“This Day” Online News, Lagos, Nigeria, Africa, reported that it is an indisputable fact that roads play a very important role in any nation’s infrastructure, however, development of a country is appraised on the basis of its road networks. In late 2017, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Owner-Dangote Cement Plc, (wealthiest man in Africa), has emphasized the need to embrace concrete as the priority option for road construction.
The company asserted that concrete roads are durable and safe. They are considerably less prone to wear and tear defects like rutting, cracking, stripping, loss of texture, and potholes that can occur with flexible pavement surfaces, thereby is low-maintenance—one of the principal advantages of concrete pavements.
The company indicated its commitments to this assertion by announcing that the construction of concrete roads had commenced in various states across the country, particularly in Lagos, Bauchi, Kogi, Kaduna and Ogun. “State governments are beginning to see the need to embrace concrete roads and we are very happy at the way things are currently going. We can categorically state that we are in more than five states across the country already constructing roads. The reception has been wonderful,” said the company.
Dante and Mr. Devakumar Edwin, Group Executive Director-Dangote Industries Limited, have appealed to the Federal Government to consider the use concrete for the construction of its roads in order to ensure their durability. They emphasize, “We are pushing for Nigeria to do concrete roads. It is cheaper to do a concrete road, that have a longer life span of 50 years or more, compared to bitumen roads that barely last 10 to 12 years.”
Edwin stated, “And, a concrete road does not require frequent maintenance and patching. Concrete roads have the advantage of not getting deflected under the wheels of loaded trucks, thus trucks consume 15% to 20% less fuel compared to when they move on asphalt roads, and have resistance to automobile fuel spillage.” He added that plans are in the offing to introduce concrete roads to other states like the 24km constructed in Itori, Ibese in Ogun State where Dangote’s cement plant is located. The durability of concrete roads will allow governments to use their funds for other projects rather than re-awarding contracts for dilapidated roads. Therefore, such partnership will be beneficial for the nation’s drive for new global infrastructural development.
The choice of concrete option may be quite timely, considering the fact that the African Federal Government had recently handed over the reconstruction of the Apapa Road to Dangote Group and other firms. The repair work is being financed by the Dangote Group, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc. and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) at the cost of N4.3 billion. While speaking at the “Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)” signing ceremony for the project, Joseph Makoju, Honorary Adviser to the President/Chief Executive of Dangote Group, said the group was moved by the deplorable state of the road which informed the need to look for like-thinking partners to affect repairs and salvage the road. According to him, the deplorable state of the road has impacted negatively on businesses, activities and lives of people within the locality as people spend days in traffic losing precious work hours.
Makoju opined that the two-kilometer (1.25-mile) road to the gate of Apapa is vital to the nation’s economy and described it as the national economy’s artery. He commended the Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority, who put in extra efforts to ensure the road reconstruction project for more than a year—which will be concrete based—in contrast to laterite- (clay)-based. He described the road reconstruction as a higher form of corporate social responsibility as Dangote Group is not asking for tax rebates. According to him, businesses need to engage with host communities through corporate social responsibility projects to ensure sustainability. Makoju said, “This is a higher form of corporate social responsibility. This project is a higher form of intervention on a national level, intervening in provision of critical infrastructure.”
However, he tasked government to do more in terms of providing a conducive and enabling business environment, stressing that businesses will thrive and do more in terms of interventions in national infrastructure.
Babatunde Fashola, Minister-Power, Works and Housing, said at the event, “We are here to embark on what will be the final solution in Apapa. Apapa is the nation’s first industrial base and was served by a good rail system, moving cargo and containers to all parts of the country. The road network was for transport of passengers, and they were good, but, we allowed the rails to collapse and ultimately used roads for evacuation of containers and cargo. But we are working to stop all of this. We thank Dangote Group and FMN for coming to our aid via providing the funding for the repairs.”
“Apapa has a high water table and any road built here must have proper drainages, otherwise it will be experiencing constant flooding, so final touches to the road design delayed the government handing over the road for reconstruction. Countries that have achieved self-sufficiency in cement production have found it expedient to adopt the construction of concrete roads because they are cheaper, more durable and environment friendly. I believe Nigeria should move with the times. Roads play an important role in the social and economic development of any nation.” Fashola said. He said that government would continue to encourage indigenous companies like Dangote to compete with international construction companies to build quality roads at affordable cost in order to consolidate and extend national road networks. And, cement, which constituted raw materials for construction of concrete roads was locally available, compared to bitumen which were being imported.
Nigeria was losing $1 billion annually due to the poor condition of roads in the country. The Executive Team of the Nigerian Institution of Highway Engineers lauded the management of Dangote for the use of cement to construct 23 kilometers (14.3 miles) of road, offering to partner with the company to better enhance its operations.
Isa Usman Emoabino, Chairman of the Institution, who led the delegation for the industrial visits, said, “Dangote is veering out into another area that is not very common in Nigeria, but if they work together with professionals like us, we will make sure that we are able to get the best out of that. Today, we tagged our visit here today to be industrial visits, and all through the things we have seen, we try to give free consultancy, in order to ensure that whatever we have seen can be made better.”
Ashif Juma, Chief Executive-Dangote, said the 23 kilometers of concrete road is a corporate social responsibility effort of the company, to show that concrete roads are better in all ramifications than the asphalt roads. “The project is for the benefit of the community. It is obvious that the option for concrete roads will be the solution to solve the road infrastructural decay in the country, due to the fact that the concrete road is less expensive than asphalt road by almost 23% and we can build concrete road in less time. In terms of maintenance, we don’t need so many resources to maintain it like asphalt roads.”
Similarly, Mansur Ahmed, Executive Director-Dangote Group, urged the three tiers of government to embrace the use of concrete roads in Nigeria. He expressed to them that concrete roads make more economic sense for a country like Nigeria. The use of asphalt has left the roads in deplorable conditions, and that asphalt roads are no longer “in vogue” in developed climes. Concrete road construction is faster, can last for half a century, and cement raw materials are readily available, while asphalt has to be imported into the country.
For the full This Day Online News article titled “Innovating Road Construction“, please go to: https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2017/10/31/innovating-road-construction/
For the article titled, “How To Manoeuvre Apapa, Wharf Road, As Repairs Firm Up”, please go to: http://news.moov.com.ng/navigating-apapa-wharf-road-while-repairs-is-on-going/