Federal Government Addresses Concerns on Benin- Ekpoma- Auchi Okpella-Okene- Lokoja Road, Gives a Marching Order to Contractors To Justify The Funds Released  to them or Risk Termination  of Their Contracts 1. The Federal Government  has issued a marching  order to all the contractors handling the Benin- Ekpoma- Auchi- Okpella- Okene- Lokoja road to immediately commence accelerated  work on the rehabilitation of the road or face termination  of their contracts. This directive was handed over to the contractors by the Hon. Minister of Works,  His Excellency, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi CON during  his inspection  visit  to the various  project sites in Edo State on 9th March 2024.. The Hon. Minister  who disclosed  that the Federal  Government  under the Renewed Hope administration of His Excellency, President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR had released  funds to the contractors handling  the  federal projects, warned that  contractors who fail to fully mobilize and commence  immediate  accelerated rehabilitation  works on the projects would have their  contracts  terminated and such contractors blacklisted. 2. Speaking  after a meeting  with the Governor of Edo State, His Excellency . Goodwin Obaseki, the Minister described  as unacceptable  the delay of the  contractors in fully  mobilizing  to site and effectively commencing  rehabilitation  work despite Mr. President's prompt release of funds to them for the projects. On the recent protest  along the Jattu axis of the  Benin- Auchi highway  by the residents  of the area,which  disrupted  vehicular  movements, the Hon. Minister said that his meeting  with the Governor  was to brainstorm  on the drastic  measures  to tackle the issues affecting the progress of work in the area."  I have had a very serious  meeting  with the Governor here. We are concerned about what is happening between  Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi- Okpella and the axis of Kogi State. That is what we have been brainstorming on. I have worked  with him throughout  last night to direct that the road should be unblocked, and if you see  the grievances of those people  you will not blame them  so much, because  people  are dying, trucks are falling." 3. On his part, the Governor  thanked  the Hon. Minister of Works for his deep sense  of  commitment to the development  of road infrastructure in Nigeria.  He assured of the unwavering  support  of his administration  to the concrete  technology initiative introduced by the Renewed Hope administration, which  he said was the best model  for the  road infrastructure  along the  East West  and indeed parts of the country. "First, let me thank  my brother and very good friend, the Honourable Minister of Works, who you know  is an engineer  par excellence, for the concern he has shown. Same time last year when I cried  for help ahead of the rainy reason,  we didn't  get this kind of response. " He harped on the need to remove encumbrances to the construction  of enduring  road infrastructure in Nigeria. "We shall not continue  to use expensive  asphalt  to do our roads. We should use  sustainable  local materials; we produce  cement  and steel, there is no reason  why we can not begin  to move towards utilizing more concrete  in building  our roads for sustainability so that our roads can last longer.' 4. The Hon. Minister  who also inspected the Lokoja – Benin Road Dualization Projects, section IV: Benin – Ehor road in Edo State handled by RCC Nig. Ltd; the section III: Ehor – Auchi in Edo State handled by Dantata & Sawoe Nig. Ltd; and the section II: Auchi – Okene in Edo/Kogi States handled by Mothercat Nig. Ltd tasked them on the best standard and timely  delivery  of the  projects. He further  moved to the spot where the residents  were blocking  vehicular  movements and addressed them on the efforts  of  Mr. President  in improving the condition  of roads  in the State." Mr. President has directed  me to go round the entire 36 States and brief him on the state of the  roads. No contractor  is being  owed a kobo from Warri down to Kogi State. We are readdresing  the situation here, you will see action from Monday"   ...

Indigenous Contractors Nationwide to be Given a Pride of Place in the Construction Industry Under the Renewed Hope Administration of President  Tinubu with more Opportunities  for  Road Construction  on Concrete Technology   1.    In the vision to promote  local content as a major game changer in the economic  recovery plans of the Renewed Hope administration of the President of Nigeria, His Excellency, President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, the Honourable Minister of Works,  His Excellency Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi CON has assured  that his Ministry would  promote indigenous  resources, skills and capacities through  creating more opportunities for local contractors in the construction industry, especially  in the new innovation  of concrete technology  being  used in   tough terrains across  the nation. The Hon. Minister  stated  this when he paid  inspection  visits  to some flood sections along the East  West Road in Delta  State undergoing  remedial  work by an indigenous contractor, Messrs.  True Tech Nigeria  Ltd.   2.    The  Honourable Minister, who was very impressed  by the good job being  done by True Tech Nigeria  Ltd said  his Ministry  would  do everything  possible  to ensure  value for money, create wealth and jobs for indigenous professionals and technicians,  introduce  engineering solutions that are more economical and discourage  delays  in project delivery. He said of the project, "  We have about 10 different washouts, which we are providing multiple culverts in place of a decompile, which would have been much more expensive. But our solution is very economical, and it will solve the engineering problems. And then we're raising the road level above the flood level. And we are also using a concrete pavement to do it."  