The return of tollgates onfederal highways

LAST week, in a rather routine development, the Federal Government said it had returned tolling to federal highways, over 20 years after its stoppage by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration. The toll operations commenced with the 227.2-kilometre Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi corridor. Speaking at the inauguration of the scheme at the Garaku Toll Station in Nasarawa State, the Minister of Works, David Umahi, who was represented on the occasion by the Minister of State for Works, Bello Goronyo, reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring the proper maintenance of Nigeria’s federal roads through sustainable funding mechanisms. According to him, the tolling rates had been gazetted as follows: saloon cars, N500; SUVs, N800; minibuses, N1,000; and articulated vehicles, N1,600. However, commercial light vehicles will enjoy a 50 percent discount, while pedal vehicles, tricycles, motorcycles, and other two- or three-wheeled modes of transport commonly used by disadvantaged populations will be exempted from tolling. Also, police and military vehicles will pay no toll. And unlike previous arrangements where the Ministry of Works managed toll operations, the project will be managed by China Harbour Engineering, which facilitated the loan from China Exim Bank.

Said the minister: “The effective maintenance and further development of this corridor will play a significant role in the nation’s development and enhance the livelihoods of millions of Nigerians. The Federal Government rehabilitated and upgraded these roads through a preferential credit loan from China Exim Bank. The loan agreement stipulates that, upon completion, the roads will be tolled, operated, and maintained by a private party, with revenue collected prioritised for loan repayment to the China Exim Bank. Consequently, under the previous administration in 2023, the ministry executed a 25-year toll and maintenance concession agreement with Messrs China Harbour Operations and Maintenance Company Limited, in partnership with Messrs Katamaran Nigeria Limited, under the Highways Development and Management Initiative (HDMI) Phase I. This marks the first of nine corridors being concessioned under HDMI Phase I to commence operations. In the coming months, the Federal Government will continue launching and operationalising the remaining corridors across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. This initiative has opened a new chapter in Nigeria’s history, enabling the government to address the issue of bad roads. Tolling concessions are vital steps towards realising our vision for a more efficient, sustainable, and well-maintained road transport system. Today, we embark on a journey to preserve our infrastructure for the benefit of present and future generations.”

As Nigerians are well aware, the plan to return tollgates to the federal highways goes back to December 2015 when the then Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, disclosed that the Federal Government would reintroduce highway tolling to raise additional funds to finance road infrastructure and ensure efficient road maintenance.  Then in October 2016, the Senate passed a motion raised by Senator Suleiman Nazif (APC/Bauchi North) backing the proposed reintroduction of toll collection plazas on federal highways across the country. As we also noted in previous editorials, tollgates across the country were demolished at great public cost in 2004 by the Obasanjo administration, which argued that the roads should be maintained from revenue generated from fuel pump price increase, a move which was also underlined by Obasanjo’s exasperation with the antics of the managers of the toll plazas, who failed to meet up with the projected revenue. The tollgates were initially managed by civil servants in the 70s, but they were later turned over to private contractors in the 90s when the late Major-General AbdulKareem Adisa served as Minister of Works. With the return to civil rule in 1999, they had become cesspits of sleaze.

Our position over the years remains constant: tolling is essential, but the government must ensure proper maintenance of the roads. As we have said time and again, the government cannot toll bad roads, as that would be both irresponsible and unconscionable. Our view that the opposition by many Nigerians to the planned reintroduction of toll gates in the country is not predicated on ignorance of the importance of highway tolling in an economy but that it is based on the nightmarish experiences on the roads remains unchallenged. Now that the tollgates are back, we remind the government once again that they were built with a lot of money in the past and were also demolished with a lot of money, and are therefore an ugly reminder of policy inconsistency.  That is why it must do everything within its power to reverse the narrative. If past experiences are anything to go by, there is no reason for anyone to be excited by the promises made by the Federal Government. But surprises do happen, even if occasionally, and we hope that this is one of such occasions. In particular, the government has a bounden duty to ensure that the highways do not become mere revenue spinners but serve as quality infrastructure that signposts a modern society. If Nigerians are to pay through the nose as it were to maintain the roads, they must have value for their money. No two ways about it.

 With the tolling of the roads, Nigerians will pay more for using the highways and this means that they have less disposable income. But if the roads are well maintained and the movement of people and goods is fast-tracked, the economic benefits will compensate for the pains imposed by tolling. Besides, it is also hoped that the agreement with China Harbour Engineering was well thought out, and that Nigerians will not be treated to salacious stories of dissent by the contractual partners in the nearest future. That would be terribly embarrassing.

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