AMAECHI’S HOLY ANGER GOOD FOR NIGERIA

The Minister of Transport is justifiably angry at contractors handling the Lagos-Ibadan rail project, writes Emma Agu

When people discuss anger, the first thing that comes to mind is to disparage it as a very negative emotion. Those who think that way do not see anything positive about anger. For sure, uncontrolled anger is the source of many a mistake, ranging from mild indiscretions to irredeemable tragedies. Most times, anger is impulsive, flying out in unintended rage which could destroy long-built friendships between individuals or corporate relationships among business partners and countries. Whichever it is, it is because the consequences can be very far reaching that people are usually admonished to eschew anger.

The above is one side of the equation. Time and again, circumstances force even the most sober mind to erupt in anger, to remove the veil and allow another party to witness the redness of one’s eyes, the bitterness in the person’s tongue or the grimace that wells up from the stomach. I believe that that was what transpired recently when Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, undertook his usual monthly inspection of the Lagos-Ibadan rail project.

According to reports, Rotimi Amaechi had expressed outright displeasure with the pace of work at the Lagos end of the project. His anger was stirred by the imminent failure of the subcontractor charged with relocating pipes at the Lagos end, to deliver the job on the scheduled date of November 2, 2018. The minister would not accept the subcontractor’s excuse of discovering other utilities underground. His words rang out lucidly. Typical of Amaechi, there was neither padding nor diplomatic nicety about it: “The excuses are not obtainable. I have told them to speed up the work,” he said with all the emphasis he could command.

Amaechi’s anger was justified. It possibly stemmed from his experience over the years. As speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly for eight years and governor of the state for the same number of years, at various times between 1999 and 2007, Amaechi should know why projects suffer not just incurable delays but, often times, painful abandonment. The list is mind-boggling. The projects span every level of government: local, state and federal. Some of these projects have been on-going for God-knows how long. A typical example is the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway. Since the major reconstruction work was awarded to a foreign multinational firm in the mid 90’s, several construction firms have taken turns to work on the road. What is the result? The road remains a nightmare to commuters who are exposed to accidents and insecurity facilitated by the several bad spots that give bandits the opportunity to rob, kidnap and even kill travellers. Yet nobody is held accountable for the humongous funds that are usually allocated to the road. By the way, should a road project go on endlessly? Are there no timelines that should be observed in project delivery? Amaechi’s holy anger may well change the narrative. We have already witnessed that with respect to the Abuja-Kaduna rail line. It was inherited from the Jonathan administration and completed by the Buhari administration. How I wish that successive administrations completed all the projects they inherited from their predecessors. Ajaokuta Steel Project would have been completed instead of acting as a conduit for siphoning funds. The various power projects would have been completed instead of endless promises that confine the people to darkness with no indication of a flicker of light in the giant climate of despair that has been their lot.

What cannot be denied is that most times, apart from poor funding and lack of capacity, many projects fail because contractors are poorly supervised or not supervised at all. Besides, there is also the possibility that where corruption has been built into the contract, government functionaries would lack the moral fiber to raise a finger against a nonperforming contractor. By Amaechi’s public display of courage, nobody needs to be told that this is not business as usual. To buttress this point, not long ago he had admonished the people to show greater interest in projects that concern them, to take ownership of these projects.

The clarification needs to be made that ownership should not translate to harassing contractors (omonile-style) as is the practice in some places; it does not mean stealing strategic inputs as happens in some communities. On the contrary, it means jealously guarding the assets of the contractors, shielding their staff from kidnappers and interrogating the contractors, government functionaries and their legislators when jobs get stalled.

Relating to the Lagos-Ibadan rail project, Amaechi’s insistence on certain deliverables gives hope that, under the Buhari administration, the governance environment of contract administration would have been so overhauled as to make accountability a way of life. For instance, at his insistence, it is understood that the China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) the main company handling the project, is meeting the local content requirement for engineers. Amaechi was very clear on that given that, for him, technology transfer should not just be a jargon but an existential imperative for the country. His words were very clear on that. “I have instructed the contractor and the project consultant to have local engineers on site…The construction of beams which is ongoing is a strategic part of the project which should be understudied by Nigerian engineers to be able to carry out the project in future”. Amaechi is right. However, on this, nothing must be given to chance. For it to succeed, rigorous benchmarking is acutely imperative in two areas: recruiting the right people and drawing up a mentoring template that actually exposes the engineers to the nittygritty of the business in a manner that is acceptable to the government.

Thankfully, though the CCECC is the major contractor, the default identified in execution of the project is not their fault. In reality, according to insiders associated with the project, reaching agreement with the Lagos State Government, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other project affected entities was so herculean that the minister was forced to make several trips to Lagos with the aim of getting the project underway. Such hands-on approach by the minister of transportation is the way to go if we really want to get value for our money.

There should not be any doubt that the CCECC, from China, will deliver. Even in his anger, the minister admits that “there is a huge improvement in the level of work carried out on Abeokuta axis where some bridges had been constructed including the one on Ogun”.

APART FROM POOR FUNDING AND LACK OF CAPACITY, MANY PROJECTS FAIL BECAUSE CONTRACTORS ARE POORLY SUPERVISED OR NOT SUPERVISED AT ALL