Dangote urges FG to embrace concrete roads

Dangote Industries Ltd has appealed to the Federal Government to embrace the concrete road and use cement for the construction of its roads in Nigeria for durability purposes.

The Group Executive Director, Strategy, Portfolio Development and Capital Projects, Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Mr. Devakumar Edwin, disclosed this in an interview last weekend.

He said aside from being very cheap, concrete roads are more durable and that its maintenance cost is near zero.

“We are pushing for Nigeria to do a concrete road. It is cheaper to do a concrete road that will last 50 years than to do a bitumen road. It will also help in eliminating corruption because if you go and build a bitumen road, it will have to be adequately maintained unlike a concrete road that is very durable.”

He further explained that concrete roads have a long life span, lasting for fifty years or even more, compared to asphalt roads that can barely last 10 years.

Devakumar also said concrete roads consume 15-20 per cent less fuel and are resistant to automobile fuel spillage and extreme weather.

Dangote group since began constructing concrete roads in states like in Lagos, Bauchi, Kogi, Kaduna, and Ogun states.

A source from the company said: “We are very happy at the moment. The reception has been wonderful. State governments are beginning to see the need to embrace concrete roads and we are very happy at the way things are currently going.”

Executive Director in the Dangote Group, Eng. Mansur Ahmed, recently at NESG Summit urged the three tiers of Government to embrace the use of concrete roads. He said concrete roads make more economic sense for a country like Nigeria, as the use of asphalt has left the roads in deplorable conditions.