Editorial
Syrian Crisis: Need For Action Now
The Syrian uprising which started as a peaceful demonstration against the dictatorial leadership of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011 has quickly degenerated into a civil war that now threatens to consume not just the Middle East region but the global community.
According to United Nations estimates, about four million Syrians are today internally displaced while the refugee figure is expected to double from the present 1.6 million to 3.45 million by the turn of the year. The world body has launched an appeal for $6 billion this year, a figure said to be the largest humanitarian fund drive in UN history.
It is against this backdrop and the fact that the conflict is already spilling to neighbouring countries in the volatile Middle East region including Israel, that urgent steps are now required to restore peace in the region.
Recent Israeli air raids on Syria and growing evidence of use of chemical weapons by both Syrian rebels and the regime had led to the visit of United States of America (USA) Secretary of State, John Kerry to Russia, early May to discuss the situation with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his foreign Minister, Sergie Lavrov.
A member of UN Commission of Inquiry tasked with investigating war crimes in Syria, Carla Del Ponte, had said there was evidence of chemical weapons use by Syrian rebels just as government forces were adjudged culpable.
The allegation of chemical weapon use in Syria had also raised the stakes for US President Barrack Obama, who had earlier warned that such action would constitute crossing the “red line” and thus, provoke US action.
Although Moscow has continued to voice its preference for a political solution as against a military action, the US – Russia talks had raised hopes of a rapprochement that could bring about an international common front closer than it had been for many months.
It is worthy of note that an East-West disagreement that has seen some of the frostiest exchanges between Washington and Moscow since the cold War had deadlocked UN efforts to settle the Syrian conflict.
We are worried that any sharp disagreement between US and Russia on the approach to peace in Syria may be capitalised upon by the leading countries of the world to test their military might or market their latest weapons of destruction. Unfortunately, the US had earlier acknowledged sending non-military equipment to al-Assad’s opponents while Russia and China who are key allies of al-Assad have repeatedly threatened to thwart action against him by the UN Security Council.
These are dangerous signals. Washington-Moscow rapprochement should therefore seek a consensus that will be acceptable to the global community and restore normalcy to the Syrian polity.
Fact is that, al-Assad, like many other dictators of his kind, has used up the goodwill of the Syrian people who have vowed to shove him out of office. So, it would amount to an act of insensivity to the plight of that beleaguered nation for the international community to continue to remain undecided and unco-ordinated on the urgent need to get al-Assad out of office.
Therefore, the UN must bring the US, Russia and China to the negotiation table to agree on ways to ease al-Assad out and end the crisis now. The world has seen enough blood–letting, human misery and avoidable divisiveness that serve no benefit to individuals, nations or the global community. Let the Syrian crisis be brought to an end now.
There are moments in the life of a legislature when plain speaking becomes a public service. Senator Adams Oshiomhole provided such a moment on the floor of the Senate when he accused the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, of manifestly neglecting critical federal arteries in Edo and Delta States, and implored his colleagues to prevail on the Minister to adopt a more equitable and genuinely national approach to road infrastructure delivery. It was blunt, it was uncomfortable, and it was necessary.
The specifics of his complaint deserve restating. Drawing attention to the recent approval of some 20 new road projects despite the parlous state of existing ones, the former Edo State governor lamented that Nigerians cannot travel from Benin to Warri, Benin to Asaba, Benin to Auchi, or Auchi to Okene without encountering severe distress. He alleged a deliberate omission of these corridors from the national budget in the last three years, save for palliative interventions directed by President Bola Tinubu through tax credit arrangements. His question — “What have we done wrong?” — resonates far beyond the chambers of the National Assembly.
We lend our full and unequivocal support to that call. The Auchi-Benin Road, for instance, has been in a deplorable and near-impassable condition for several years, turning what should be a two-hour journey into an all-day ordeal of broken axles, extortionate fares, and despondent commuters. The media have, on multiple occasions, chronicled the suffering of motorists, traders, and students who ply that route. To describe it as a federal road today is to stretch the meaning of the term beyond recognition.
