By Bimbola Oyesola
THE Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has raised concerns on the poor state of roads across the country, which it says now poses grave danger to the citizens and the economy.
Worst hit are the nation’s 194,000-kilometre network of federal roads, which have deteriorated over the years and have been making survival unbearable for all and sundry.
According to the Director General of the association, Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo, “the poor state of roads has had manifold effects on the private sector, the economy and the citizens. World Health Organisation (WHO) statistics – Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015 puts Nigeria at No. 3 as the world’s highest number of fatalities on roads, behind China and India. More worrisome is the colossal financial allocations over the years to develop our roads without a corresponding result. For instance, investigation revealed that N4.14 trillion was appropriated from 1999 to 2013 by the National Assembly for road repairs, maintenance, among others.”
The employers are, therefore, making a save-our- soul (SOS) call to the Federal Government to accord priority attention to the repairs of federal roads across the country.
Source : SunOnline
