Barring any obstacles, the 37.9km Bodo – Bonny Road project will be completed and
delivered in August, 2022. The assurance was given during the inspection of the facility by the Director, Road Designs, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Omotayo Awosanya. He said sufficient funds were available to deliver the project at the guaranteed time.
The N120. 6 billion project handled by German construction giant, Julius Berger, traversing Bodo, Opobo, Andoni to Bonny Island in Rivers State, has 14 bridges. According to Awosanya, with the extensive works already done by the contractors so far, Nigerians would not be disappointed. The Bodo–Bonny Road is a major federal road that successive governments lacked the political will to execute.
The Bodo — Bonny Road project is a public-private partnership arrangement, in which the Federal Government and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (NLNG) will each bear 50 per cent of the total cost to complete the bridge. However, the NLNG has indicated interest to fully fund the project and deduct the cost from taxes to the Federal Government.
The Tide welcomes the NLNG’s bold initiative, especially against the backdrop that the Bodo – Bonny Road project, conceived about 40 years ago, had been one of the failed projects that vividly accentuate the long-standing negligence of Rivers State in particular and the Niger Delta in general by successive Nigerian governments. Truly, the importance of the road cannot be over-emphasised.
We laud the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, for providing the enabling conditions in the state which gave impetus to the commencement of work on this long-awaited project. The Federal Government is likewise commended for conceding to the demands of the government and people of Rivers State to flag off the construction of the road.
Equally commended is the NLNG for showing enthusiasm and cooperation in financing the landmark project. It is hoped that other companies will emulate it. This is a demonstration that the private sector can drive the infrastructural needs of Nigeria. Since the authorities alone cannot plug Nigeria’s intimidating infrastructure deficit, the private sector should be enabled to lead in the provision of infrastructure development while the government serves as an enabler and catalyst.
Besides its primacy to the enhancement of the economic base of the nation, the road, linking five local government areas including Khana, Okrika, Eleme, Andoni and Bonny, will also connect the mainland Rivers State to a tremendous section of the riverine part of the state; in fact, one of the most difficult terrains in the Niger Delta.
It is vile that over-and-above the perennial cries of the communities in that axis, is the accessibility burden on the foremost gas company in West Africa – NLNG – and its ancillary firms. This should have lodged on the conscience of the nation a pang of avoidable guilt. The undertaking is only the latest in a series of similarly transformational infrastructure partnerships ongoing across the country.
Without a doubt, the road has a very significant economic role to play in the state and Nigeria in general when completed. Hence, any attempt to politicise it should be spurned. The NLNG has to be committed to this work since it will be more salutary to it. Much money would certainly be saved from the transportation of equipment and other operational activities between its Port Harcourt base and Bonny, the operational area.
It needs not be accentuated that a massive construction of this magnitude will create jobs directly for engineers, artisans, and labourers; and indirectly for food vendors and suppliers, transporters, quarry operators and so many others in the construction value chain. Already, Julius Berger has expressed that over 300 Rivers youths would otherwise be engaged in the project in January 2021. Certainly, that will go a long way to empower the youths.
Also, upon termination, the project will permanently transform the lives of thousands of Nigerian citizens in and around Bonny Island. It will similarly attenuate the hardship faced by commuters along the Bodo – Bonny axis; facilitate the operations of the NLNG, and bring considerable gains to the lives of farmers, traders, school children and travellers. In actual fact, the construction is evidence of the blossoming peace in the Niger Delta.
Additionally, the road will go a long way to avert the frequent loss of lives on the high sea, eliminate piracy and promote businesses in the area. Of course, huge is the tourist potential that a road to Bonny can harness, while alleviating the misery of the Ibanis. That is why all availed communities should shun selfish interest, cooperate and own the project. Similarly, chiefs, impacted local government councils, youths and the state government have to pull through to ensure perfect harmony towards its consummation.
We find it politic that this project is realised during the life of the present administration. If President Muhammadu Buhari must break the jinx and effectuate his promise for change, he must impede all obstacles to the actualisation of the Bodo – Bonny Road. In that wise, initial land and compensation matters must be perfected. Affected communities have to be taken along, while the security needs of the project should be facilitated to avoid obstructions of any kind.
As earnings from gas become more and more substantial, it is only essential that the Federal Government rises to the occasion. The administration that can provide this road will surely go down in history as the one that conquered the odds and made the difference that mattered most to the Niger Deltans and Nigerians.