Minister of Works David Umahi has stated that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is bringing to a close over three decades of substandard road construction in Nigeria by rolling out durable, high-quality infrastructure projects across the nation.
During an inspection of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road project on Tuesday, he revealed that the Federal Government has adopted new engineering standards and technologies to ensure that Nigerian roads can endure for 50 to 100 years without the need for major repairs.
Umahi noted that roads built in the country over the past 30 years have been of inferior quality, explaining, “Each administration has worked on them repeatedly. The question you should ask is why? The answer lies in our construction methods, which is why I assert that President Bola Tinubu is not merely constructing roads; he is building them.”
He continued, “I insisted that we would use this road to exemplify what we can achieve when we have the courage to take the project away from Julius Berger. A significant aspect of what the President is doing is constructing roads. Soon, we will see the results. What statement is the President making? He is indicating that the roads built under his administration will last between 50 and 100 years without needing intervention.”
Umahi highlighted the lack of major roads built in Nigeria over the past 30 to 40 years, each of which has been subject to continuous work by successive administrations.
He also critiqued the construction methods employed by contractors.
“When Julius Berger undertook the work, they removed the asphalt, claiming they wanted to grind it with laterite. This is not a sound construction method, as they introduced new laterite to the road. There is a principle known as the California Bearing Ratio, which measures the strength of the sub-base.
“By removing the existing material and replacing it with fresh laterite, the compaction and consolidation will not match the stability achieved over the years. Hence, it is destined to fail, which is why we began to see issues with the sections completed by Julius Berger, even while they were still under construction,” Umahi explained.
However, he assured that the President is halting this practice on the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway, which is expected to last for 50 years. Umahi pledged that Section 1 of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano project would be finished ahead of the planned 12-month timeline, by February 2026.
He clarified that Section 1 begins four kilometres into Kogi and concludes at Katari, with Section 2 to follow suit.