This pattern of sidelining is not confined to Edo or Delta. Even here in Rivers State, the disposition of the Federal Ministry of Works has left much to be desired, particularly along the Eleme axis of the East-West Road. That road, which ought to be a flagship of federal presence in the Niger Delta, has remained in a wretched state for long. Those who use it daily — workers at the Eleme Petrochemical Complex, the two refineries, Onne Port, and the countless ancillary industries — can attest to its deterioration. Work has proceeded in fits and starts without the sustained urgency such a strategic road demands.
The Eleme stretch is not a mere intra-state byway. It is the gateway to the nation’s economic jugular. According to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing’s 2023 Highway Condition Survey, only about 35 per cent of the country’s 36,000 kilometres of federal roads are rated as being in good or fair condition, with the remainder classified as poor or very poor. The East-West Road, conceived in the 1970s to bind the entire Niger Delta, remains unfinished in critical sections more than four decades after. If it had been treated as a priority, the perennial gridlock, carnage, and economic loss on the Eleme-Refinery junction would have long been consigned to history.
The irony is as painful as it is glaring. The Niger Delta remains the goose that lays the golden eggs. Data from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [NEITI 2023 Oil and Gas Audit] show that the region still accounts for over 78 per cent of Nigeria’s federally collected export earnings and about 65 per cent of total government revenue. The National Bureau of Statistics [NBS Foreign Trade Report Q4 2024] similarly confirms that crude oil continues to dominate export receipts. By every metric of equity and economic logic, a region that sustains the national purse deserves first-rate consideration in the allocation of infrastructure, not afterthoughts and tokenism.
Road infrastructure is not largesse to be dispensed by favour; it is the skeleton upon which commerce, cohesion, and citizenship hang. When contracts are concentrated in one geopolitical zone while other zones are left to contend with craters, it erodes trust in the federation itself. The World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update [June 2023] estimated that poor transport connectivity inflates the cost of moving goods by up to 40 per cent and costs the Nigerian economy an estimated $1.5 billion annually in lost man-hours and vehicle maintenance. If we profess to be one country, then equity must be the compass that guides key institutions before any project is executed. Development must spread round, not pool in one place as though other regions do not matter.
There is also a grave security dimension that can no longer be ignored. The deplorable condition of federal roads has become a veritable enabler of criminality. The NBS Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey reported over 2.5 million incidents of kidnapping-related occurrences nationally, with transport workers identifying bad road spots as prime ambush points. When vehicles are forced to crawl at 10 kilometres per hour through failed sections at Auchi, Sapele Road, or Eleme, they become sitting ducks for armed gangs. Fixing bad roads, therefore, is not merely about convenience; it is about safeguarding lives.
By his intervention, Senator Oshiomhole has hit the nail on the head and reminded Minister Umahi of a fundamental constitutional truth: public office is held in trust. The Ministry of Works is not a personal estate where contracts are awarded according to whim or political convenience. It is a national institution funded by the collective resources of Nigerians, including the oil and gas rents from the very communities whose roads are now neglected. The Minister must demonstrate balance, transparency, and a pan-Nigerian outlook in the distribution of projects that impact the daily existence of citizens. Selective neglect breeds suspicion, and suspicion is corrosive at a time when the nation is preaching unity, oneness, equity, and justice.
Consequently, the National Assembly must go beyond rhetoric and assert its oversight powers with vigour. Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution [as amended] empower the legislature to investigate and expose any maladministration in the execution of federal projects. If an office holder is not acting rightly, it is the duty of the Senate and the House of Representatives to call him to order. Oversight must not be reduced to budget approval ceremonies; it must translate to field verification, public hearings, and insistence that the Federal Character principle, as enshrined in Section 14(3) of the Constitution, reflects in road awards.
Let the Auchi-Okene, Benin-Warri, Benin-Asaba, and Eleme East-West gangways be restored to motorable dignity. Let priority be given to completing existing, economically vital roads before embarking on new ones. If those who, through their resources, sustain the federation are sidelined in the distribution of tangible dividends, it tells poorly of our nationhood. Bad roads must be fixed, and they must be fixed now, with fairness as the guiding standard.
