Why Reintroducing Toll Gates In Nigeria Would Be A Good, Commendable Thing
Editor’s note: Whenever a new initiative is proposed or embarked upon by the government at any level, a critical question arises on whether the money spent on and gained from it would be used for the benefit of all, and get into certain private pockets, as often is the case.
Obule Ocheyenor insists that reintroduction of the toll gate system to Nigeria’s federal highways is a necessity that would prove to be effective should Babatunde Fashola, the federal minister of power, works and housing, ensure transparency.
Since the minister of power, works and housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, and the Nigerian Senate hinted about the return of toll gates to the nation’s highways, there have been mixed reactions to the development. Some Nigerians are in support of it while others do not see the rationale behind it owing to the massive fraud associated with toll collection before former president Olusegun Obasanjo dismantled them about eleven years ago.
On this score, those who are skeptical about the return of toll gates have a point, unless, of course, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration turns a new leaf by using the revenue generated from the toll gates to fix the nation’s highways which have long become death traps. Because of the poor allocation of funds to the works ministry over the years, 80% of the 36,000 km federal roads in the country are in dire need of repairs as they have exceeded their life span. Apart from poor maintenance resulting in huge craters, some of the roads, especially in the southsouth and southeast regions of the country, have been destroyed by gully erosion.
In coming up with the proposition, Fashola argued that the government sees it as an alternative source of generating funds to maintain the federal roads because there are many road projects to be executed at the cost of about N2 trillion. This amount is more than four times the amount allocated to the works, power and housing ministry in the 2016 budget. In the 2016 budget, the federal government earmarked N433.4 billion for its services in the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. Though still way below the needed threshold, it cannot be compared with the 2015 budget presented under former president, Goodluck Jonathan. In that budget, the works ministry had the unkindest cut or worst allocation in recent years. The ministry’s capital budget proposal was slashed from the projected N100 billion to a mere N11 billion by the Ministry of Finance. The federal government also failed to allocate capital votes to the Federal Road Maintenance Agency. This was partly responsible for the total collapse of federal roads, also known as Trunk A roads, all over the country.
Former works minister under Jonathan, Mike Onolememen, bemoaned his ministry’s plight when he was expected to use the paltry N11 billion to execute about 210 road and bridge projects, adding that only 33 were provided for in the budget and the provisions were insufficient to pay contractors handling the projects. The minister had also lamented that since 2011, the ministry had always been owed outstanding budgeted funds, totaling N203.392 billion by the end of the 2014 fiscal year. For instance, only N45,682,844,395 billion was released for the works ministry out of the 2014 capital appropriation of N98,814,368,704 billion.
It is to forestall the dilemma his predecessor faced for almost four years that Fashola has opted for the return of the toll gates because that is the only way to make up for the shortfall from the budgetary allocation to his ministry in 2016. If the return of toll gates will translate to smooth roads across the country so be it. Bad roads have taken a huge toll on the country in terms of carnage on the roads. Nigeria is regarded as one of the countries with the worst accident rates in the world. Many lives are lost daily on Nigerian roads due to their deplorable state. Narrow bridges constructed in the 70s are causing fatal accidents almost daily as vehicles plunge into the river from such bridges that need immediate expansion to cope with the present high volume of traffic and heavy-duty trucks.
When the toll gates eventually return, Nigerians will not accept any diversion of funds collected at the toll gates for other purposes other than road maintenance. Tolls collected in the past were allegedly diverted. This angered former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, who dismantled the toll gates all over the country and increased the pump price of petroleum products, lying to Nigerians that the revenue generated from the increase in fuel price would be used to maintain roads and construct new ones. He never kept that promise as roads continued to deteriorate throughout his eight-year tenure.
Before the toll gates were dismantled due to alleged inefficiency and fraud, N800 million was collected annually by toll gate operators, which many believed was a far cry from what the operators actually collected. The bulk of the revenue was diverted into private pockets. This must not happen under Fashola’s watch.
This time, the toll gate operators must be carefully monitored. Electronic devices should also be deployed for efficiency and to prevent the toll gate operators from engaging in sharp practices which at the end would defeat the purpose of re-introducing the toll gates. The federal government should also come up with a reasonable and affordable toll to be paid by all categories of vehicles so that the burden would not be too much on the motoring public who are ready to make the needed sacrifice for the roads to be in good condition and to safeguard their own lives and those of their passengers on the nation’s highways.
Tolling of roads is a global phenomenon which all must embrace provided it translates to good and safer roads in our country. It may not be convenient for the motorists who will pay the tolls but it is a sacrifice we all must make to stay alive while we drive on good roads.
Mr Ocheyenor wrote from Lagos.
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