INTER-STATE transporters on Tuesday commended the Federal Government for terminating the Lagos-Ibadan expressway concession contract awarded to Bi-Courtney Consortium on May 8, 2009.
Announcing the termination of the contract on Monday, the Federal Government through the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, said the action followed the "failure of the company to reach financial close as provided for in the agreement."
Transporters who spoke with The Guardian yesterday accused the contractor of not doing enough to fix the road more than three years after the contract was signed, thereby allowing the very busy road to assume the status of a "death trap".
One of the transporters who ply Lagos-Ilorin road, Mr. Olumide Fatai, while commending the Federal Government, called for immediate commencement of construction work to stop what he described as "daily death" along the expressway.
Fatai said: "For us (transporters), this is the best news this year. People die on this road like mosquitoes every day. We can avoid this daily death by fixing the road properly. It is unfortunate we don't value life in Nigeria. The government ought to have terminated this contract long time ago."
Another transporter, who simply identified himself as Moshood, while commending the Federal Government's resolve said effort should also be made to dislodge all vehicles, especially trailers parked on one lane of the road between Lagos and Mowe in Ogun State.
"Apart from the bad section of the road, motorists also have trailers parked illegally to contend with. Driving from Ibadan in Oyo State to Mowe axis in Ogun State takes about one hour twenty minutes. But because of the indiscriminate parking and bad road, journey from Mowe to Lagos can last two or three hours, depending on the time. This is a journey that should not exceed 35 minutes," Moshood said.
He blamed the poor state of the road on the series of accidents recorded, adding that except the road is reconstructed professionally "innocent lives may continue to be lost along the expressway".
Explaining further on Monday, the minister said: "Due to the senseless carnages on this important expressway, which is part of Arterial Route A1, the Federal Government has also decided to embark on the emergency reconstruction of the expressway. Consequently, the Federal Ministry of Works has engaged the services of Julius Berger Plc and RCC Nigeria Limited to commence work immediately on the reconstruction of the expressway.
"While Julius Berger would handle section 1: from Lagos to Shagamu interchange, RCC Nigeria Limited will be responsible for section II from Shagamu to Ibadan. The Federal Government wishes to assure that while it will continue to uphold the sanctity of contracts it entered into, it will not shy away from implementing provisions of the contract agreement dealing with non-performance on the part of the contracting party."
