A group, Southern Solidarity Alliance, has expressed concern over the alleged use of substandard materials for road reconstructions along the Benin Bypass, Nnewi-Okigwe Road and other federal roads under reconstruction in parts of South-East and South-South roads.

The group specifically criticised the use of 6mm rod and low grade wire gauze for the casting of Benin Bypass, expressing fears that the road, which usually records busy traffic comprising of heavy trucks, posed serious danger for road users as the materials cannot withstand the pressure on the road.

In a letter addressed to President Bola Tinubu, the group urged the President to investigate the ongoing reconstruction works across the Southern roads, insisting that the contractors handling the projects are using inferior materials and undermining the guaranteed lifespan of the roads to the detriment of Nigerians.

South-East Punch gathered that the group had visited the specific road reconstruction sites and saw for themselves how low grade and inferior materials were allegedly been used by the road contractors, adding that they have video evidences to back up their claims.

The letter made available to South-East Punch on Monday, was signed by the group’s National Coordinator, Ndubuisi Okafor and Deputy National Secretary, Ms. Success Ikpasa, urged the President to halt the use of inferior materials for the construction, lamenting that these are federal road projects, which might have been awarded at a very high cost.

The letter read in part, “We wish to first of all express our profound gratitude to the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for the roads your administration has awarded in Southern Nigeria. We have since last year, called on thepresident in our press conferences, press releases and letters, to declare state of emergency on our roads.

“We thank you for the ones already awarded and appeal to you to award more, in order to drastically reduce the number, if not eliminate bad federal roads in Southern Nigeria.

They make travelling a nightmare for our people.

“There ought to be no bad road in Southern Nigeria, owing to the fact that all the resources used in the entire country are generated from here and by not providing good road infrastructure for the region, the Federal Government practically kills the goose that lays the golden egg.

“However, we wish to draw the kind attention of Mr President to the use of 6mm rod and inferior wire gauze for the casting of the Benin Bypass, which usually records heavy traffic comprising of heavy trucks, perhaps the heaviest in the country. It is surprising that such low grade rod could be used for the reconstruction of such a very busy express way.

“Similar observations have been recorded on Nnewi-Okigwe road, where such low grade rod is equally in use. These are road projects, which might have been awarded at a very high cost. