Bad roads
During the summer teaching institute I taught at Carleton College in June, one of the things we discovered as we explored Gapminder (check it out if you don't know about it), was that road building in Nigeria has been non-existent during the past few years. Road repairs cannot have been very effective either, since the number of miles of paved roads has declined dramatically.Your students should be able to read between the lines and describe some things the political situation in Abuja.
Now comes this report by Daniel Idonor in Vanguard: Bad Roads - 'Be Careful', Minister Warns Media
THE Federal Government, through its Works Minister, Alhaji Hassan Adamu Lawal, yesterday reacted to the deplorable state of federal roads in the country, in particular the Apapa-Oshodi expressway in Lagos [below], saying "we have to be careful."
FLOOD: Mile 2 along Apapa-Oshodi Express Way taken over by flood following a down pour in Lagos.It was not clear who should be careful -- the government, Nigerians who suffer daily, or the media who report the suffering of Nigerians -- as the minister refused to talk to State House correspondents...
[W]hen he eventually emerged from the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, venue of the FEC meeting , the minister who was not apparently ready to field questions from journalists said "I have discussed with my boss, we have to be careful", a statement that did not make any meaning to reporters.
Asked to explain what he meant by "we have to be careful", the minister failed to utter a word, as he walked out on the reporters.
Vanguard's investigations however revealed that President Yar'Adua... had repeatedly drawn the attention of the minister to the issue, asking that he comes up with a workable solution towards addressing the issue as it has become a major source of negative publicity to the government.
It was gathered that the Hassan Lawal, who has served as minister for five years, including three years under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, as Labour minister, and two years in the present government, could not come up with any solution...
See also: Flood, Bad Roads Grind Lagos to a Halt
LAGOS, the nation's economic capital and financial hub has been paralysed by intractable traffic snarl-up, worsened by heavy downpour witnessed in the last few days.
The Oshodi-Apapa expressway is has, for many years, been neglected resulting in its present state of decay. The drainage systems have become dumping ground by companies doing business along the stretch, while Tokunbo vehicle sellers take over some of the available spaces left on the road.
Remedial works carried out on the road in the past have not helped matters as they have only been peripheral and did not really address the state of the road...
Labels: corruption, economics, Nigeria, politics
posted by Ken Wedding @ 6:30 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home