Road transport is the most commonly used mode of transportation in Nigeria and accounts for more than 90% of the sub-sector’s 3% contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Road transport activities involve the conveyance of passengers en-masse or in small numbers, the transportation of animals, farm produce and merchandise and the rendering of mobile services (clinics, libraries and banks).
The optional use of motor cars for pleasure also contributes tremendously to the importance of road transport in Nigeria given the poor state of alternative means of transportation and also due to the psychological satisfaction offered by the possession of a car.
Nigeria has the largest road network in West Africa and the second largest south of the Sahara, with the national network is currently estimated to be 194,200km of which 34,120km (17.6%) are federal roads, 30,500km (15.7%) state roads and 129,580km (66.7%) local and rural roads. However, the federal roads network carries 70% of freight in the country.
Nigeria’s road networks are poorly maintained and overused as alternative modes of transport are poorly developed. After various failed interventions to address the need for the maintenance of the federal roads network, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) was created in November 2002 (Establishment Act 2002) to monitor and maintain the federal roads network.
FERMA, along with the Highways Department of the Federal Ministry of Transport are responsible for looking after the federal roads network. The Highway Department is charged with the construction of new highways, and the reconstruction and rehabilitation of badly damaged highways, while FERMA is charged with maintaining the highways at acceptable levels of usability.
FERMA began patching the federal roads network in 2004, and has outlined a short, medium and long term strategy to carry out its work.
• Short Term Road Maintenance Strategy (STRMS): This focused on making the roads accessible for the movement of people and goods. Under this strategy, the agency adopted the direct labour, retainership contract and regular contract type of methods to carry out its activities.
• Medium Term Road Sector Maintenance Management Strategy (MTRSMMS): The MTRSMMS is a form of Output and Performance-Based Road Contracts (OPRC). Under the scheme, contractors who are responsible for the maintenance of the roads will be paid for their based on agreed service levels at which the contractor has to maintain the road over a long period of time.
• Systematic Road Strengthening and Enhancement (SRSE) Programme: This approach is the same with MTRSMMS with the scope of works expanded to include periodic maintenance. The strategy will be used to recover the 30% of the network that required overlay and strengthening over a period of 8 to 10 years.
The importance of a good road network has not been lost to many of the emerging economies, especially in China, which did not have an inch of expressway in 1998 and now has the second largest network of expressways only after the US.
Nigeria can learn from China, India and Malaysia about developing a network of expressways which provide a real boost for the economy. This can be done by Federal Government merging the Department of Highways and FERMA to form a singular agency which will be responsible for the growth and maintenance of the federal roads network.
Nigerian Highways Authority (NHA)
The Nigerian Highways Authority (NHA) will be formed by the merger of the Department of Highways of the Federal Ministry of Transport and FERMA. The newly formed agency will be responsible for the creation of new highways and the maintenance of existing ones.
The new agency will be an autonomous body whose board members will include professionals and administrators from both the public and private sector.
The agency would achieve its agenda using the following strategies:
• Concessioning of the existing high volume traffic highways.
• Using Output and Performance-Based Road Contracts (OPRC) for maintenance of existing low volume traffic highways.
• Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) projects for the building of new highways.
NHA will also apply recommendations by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in a research paper looking at the maintenance of federal roads, to establish similar agencies to FERMA, then known as the Nigerian Road Maintenance Agency, at state and local government levels. It also recommended that half of the revenue accrued by the national agency be shared with the state and local government agencies to assist them as both levels of government account for 83% of the total road network.
To help achieve its agenda, the agency will be aided with funding from a newly formed National Highways Fund.
High Traffic Highway Concessions
Existing highways with high traffic, such as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway should be concessioned to private companies that will be responsible for the maintenance and upgrade of the highway.
Under the concession agreement, the concessionee will:
• Upgrade the highways where appropriate to dual carriageways of at least eight lanes, four in one direction and four in the other.
• Operate a closed toll system where users collect toll tickets before entering the highway at respective toll plazas and pay an amount of toll at the exit toll plaza. The toll rate in this system will be based on the distance travelled.
• Install and maintain solar-powered street lights along the whole stretch of highway.
• Ensure road usability and comfort by getting rid of all potholes, cracks and deformities.
• Ensure that the strength and structural integrity of the road and any bridges along the route of the highway is of a high standard.
• Be responsible for the management of traffic along the highway, ensuring that there as few possible disruptions to journey times for the road users.
• Fence the route of the highway to prevent people, animals and other moving objects from getting into the path of moving traffic.
• Be responsible for putting up and maintain road signage to guide road users on speed limits, exits intersections, toll gates and service/refreshment areas.
• Responsible for the development of service and refreshment areas along the route of the highways. The service areas will have facilities such as restaurants, public toilets and bathrooms, car parks and petrol stations.
• Provide emergency phones along the highway can be used to report breakdowns and attendants from the nearest toll plaza will tow the broken cars.
• Liaise with the authorities to provide highway patrol units to ensure the safety of road users.
Output and Performance-Based Road Contracts (OPRC)
The approach will be similar to FERMA’s MTRSMMS and SRSE Programme but will be used for low-volume highways where user fees will not be enough to make them attractive enough for concession. This practice is currently being used by the Argentine government for its nonconcessioned road network and pilot initiatives with similar contracts are already under way in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
Highways subject to OPRC will:
• Be upgraded by contractors where appropriate to dual carriageways of at least four lanes, two lanes opposite directions of each other.
• Meet or exceed the minimum thickness of overlay.
• Not exceed the maximum level of roughness, rut depth, cracking, or ravelling
• Operate an open toll system where users only have to pay at a fixed amount at certain toll plazas along the route of the highway.
• Have guardrails, along with vertical horizontal signs installed.
New Highways
BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) contracts will be used to build new highways in the country. The contractors will have the same responsibilities to develop and maintain highways to the same standards and to have the features those already highways given concessionees but will be given a longer contract length.
The new highways will be only be built after it has been show that it would have a positive socioeconomic impact on the communities the highways targets with limited environmental disruptions.
National Highways Fund
The National Highway Fund will be established with the primary purpose of providing financing for the maintenance, rehabilitation and construction of highways in Nigeria. The Fund will be registered as a company limited by guarantee and operate independently of the Nigerian Highways Authority.
The Fund will be administered and managed by a Board of Trustees representing various interests in the public and private sector and will be completely isolated from the management of the Nigerian Highways Authority.
The Fund will be required to release quarterly reports on the how much of its funds are being spent and how is being spent on any of the operations is it financing.
The Fund will be financed by
• Grants from governments, organised private sector and international donors.
• Toll gate collections.
• Fees or services rendered by the Agency and monies accruing from road concession.
• Capital market investments
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