135,000km out of 195,000km road network in Nigeria un-tarred, in bad shape – ICRC
The Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Chidi Izuwah, has revealed that out of 195,000 kms of road networks in Nigeria, about 135,000 kilometres were un-tarred and currently in bad shape.
Speaking at the on 2017 Otis Anyaeji and Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) Annual lecture in Abuja Izuwah who spoke on the theme; ‘Transportation Infrastructure as a Catalyst for Economic Diversification and Inclusive National Development,’ said “Nigeria has about 195,000 km road network out of which a proportion of about 32,000 km are federal roads while 31,000km are state roads”.
“Out of this, only about 60,000km are paved. Of the paved roads, a large proportion is in very poor unacceptable condition due to insufficient investment and lack of adequate maintenance.
“Private capital and management expertise will help in this area as has happened in Malaysia, India and South Africa,” he said.
According to him, Nigeria’s aggregate investment in road and rail remained low and had led to the continued under development of the country, adding to joblessness and poverty.
