NIGERIA BEGINS TO ADDRESS NEED FOR BETTER ROADS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 003076 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS PASS DOT FOR KEVIN SAMPLE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ELTN NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA BEGINS TO ADDRESS NEED FOR BETTER ROADS REF: ABUJA 3071 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. In late September 2006, the World Bank's Nigeria country director pronounced more than 50% of Nigeria's federal roads in poor condition. He said sending a 20-ton truck from Maiduguri to Lagos cost more than shipping the same cargo by sea from Lagos to Europe. This high cost of road transport was due in large part to Nigeria's lack of road maintenance. The GON has realized the need for urgent road repairs, and President Obasanjo received at least 80 billion naira for road projects in his 2007 budget, a significant increase from the previous year. The GON's challenge remains ensuring the money actually is spent on roads. End summary. Much Work Needs To Be Done -------------- ¶2. (U) In late September 2006, Hafez Ghanem, the World Bank's Nigeria country director, pronounced more than 50% of Nigeria's federal roads in poor condition. He said sending a 20-ton truck from Maiduguri, in the country's far northeast, to Lagos in the southwest, cost 320,000 naira ($2,500) - or more than shipping the same cargo by sea from Lagos to Europe. The high cost of road transport was caused in large part by Nigeria's startling lack of road maintenance. In the country's north, for example, road crews often consist of nothing more than local villagers filling in potholes with sand and brush while hoping for gratuities from passing motorists. There was no large or extensive national road rehabilitation plan in effect or on the near horizon, according to an expatriate owner of a Nigerian construction company. ¶3. (U) The Nigerian media reported in late November 2006 that revenues of bus companies operating on the Lagos-Ore-Benin City expressway had fallen up to 50% because of that highway's poor condition. The manager of a Benin City bus company said buses used to travel from Benin City to Lagos and back in the same day, but that this trip now took two days simply to get from Benin City to Lagos. The company formerly ran up to 25 buses daily to Lagos but now considered it an achievement if 10 buses arrived. ¶4. (U) A Lagos newspaper column in late October 2006 titled "The Shame of Nigeria's Roads" criticized the government over Nigeria's decaying infrastructure and noted, "The state of our roads stands out like a sore thumb. The roads are collapsing" or impassable, and nationally, roads are "simply scandalous" while "some parts of the east have reportedly become inaccessible by road." The article also commented, "The riddle about [the] state of the roads is that although so much has been spent officially on them, yet the condition gets worse in many places." A newspaper opinion piece in late November 2006 discussed the recent crash of an ADC airliner which killed 96 persons, and noted that if Nigeria's roads were any safer than its airlines, Nigerians "would be talking about having a choice" between the two forms of travel. The paper observed, however, "As we all know, the roads have equally become highways to hell, where carnage and death rage." Privatization Agency's Assessment -------------- ¶5. (U) Nigeria's Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) announced in late September 2006 that the GON intended to improve the road network by involving the private sector in financing and managing the road system. The BPE and the Ministry of Works' Road Sector Development Team were working on a road-sector reform plan to increase managerial capabilities and to create an institutional, legal, and regulatory framework to permit a private-sector role in the road sector. They planned for some sections of federal highways to be concessioned off to private contractors for maintenance and expansion. Main Issues in Road Transport in Nigeria -------------- ¶6. (U) The BPE observed that Nigeria's road network suffered from inadequate routine as well as periodic maintenance, and the absence of emergency maintenance in areas affected by flood, storms, and other natural calamities. The BPE found that a major contributor to decaying roads was their use by overloaded trucks, especially during the rainy season. Nigeria's Over-Reliance on Roads -------------- ¶7. (U) The BPE concluded that Nigerian commerce's depends almost totally on roads. The nation's railway system was comatose, while ABUJA 00003076 002 OF 002 the country's domestic aviation industry was poorly developed. Nigeria's road sector carried more than 90% of the nation's domestic passengers and freight, and 90% to 95% of Nigeria's total "transport movements" occurred on roads. Freight and bulk goods were carried over long distances by trucks and tractor trailers. Institutional Problems With Road Management -------------- ¶8. (U) At the federal level, the administrative structures responsible for the road system include the National Planning Commission, the Ministry of Works and Housing, the Federal Road Maintenance Authority (FERMA),the Office of the Presidency's Due-Process Unit, the Ministry of Transport; state-level ministries of works and housing, and also local governments. Each agency has its own budget. This multiplicity of uncoordinated agencies and budgets impedes the effective use of road funding. More Money for Roads Is Needed -------------- ¶9. (U) In July 2006, FERMA chief executive officer Olubunmi Peters told the media that because of Nigeria's neglect of its roads, it would be necessary to spend 100 billion naira ($781 million) per year for six to 10 years to bring Nigerian roads to a level of sustainable maintenance. He also said that because road contractors continued to be owed huge debts by the GON, it was now very difficult to interest them in doing work for the government. Funding for Roads Is Boosted -------------- ¶10. (U) Nigeria increased federal funding for roads over the past several years. The GON approved in its 2005 capital budget about 67 billion naira for Ministry of Works road projects. On October 11, 2006, President Obasanjo told the Assembly that as of August 31, 2006, the GON had released 52 billion naira ($406 million),or 71%, of the 73 billion naira appropriated to build, rehabilitate, and repair roads nationwide, and that road projects were in various stages of completion. On October 11, Obasanjo requested and received approval for a federal budget of 2.26 trillion naira ($17.79 billion),an increase of 18.95% over 2006. His budget focused on building and maintaining the country's physical and social infrastructures, with its stated top budget priorities including roads and highways. ¶11. (U) Obasanjo proposed that for 2007, 191 billion naira ($1.49 billion) should go to the public-works sector - up 110% from the 2006 figure. He received 17 billion naira for FERMA's maintenance of federal highways (although FERMA at that time owed debts of about 12 billion naira); 36 billion naira for the construction of the long-awaited East-West Road, 328 km across five southern states; 21 billion naira to build the Kano-Maiduguri divided highway; and 6 billion naira for the Abuja-Lokoja Road. (Comment: The main impetus behind the planned East-West Road is to carry out a visible and needed project in the troubled Niger Delta and decrease political instability there. End comment.) Obasanjo received funding for additional road projects nationwide. Comment -------------- ¶12. (SBU) It is encouraging that the GON finally is addressing the need to devote substantial sums to rehabilitate Nigeria's roads. Nigeria's government, at all levels, acknowledges that the country's most urgent needs include more electric power and improved roads, for Nigeria to have some chance of generating economic growth to keep up with a rapidly growing population. The challenge remains to ensure that the money allocated for roads is spent as intended.