He said also that solar light would  be put on the axis  when the  project  is completed. "We're also going to put  solar light, at least let it be the signature of Mr. President, and that will be the microcosm of the macrocosm of what Nigerians should expect on our roads under the administration of Mr. President".   3.    Meanwhile, the Honourable Minister of Works  has directed all Controllers of Works  to ensure that all contractors use 70% stone base aggregate  with only 30% dust base to form the base of the  road construction  jobs. He gave this  directive  when he inspected the dualization of Sapele- Agbor road, route no. 3 in Delta  State  handled  by CGC Nigeria  Ltd. He, however, commended  the construction company  for their good  job. " CGC is known  for a good job. I commend  you for the  one I have seen. It's  good, so we will do everything  to assist  you, but listen to our directive. Follow  the existing  asphalt, pulverize it, and put 20cm stone base. Don't  use dust base. "   4.    The Minister, who also inspected  the rehabilitation of  Warri- Sapele road via route no. 2, section  3 in Delta  State, handled  by  SKECC Nigeria  Ltd; the  Benin- Warri road  rehabilitation, section  2, Sapele- Imasabor, handled  by Geld Construction  Nig  Ltd/ Tracter  Nigeria  Ltd in Delta  State; Benin- Warri road, section 1( Imasabor- Benin  in Edo State,  handled  by  Levant Nigeria  Ltd; as well as the Benin- Agbor route no 4 and Benin By-pass route  5 all in Edo State, gave and ultimatum  directing Geld Construction  Nigeria  Ltd/ Tracter Nigeria Ltd  to within  14 days justify  the mobilization  received  or have their job terminated. "After 14 days  of this warning notice and there's  nothing  happening, I will come and terminate the job.".  ...

FG Commences Construction of 700 Km Lagos- Calabar Coastal Road and Maintenance of Piers and Other Under Bridge  Works of Critical Bridges in Lagos   1. As part of strategic plans for holistic economic recovery, the Federal Government has commenced the construction of the 700km Lagos- Calabar Coastal Highway, spanning 9 States with two spurs leading to the Northern States.  This was expressed by the Honourable Minister of Works, His Excellency Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi, CON, during the official handover of the first phase of the project, made up of 47.47 kilometers dual carriageway, to Hitech Construction Company Ltd, and which is to be constructed in concrete pavement.   2. The Hon. Minister who was in company with the Federal Ministry of Works' Controller in charge of Lagos State, Engr. (Mrs) O. I. Kesha, emphasized the need for all contractors handling Federal Government’s road projects to deliver within a record time, noting that the government would not allow variation arising from delays or slow pace of work once mobilization had been done. He, however, commended very highly Hitech Construction Company Nigeria Ltd for being reputable for quality and speedy delivery of jobs. He acknowledged their efforts in starting work immediately after the contract was awarded. He said, " They have completed some filling of 1.3 kilometer from the day the project was awarded to them. It shows the speed they are going to deploy to this project. Within a couple of weeks, we awarded the project to them, they mobilized a lot of dredging equipment, and you can see that they have recovered 1.3 kilometer of section one of the phase".   3. The Honourable Minister  who also visited  project  sites at the Queen's Drive Ikoyi, the Third Mainland  bridge top deck, the  underwater, the Eddo bridge,  the Eko bridge  and Carter  bridge expressed  the determination  of the Federal  Government  to carry out a comprehensive  rehabilitation  of the  bridges which  he  said are critical links between  the  Mainland  and the  Island  of  Lagos,  the economic  hub of the country. These repairs are expected to cover not only the top of the bridge but also the under-bridge works. He said, " At the Third Mainland bridge, we have three or four critical elements to be rehabilitated. The first one is the deck, and the deck is about 11 kilometers × two. That is dual carriageway, including the ramps, and it has been done by CCECC. They have done very beautiful jobs, but we have not concluded.  Before the end of March, we'll be concluding the asphalt milling and the reasphalting.  He further said, "But that is not all our commitment there. We are installing the guardrails, we are replacing the lights with solar light, we are going to put some decorative lights too, and then we are going to put CCTV camera both on top and under the bridge to check insecurity and illegal mining of sand, which is causing scouring on the piles and the pipe bits. The second job is that some sections of the slab are deflected, and so what we have done is to get an expert to understudy the level of deflection. That's the tendons of the slab that deflected. And so, we are going to cut open the slabs, enter and then look at it, scoop it, and then reinstate the tendons of the slab. There's nothing to worry about. It's been done at a Eko bridge by Buildwell. So, this one is not a threat to us at all.   4. He commended what Julius Berger Nigeria Ltd is doing already, which is restoration of deteriorated peirs and peir caps including the cover of peirs and peircaps themselves, and said the piles which he also inspected  were the most  critical of the works to be done.   5. Earlier  in their  respective  remarks, the State  Controller,  Federal Ministry of Works  and the representatives  of  Hitech Construction Nigeria Ltd, Julius Bergger  Nigeria  Ltd, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Ltd,  and. Buildwell Nigeria  Ltd assured  the Honourable Minister  that they would continue to work in line with the   spirit  of excellence, which the Renewed Hope administration of His Excellency President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR  is known for. ...