report of environmental site conditions and geotechnical report. • community relations in terms of keeping roads motorable under the period of the contract.   He said that supervision was necessary in the actualization of quality delivery of road construction whether concrete pavement or asphalt, noting that each of the two models has its own attendant conditions. “When you start to compare asphalt and concrete, it is if all things are equal, here all things are not equal, there are many factors why we are talking about concrete”.   He noted that the stand of the Ministry is not about comparing asphalt and concrete pavement but that if you are using either of them, there are conditions attached to them. He said there are certain terrains on our roads that make it   imperative for concrete pavement to  be used." You cannot put asphalt in water but you can put concrete in water”.   The Minister explained that the rate of increase in the cost of materials for construction of the two models is alarming  and argued that the cost of materials for  asphalt  is in  geometric progression while the cost of  materials for  concrete pavement  is in arithmetic progression. He reiterated that prudence and value for money are the watchwords of the Ministry of Works under him, and this involves getting materials at the minimum purchase price and maximum efficiency and effectiveness of the product. He urged the leadership of Nigerian Society of Engineers to consider retraining of members of the society and enforcement of discipline and strict standards of ethics in the practice of Engineering in Nigeria in the interest of public safety and for the protection of the economic investments.   " I went to China, and I saw their roads, there was no evidence of any maintenance in nearly 30 years. And I asked them what the reason is, and they said that if you build a road in China and within your lifetime, the road fails, they will come for test and if there is any evidence of compromise, the person responsible goes to prison for life".   The Hon. Minister offered partnership with the NSE in the area of supervision and consultancy.   In his mission statement earlier, the President of Nigerian Society of Engineers ( NSE) said the  aim of the courtesy call was to seek areas of collaboration with their own and described the Hon. Minister as a round beg in a round hole "Since after your assumption of office, we have been monitoring your  progress, and  I must tell you we are not surprised, what you did as Governor in Ebonyi State is amazing. We visited you when you were the Governor of Ebonyi State, and I am going to visit your Governor now. I must go because it is like a pilgrimage.... In fact, Your Excellency, we are proud of you."   The President said that the Society which is an umbrella organization for Engineering profession in Nigeria is committed to best Engineering practices. He enumerated the achievements of the Society and the prospects of their smart office project, and expressed hope that it would be an innovation hub of the nation. ...

Asphalt Pavement and Concrete Pavement not Compared - Umahi.   .....We will Partner with NSE   The Minister of Works, Sen. Nweze David Umahi has reiterated the stand of the Ministry on the use of either asphalt or concrete on the construction of federal roads across the nation saying that each one has conditions attached to its usage.   He made this assertion when the President of the Nigeria Society of Engineer, Engr. Tasiu Sa’ad Gidari Wudil paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Abuja.   Umahi stated that there are many factors why the issue of concrete technology came up and it’s only because all things are not equal and can only be understood by professionals and not by people who have no knowledge about it.   “When you start to compare Asphalt and Concrete, it is as if all things are equal, here all things are not equal, because there are many factors why we are emphasizing about the use of concrete, nevertheless, people speak about  a profession they have no knowledge about” He said.   He noted that the stand of the Ministry is not about comparing asphalt pavement and concrete pavement but that if you are using either of them, there are certain conditions according to the terrains in different states that will require our roads being built with concrete as well as that concrete must be used as pavement.   “We are not just comparing asphalt and concrete, no, that is not what we are doing, first of all, for the use of asphalt, these are the conditions, also for the use of concrete, these are the conditions, but there are certain terrain in states that we stressed must use concrete, we cannot change that.  You cannot put asphalt in water, but you can put concrete into water” he said.   The Minister explained that the rate at which the prices of these two products fluctuates is alarming and that increment in asphalt is Geometric while that of concrete is in Arithmetic progression noting that the FG is the one funding these huge projects and must tread with caution taking into consideration the budgetary allocation of the Ministry of Works.   Umahi expressed his worries saying that the greatest challenge experienced in road construction is the problem of supervision caused by lack of commitment by not putting professional ethics over and above chasing of money but that the Ministry is committed to providing adequate supervision to all road constructions across the 36 states and the FCT.    "If we are committed to public things, God will give you new ideas, if you are not committed to public things, you will not get new ideas “he said.   The Minister declared that the Ministry will partner with the Nigeria Society of Engineers in the supervision of all road projects across the country and encouraged NSE to improve on the professionalism by opening a training school, both in the North and  in the South one each, while he  pledged his support.   “We are going to partner with NSE in the supervision of all road projects and will also   emphasis the need for retraining schools across states. Engineering is wide, if you are a professional engineer, you will not have problem with professional ethics” he said.   Umahi maintained that the first job of Nigeria Society of Engineer is to bring discipline among members by setting standard for membership in the sense that if any action against the profession is committed, one can be disrobed noting that everyone cannot be an engineer.   “The first job of NSE is to bring discipline, you have to bring us under your leadership so if you hear that a member has committed fraud, you can disrobe him, and it is not everyone that will answer the name -Engineer” he said. ...