Babatunde Fashola,the Minister of Power Works and Housing, has stressed the need to raise the country’s transport infrastructure, especially road signage, to acceptable global standard as a means to aid mobility across states and communities within the country.
Fashola, made the disclosure during the 23rd Meeting of the National Council on Works with the theme, “Adequate Traffic Signage- An Essential Key for Highways Infrastructure, Safety and Comfort,” notes that the current efforts in building roads, highways and bridges across the country would hardly achieve the objective of mobility if the destinations of these critical transport infrastructures currently being built were not made known through appropriate signage.
Fashola in a statement said:“As human beings, mobility has become a major commitment of the global urban agenda. This must be so because our development, prosperity and sometimes our survival are tied to our mobility and so is our productivity, social and cultural interactions”.
“Yes, we have to build roads, highways and bridges. But the question then is: Roads, highways and bridges to where? Where do they lead?”, he asked, adding that maps alone would not adequately answer the questions without road signs, which, according to him, “indicates to road users, how far their journey is, how far they have progressed, how much is left to travel”, he adds further.
The Minister, who expressed sadness that road signs were either non-existent or largely insufficient on the nation’s highways, added that this has made travel through unfamiliar cities and towns across the country difficult pointing out that it would be a herculean task driving by oneself into a city one had never been as one would be ignorant of where to link the next interstate highway, or expect to buy fuel or plan to sleep for the night on a long journey or get medical help in case of a road traffic accident.
He said the proliferation of global, country and state maps on the handheld devices has made it both compelling and urgent for the country to start developing and installing signage on her roads, bridges and highways at interstate and intra-state levels adding, “This is one sure way of facilitating mobility and implementing the local component of the global urban agenda for the benefit of our people”.
Fashola,however expressed delight that the present administration has played a critical and positive role in developing a common African position since 2016 that has helped to shape the Global Urban Agenda adopted in Quito, Ecuador this year to guide the global development until 2036, adding, “What is left is for us, as champions of that African position and urban agenda, to begin to localize and implement its component parts for the benefits of our people”.
Pointing out, however, that it would not be enough to just simply erect any type of sign, in any place or anyhow, the Minister, who noted that they must be produced according to specifications and enduring materials, and “be installed to a minimum standard that ensures their durability, endurance and utility for commuters”, commended the staff of the Works sector of his Ministry for their hard work in developing the specifications and standards.
He also acknowledged the technical support and cooperation that the Corp Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and his team had afforded the Ministry “in the process of developing the size, quality and lettering specifications of these signs”, adding that they would help commuters to navigate their journey across the country as “the human benefit of signage and our mobility policy”.
On the direct economic benefits of traffic signage, Fashola noted that the existence of highway signs was the reason why “the car rental business and its collateral employment thrives in some countries and not in our own”, adding that it would provide financial reward for those who would benefit from the contracts as well as jobs and the financial rewards that would come from producing the signs, fabricating the steel, printing the signs, and the labour to be employed in installing them.
“These benefits are also true of lane marking”, the Minister said adding, “This is why we have chosen this National Council, where states are represented, professional groups are represented and the requisite technical personnel are present to unveil this policy and programme”.
He said Nigeria’s economic needs compelled her to commence the installation of the signage while her roads were still in various stages of completion, instead of waiting until everything was done before beginning “to confer the benefits of lane marking and street signage on our people”.
Fashola also disclosed that the Ministry had agreed to compile the list of roads where significant sections have been completed, and prepare them for procurement and award of sub-contracts in collaboration with the main contractors adding that the procurement would “then be advertised in due course as required by law and subject to open and competitive bids”.
Harrison Edeh
