Dear Mr. President, like Boko Haram and armed banditry, road traffic accident is yet another monster killer along the Cham-Numan-Jalingo federal roads.
It is on record that your administration has recorded significant success in maintaining road infrastructure, essentially to stimulate economic and social development across the country.
It is also on record that the administration had in March 2017 approved the sum of N80 billion for the reconstruction of 12 federal roads across Nigeria, one of which was the Numan, Jalingo connecting Adamawa and Taraba states with the administrative city of Abuja and the commercial city of Kano.
However, the Numan, Jalingo roads still maintain the status of ‘death trap’ costing lives of many Nigerians and inflicting temporary or permanent injuries on many more.
According to statistical figures by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), about 10,000 people die every year in road traffic accidents. This implies that about 27 deaths occurred daily from such road carnages.
This should perhaps be in multiple of daily deaths recorded from Boko Haram and banditry killings.
Mr. President Sir, the Cham-Numan-Jalingo federal roads are still not in good condition four years after the approval for reconstruction of the said roads by the Federal Executive Council (FEC). T
he snail speed of the project is quite alarming and at some point irritating. Unless something urgently done, the roads remain as they are, death traps.
This is even against the backdrop of the huge agricultural activities around the Numan area, courtesy of the Benue River.
The roads are the arteries through which most of the economic activities of Adamawa and Taraba states pulse.
The roads linked consumers (locals) in the two states to the market in Kano state, the same way the roads linking producers (farmers) from the sates to markets in other parts of the North.
Cham-Numan is less than 50km, approximately 30 minutes’ drive under normal circumstances.
Nevertheless, the section between Cham and Gyawana (Savanna Sugar Company) alone can take someone about two hours crawling in-between deep potholes.
The roads are not just in bad condition but worse. The deplorable condition of the roads is enough a hazard that can cause accidents to even the safest driver.
Sharp edges and depth of potholes are actually frightening aspect of the roads for a tie rod to break or the vehicle to develop other malfunction. Driving on those direful roads simply means driving off-road.
Mr. President there is a large-scale lamentation by the locals about the frequency of road traffic accidents along the roads.
The passionate appeal here is for the Federal Government to stimulate (through whatever means possible) speedy work on the roads with a view to cushioning the misfortune suffered by commuters and transporters plying the roads.
Reconstruction of these roads in good time is akin to bringing economic and social benefits in a mutual way between Nigeria and Nigerians because sustainable economic growth is all about reducing the distance between people, services, knowledge and markets, which could only be achieved through quality road network.
Indeed, there exists a strong correlation between national economic growth and the quality of the nation’s road network.
*Saleh Babagana is a lecturer in the department of physics, Yobe State University Damaturu. [email protected]
