Ezekwesili Calls For Overhaul Of Nigeria’s Road Infrastructure
The presidential candidate of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, Dr Oby Ezekwesili, has called for a complete rethink of Nigeria’s road infrastructure.
She believes the roads link people to the markets and consequently, good road networks help to improve productivity and reduce poverty.
Ezekwesili said this when she appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Saturday.
She made the comments in reaction to the gridlock on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway which she also encountered on Saturday morning.
The ACPN candidate complained about what she described as poor maintenance of the road, despite the ongoing repair works.
She, therefore, called for an increase in budgetary allocation to road networks which she considered as the nation’s economic lifelines.
“This road is the economic artery of the country and there are many things that are going together.
“The poor state of the infrastructure, the poor traffic management system, the challenges of categorization of road users on this kind of a stretch of road, the policy on the weight of usage that happens on the road and maintenance issues.
“We normally call it road governance challenges. So you look at your road governance strategy and there is an issue there.
“This road particularly has a resonance for me because when I was at the world bank, we had a $400 million loan to enable this road be constructed. We had to move some of it towards supporting the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).
“There has to be a complete rethink of the road strategy in our country.
“When you look at the budget of the country, its going to be impossible for us to solve this major problem of roads,” she said.
Her comments come hours after two accidents occurred on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
One of the accidents which occurred in the early hours of Saturday, involved two trucks and three other cars.
Three persons died in the process.
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