To ensure the good management of Nigerian roads, the Federal Roads Management Agency has introduced new technology to make Nigerian roads safer and motorable to road users, writes Uzoamaka? Ajah.
Good roads are a key economic segment with high growth potentials upon which domestic trade and commerce thrives.
With the nation’s road infrastructure largely in place and the deplorable state of some sections of the roads, a new strategy has been adopted by the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA). This method is called preventive maintenance or pavement preservation.
Preventive maintenance is the periodic application of relatively inexpensive but sustainable pavement treatment to an existing road way system in order to retard further deterioration and improve the functional condition of the road.
This method of road maintenance has been recognized as a powerful tool to be used by road agencies that are efficient and effective in their operations across the country.
The sustainable maintenance practices are gaining widespread popularity as countries look for ways to preserve the existing highway system rather than allow failures to occur and affect pavements that will eventually lead to complete overlay.
That explains why many countries are investing significant sums of money for pavement preservation activities on the widely accepted method that is cost effective, sustaining and very efficient.
It is in the light of the above that the FERMA, last year flagged off the preventive road maintenance method to reduce the cost of maintaining roads in Nigeria, as well as preserve pavements from deteriorating.
This pavement preservation method has so far received commendations from various segments of our economic and political lives including the state governors who have benefited from the? pavement preservation on federal roads in their states.?
However, towards the end of 2011, the Minister of Works, Arc. Mike Onolememen, who flagged off the official launch of preventive road maintenance, said the Road Surveillance and Preventive Maintenance programme FERMA is part of his Ministry’s initiative to give practical expression to President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda.?
According to Onolememen, while it is understandable that many Nigerians feel frustrated by the current state of Federal roads, the fact remains that FERMA is facing daunting challenges in maintaining these roads.? He identified one of these challenges as “the near criminal neglect” of Federal roads without maintenance over several years.
He said in a country where about 90% of freights and passengers are conveyed by road because other modes of transportation are in near comatose state, it behoves on Nigerians to ensure that effective mechanisms are put in place to keep all roads in serviceable conditions all year-round.
The minister argued that roads play the role of prime drivers of economic development, job creation and poverty reduction, saying under the road surveillance and preventive maintenance programme, the Federal Ministry of Works and FERMA will ensure sustainable maintenance of all federal roads in all the geo-political zones in the country, as well as empower youths through creation of new jobs in the road sector.
He urged members of the National Assembly to partner with the Ministry to actualize Government vision to reduce transit time on roads, as well as reduction of cost transportation and cost of additional repair of vehicles due to bad roads and loss of lives and property through accidents.
In furtherance of the benefits of the new method of road maintenance the Managing Director/CEO of FERMA, Engr. Gabriel Amuchi, called for effective collaboration between the agency and to Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE)? and other relevant stakeholders to work to achieve greater results in the Preventive Maintenance and Road Surveillance programme.
He articulated the Agency’s mandate as encapsulated in the FERMA enabling (2002) and amended Act (2007), which he said empowers it to monitor and maintain all Federal roads in the country. He said the Agency has come a long way in building its capacity to discharge its statutory functions.
Amuchi said the Preventive Maintenance and Roads Surveillance programme is aimed at inculcating in Nigerians, a preventive maintenance culture, which he said is a cheaper and more effective road asset management approach.
The Managing Director pointed out that the agency must prevent cracks and other failures to ensure they do not develop into large potholes, gullies or washouts and be proactive in all areas of road maintenance..
Then again, FERMA has to ensure the effective surveillance of over 34,000km of Federal roads nationwide and closely monitor them such that the ones in fair condition are well managed, secured and made safe for road users.
Engr. Amuchi said to ensure effective management of Nigerian roads on day to day basis, the agency has to consider the use of cold asphalt technology for quick patching of pot-holes.
He declared that all relevant parameters to give the programme its needed impetus in terms of machinery, manpower, and other logistics support are already in place.
The agency has at various fora urged Nigerians to regard road development as a collective responsibility by using the roads wisely to ensure a lasting design life span.
In the yearly appropriations, FERMA commended the federal government commitment to the provision of funds in the national budget for road maintenance while desirous of a corresponding increase in its budgetary provisions to tackle road menace.
The legislature which frowns at the sorry state of federal roads in the country, has reiterated the determination of members to support the nation’s road maintenance agency in the areas of appropriations and enabling laws.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Works, Senator Ayogu Eze, has at separate briefings, noted that in-spite of daunting challenges faced by the road agency; it has remained focused in its pursuit for good roads.
Ayogu said the state of federal roads before the emergence of FERMA was near collapse, especially roads in the South East and South South of Nigeria.
It is important to also note that President GoodLuck Jonathan administration has taken road infrastructure as one key economic development that must be actualized to the deliver dividends of democracy.
However, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency has successfully implemented the federal government road sub sector agenda to ensure routine maintenance of federal roads across the country.
Its operations which are unique and significant to all sectors of the economy have affected commerce in the transfer of goods and services, access to nearby Hospitals and maternity homes etc.
Key economic components of any functional administration rely heavily on road infrastructure and government places premium on road development to facilitate the needed economic cooperation across the country.