by Reuben Daba
It’s been only three years. Bi-Courtney Highways Services Limited said on Monday that finally, it has begun construction work on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
To do that, it engaged the services of two firms — Messrs Borino Prono Construction Company and CCC Construction Nigeria Limited, for the project.
(Read: Lagos-Ibadan expressway: Why the FG is not pressing for N30 billion fine from Bi-Courtney)
A statement issued by Bi-Courtney’s spokesman, Mr. Dipo Kehinde, said, “The reconstruction exercise will go on simultaneously in four critical portions of the road. We urge motorists to drive with care, observe the rules and obey traffic signs. The reconstruction will go on simultaneously in the four portions. It will begin from Kilometre 32, to Sagamu, towards Ibadan.”
To help control traffic during the construction period, Bi-Courtney said it has engaged traffic control officers and flaggers.
The company solicited the support of the Nigeria Police Force, National Union of Road Transport Workers, Federal Road Safety Corps, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, tanker owners, and other road users.
The Punch reports on some of the controversies that have trailed this project since 2009 when the Ministry of Works entered into the concession agreement with Bi-Courtney to rehabilitate, expand, build, operate and transfer the 10-kilometre road. Read below:
The reconstruction work could, however, not commence immediately following controversies and litigation over the Right of Way.
The concessionaire was also finding it difficult to raise funds as the international financier it contacted reportedly demanded guarantees from the Federal Government and an assurance that it would recoup its investment after the construction.
State governments in the South-West region had similarly indicated interest in rehabilitating the road due to its economic significance to their area.
As a result of this, Bi-Courtney had accused the Ogun State Government under Senator Ibikunle Amosun of frustrating its efforts to actualise the project.
There was also a controversy about the true value of the project, which prompted President Goodluck Jonathan to order its review.
Although the concessionaire had been carrying out remedial works on the road, the spate of accidents and causality rate had been increasing, prompting calls on the Federal Government to terminate the concession agreement.
The FRSC recently declared that the expressway recorded the highest number of road crashes in the country.
Jonathan was said to have recently expressed unhappiness about the delay in the execution of the project and the failure of the parties to reach a common position on the review of the agreement.
He reportedly ordered that they should return to the original agreement, thus paving the way for the Bi-Courtney to commence the reconstruction work.
Nigeria, journey so far.
Several years of military dictatorship produced several billionaire military office looters who have been and are still participating in buying up of the country's assets through so called "privatization".
There was the second republic, the free for all looting where illiterates and "semi-illiterates" were made administrators, storing millions and billions in briefcases and in their residences.
The present "lootocracy" 1999 to 2012, period of 13 years has produced billionaire ex-president, governors, senators, assemblymen, chairmen and so on. In this same 13 years, it has been impossible to effect rehabilitation of a 100 kilometer federal road, a mushroom national airport or its link road, a much needed bridge and so on.
The best looters and their associates or "fronts in crime" continue to buy up the national assets. Federal assets for all past treasury looters, families and associates.
Money Laundering, the process of creating the appearance that large amounts of money obtained from serious crimes, such as treasury looting, drug trafficking or terrorist activity, originated from a legitimate source.
The journey continues…………….