NASS Inspection Visit give Credence To The Potency Of Rigid Pavement Technology In Enhancement Of The Nation’s Roadmap To Economic Prosperity

In the aspiration of the Renewed Hope administration of the President of Nigeria, His Excellency President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, to make a great difference in governance trajectories, there has been a deeper emphasis on legislative oversight on the projects’ implementation processes of the government at all levels.

This has been demonstrated by Mr. President in several executive-legislature engagements, especially in the robust way and dispassionate manner, the National Assembly under his administration has so far engaged the executives on matters of budget and project implementation.

The recent oversight visit of the Committees on Works  of the Senate and the Federal  House of Representatives to some projects  being executed by Federal Government under the Federal Ministry  of Works, especially  the phase one of the 700km Lagos- Calabar  Coastal Highway projects,  Third Mainland bridge project (bridge deck overlay), the Eko bridge, the emergency repairers of the substructure and underwater element on the Third Mainland, Carter and Iddo bridges, the Apapa-Oshodi concrete road project, the Lagos Ibadan Expressway project and the Deep Sea Port project, created a fascinating eye-opener  to the potency of the rigid pavement  technology introduced  by the Renewed Hope administration in the nation’s roadmap to economic prosperity.

The members  of the two committees of the National Assembly who spent days to assess the performance  of the Federal Ministry of Works in selected projects in Lagos State were personally  taken round the projects by the Honourable Minister, His Excellency, Sen. Engr Nweze David Umahi CON.

As a proven professional in engineering construction and procurement who has great performance track records in large-scale and  complex  infrastructure projects, the Honourable  Minister gave explicit accounts of the projects’ concepts, designs, specifications, delivery  milestones and their socio-economic  prospects.

Among the  most informative highlights that provoked  the thoughts of the Distinguished  Senators and members of the Federal House of Representatives were the issues of government  and contractors agreeing  to migrate to concrete road technology, also called cement  technology. This form of road technology as explained  by the Hon Minister is a type  of Highway surface made by blending cement,  sand, coarse, aggregate and water to form a mixture that is poured and compacted to form a durable  long lasting  surface. Cement  and steel are the two most critical materials in concrete technology, and incidentally, they can be produced 100% in Nigeria.

A mention was also made by the Honourable Minister of the various  road projects successfully done in rigid pavement, which he said would  be used by Hitech Construction Ltd in sections of the Lagos- Calabar Coastal Highway project.

He said, “I’ve seen the works they did. If you go to Eko Deep Seaport, you will see the concrete work, you go to Apapa-Oshodi that defied all kinds of  solutions, rigid pavement solution was adopted, and the problem of road failure was solved. That was done by done by Dangote. So we are very confident that this project, the two phases, will be executed successfully under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR. Let me say that this was his dream as a Governor of Lagos State.”

He continued, “This project has a self-cleansing mechanism in terms of return on investment. So it’s going to pay for itself. So whatever funds that the National Assembly will look for and they give us, it will be effectively utilized, and it will pay for itself.”

When asked about the project dimensions  and the  significance of the landmarks  project,  he said: “The first section has been procured in favour of Hitech Construction Limited and is procured for a sum of N1.06 trillion. We have section two that is taking off from phase one and takes us exactly to the deep sea location, and then this section two is taking off from that section and it’s about 55.5km and it’s taking us to the border between Ogun and Ondo States. And so, the procurement is ongoing at BPP.  Section three is being procured at the end of the road, and that is from Cross River, Calabar.”

He continued, “The significance of this project is that it’s a coastal road. And so along this route, apart from the train that will run all through, we are going to have a number of facilities. We’re going to acquire some land along the corridor of this road and we’ll be able to have hotels, tourism facilities, industries, housing estates and so on and so forth. And so, we are going to be liaising and cooperating with State Governors to acquire the lands for us to do this.”

When he was asked of the environmental impact  of the project  to the communities  it would  pass through, the Hon.Minister gave a professional reply, “At the beginning of every design you check the hydraulic survey and that is flood level. And then you now do deep soil test. Soil test is tested, at a depth of five meters. The reason is that there is what is called dispersal transmission of load, where you put a pin load, and so it takes the transmission down to the subgrade, it transmits into a triangular form so the highest stress is at the top and so as it goes down it reduces.  So every case is taken for the engineering design of the project, and so it’s assured.”

Captivated by the thrilling  explanations and incisive answers to the questions posed to the Honourable Minister on the various projects,  especially the 700 km Coastal Highway project, the Distinguished and Honourable members of the National Assembly  spoke  of their powers of oversight  under the constitution and their impressions, and expressed  satisfaction  with the performance  of the Federal Ministry of Works  under Sen. Umahi, describing the projects as legacy projects of landmark  importance  to national socio-economic advancement. It was a moment  of praise to the efforts  of the Renewed Hope administration of  Mr. President  and the uncommon commitment  and display of uncommon professionalism by the Honourable Minister of Works. The Senate Committee Chairman on Works, Sen. Barinada Mpigi responded,

“The coastal road is real and is live, and I can testify with my colleagues from both the House of Reps and the Senate that they are doing the right thing. And with the expectant period of 36 months for us to get to this 47 km, seeing it’s achievable.” On his own part, the Chairman  of the Federal  House of Representatives Committee  on Works, Hon. Akin Alabi stated, “It is amazing what we are seeing. These are legacy projects.  Renewed Hope administration  is making  a great history by this concrete road  project. On our side, both the Senate and House of Representatives must make sure that every fund released is accounting for it. I have no doubt. But we must do our job. It’s our constitutional mandate. With that, Nigerians will smile that, okay, fuel subsidy was removed. FX thing is more challenging, this is the kind of project, a legacy project that will put smiles on the faces of Nigerians”.

There are overwhelming testimonies across Nigeria on the long-lasting comparative  advantage  and effectiveness  in the use of  concrete technology in terms of costs, durability, zero maintenance, skill  development, employment, and local content. It’s now a signature initiative  of the Renewed Hope administration of  the President  of Nigeria, who is seen as the most strong-willed, private sector-driven, and resolute President Nigeria  has ever produced. To God be the glory.

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