𝗔𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗮/𝗢𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗵𝗮 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘄𝗮𝘆: 𝗔 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲
𝗕𝗬: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝗷𝗲𝗶
𝗕𝗬: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝗷𝗲𝗶 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐚/𝐎𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐚 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡-𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡-𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚, 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞.
𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.
This dry season presents the ideal opportunity for construction activities. Dry weather conditions are typically leveraged by construction companies to hasten the pace of roadwork. However, the reverse seems to be the case here, 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐧-𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞. The lack of progress on this project during this favourable season underscores the inefficiency that has come to characterize public infrastructure projects in Nigeria.
The importance of the 𝐀𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐚/𝐎𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐲 cannot be overstated. It is a vital corridor for commerce, facilitating the movement of goods and services to and from 𝐎𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐡𝐚, which houses the largest market in Africa. If this project remains abandoned, the onset of the rainy season will exacerbate the already dire situation. The inevitable deterioration of the road will lead to unnecessary and avoidable gridlocks, severely affecting both small and large-scale businesses that rely on this route for transportation.
This scenario is a clear example of a system failure. A government that prioritizes accountability and efficiency would not tolerate such negligence. If the 𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 has fulfilled its contractual obligations to the construction company, this abandonment is enough reason to blacklist the 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 and demand accountability. Conversely, if the government has failed in its “duty of care” to the contractor, then the blame lies squarely at the feet of the administration.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐚/𝐎𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞-𝐮𝐩 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 —𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐚/𝐎𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐡𝐚 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭 .
𝗕𝗬: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝗷𝗲𝗶 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
