‘Road design must have economic inclusiveness’

Transportation being a vehicle for economic growth through in-country and cross-border transactions is enhanced by quality road design and inclusiveness in the master plan.

Corps Marshall, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi stated this in Abuja at the Trophee Babacar Ndiaye award.

President Muhammadu Buhari won the 2021 Trophee Babacar Ndiaye award but the presentation was not done because of COVD-19. The president’s award was thus presented at the Abuja conference.

The 2022 Trophee Babacar Ndiaye, which was the seventh edition of the Road Builders, was themed ‘Building roads, building economies’. It was organised by African journalists in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and the African Development Bank.

Oyeyemi said that apart from providing mobility to enhance the business environment, roads are paramount in granting access controls to certain localities in the context of national security, as economic growth and security are linked.

In underscoring the importance of roads to building economies, he said the roads and road infrastructures must be designed and built to be safe, resilient, smart, and sustainable. Roads should be built in a way that would not become ‘death traps’ to the users.

Oyeyemi said there is a strong relationship between roads and economic development.

“The world’s leading economies have better-built roads with networks that promote road safety and minimal socio-economic consequences.

“The number of kilometers of road available per capita in the developing economies is very low compared to what obtains in Europe and North America. This low availability of roads per capita has a negative impact on the economies of the countries in Africa and Asia.

“In the case of Nigeria, it is responsible for: High rate of Post-harvest loss in agriculture; Low life expectancy; Low economic power for the rural dwellers; High-level insecurity in rural areas; and High level of ungoverned spaces,” he said.

The intermediary action that must be implemented on the pathway between building roads and the economy of Nigeria includes a safe transportation system and road safety, he said.

He said the main bridge connecting building roads and building economies must not be neglected in any phase of planning or execution of road projects.

“The road in Nigeria is not just a social infrastructure. It is a political tool engaged by the political class to prove they are working. It is a major political campaign issue. The road has served to unite people. It has been used to compensate people for political patronage. It has also been used as a political weapon against political opponents.

“Nigeria’s investments in roads and road infrastructures have opened up the arteries for doing business by facilitating the movement of goods and services. Further steps must be taken to bridge additional roads to properly connect with the business in their right zones.”