NIGERIA’s lingering infrastructural decay and the desperate need to bring it at par have been in constant discourse since the Fourth Republic in 1999. These discussions would seem to have intensified following President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2016 budget presentation to the National Assembly on December 22, 2015.

It is a tragic irony, to say mildly, that Nigeria suffered her worst economic degradation between 1979 and 1999, some 20 years during which the country’s revenues from petroleum oil were at their highest but one! Nigeria’s first oil boom turned into a curse of sorts much in the way United States of America’s arms sales boom of early 1930s soon led to the curse of great economic depression in that country. It would seem that national resources are better harnessed in lean times and vice versa, i.e. Less is more.

Today, both the privileged class and the ordinary people, one way or the other, suffer the consequences of Nigeria’s scandalous infrastructural deficit. From the most notorious cities of Lagos and Port Harcourt, through to Warri, Ibadan, Kaduna, and Kano, the narrative is the same. Even the supposed model Capital City of Abuja is not spared, thanks to the numerous roadblocks set up to ward off potential attacks from Boko Haram. At an average pace of 10-30 kilometres per hour (kph) vehicular speed in Nigeria’s principal cities has been aptly termed “snail-paced.”

Whilst we were busy importing containerised luxury automobiles in an armada of ships, we paid scant regard or no attention to the fact that luxury automobiles require world-class roads to run optimally. We are also wanting even in planning for our private comfort. Beyond concerns for loss of productive man-hours, apparently, Nigerians have not spared enough thoughts on the more devastating aspects of gridlock traffic. It would interest most Nigerian motorists to know that at idling engine speed (0 kph), vehicles consume much more fuel per revolution of the engine than when the same vehicles are cruising at between 80-120 kph. At 0 kph air intake into the engine is drastically reduced, therefore engines are designed to run on rich fuel /air mixture during idling engine speed.

For largely the same reason, engine rate of wear and tear at idling speed is also higher than at middling speeds; this increase in wear and tear at low speeds accounts for the incidents of engine overheating and burnt cylinderhead gaskets that we see in gridlock traffic. More significantly, the low intake of air at low speeds translates into inefficient engine combustion, thus more carbon monoxide (co) and unburned hydrocarbon (uhc), (poisonous gases).

In a nutshell, gridlock traffic could effectively ruin an economy and its people’s health; it should, therefore, be avoided as a plague. On the long term, our town planners should urgently re-think Nigeria’s housing and road infrastructure after a fashion of modern mega cities. In the interim, I would suggest the following to temporarily contain the present unnerving traffic emergency in Lagos and Port Harcourt; my proposal is based on the “Less is more” philosophy:

• Government workers, federal, state, and local should be split into two halves;
• The two halves are to work on alternate days of the week, inclusive of Saturdays;
• Do away with that primitive and offensive “VIP” movement culture;
• Private organizations should explore the feasibility of e-business (at peak traffic hours) with such of their personnel that do not need to be physically present in the office to effectively discharge their functions;

If efficiently implemented, the resultant reductions in both traffic and office congestions would redound in increased productivity in Nigeria’s labour force, whilst enhancing the health status of the country. Interestingly, the “Less is More” philosophy could be gainfully applied in all facets of human existence, not excluding such complex topics as ethics and morals.

For example, the less material wealth we appropriate as individuals, the more there is in the commonwealth to make the country secure and comfortable for all.

Now that the sheer stupidity of enriching the self at the expense of country is staring us in the face, it is expected that henceforth all those in public office would cultivate the spirit of building a truly great country at the expense of the self, by embracing the “Less is More” philosophy. That, in words of a syllable, is the change that patriotic Nigerians are eagerly waiting to witness.
• Afam Nkemdiche is a consulting engineer in Abuja.