The nation may soon witness a drastic transformation of some federal roads that are currently in a terrible state going by the promise made by President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday.
The President, who said in a new year nationwide broadcast that the Federal Road Maintenance Agency had been restructured for improved performance, declared that the agency was also given 12 weeks to fix a number of major roads in bad condition. Specifically, the President said 44 roads would be given a new look by FERMA, adding that the roads cut across the six geo-political zones of the country.
Management of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency has been reconstituted and has been charged with a 12-week rapid intervention in road repairs to cover all the geo-political zones. Government is undertaking repairs and maintenance of 44 roads within the six geo-political zones, he said. Buhari also said that 25 major roads would be funded with the N100bn Sukuk facility, adding that each geo-political zone would get an equal amount of N16.67bn.
The Sukuk is an Islamic bond, structured in such a way as to generate returns to investors without infringing on Islamic law. The Federal Government in October last year announced the commencement of the sale of a N100bn ($326m) seven-year Islamic bond on the local market, which the Debt Management Office said would yield a 16.47 per cent rental rate and payable semi-annually. It was oversubscribed. The roads that would receive special attention were given as Oyo Ogbomosho; Ofusu Ore Ajebandele-Sagamu; Yenagoa Road Junction Kolo Otuoke Bayelsa Palm; Enugu Port Harcourt Dual Carriage Way; Onitsha Enugu Expressway and Kaduna Eastern Bypass. Others would involve the dualisation of Kano Maiduguri Road; Abuja Lokoja Benin Road; and Suleja Minna Road. In addition, government has approved work to start on the reconstruction of Abuja Kaduna Zaria Kano road which is in a state of disrepair. Work will soon start and is expected to be completed in 2019, the President said.
(Punch)
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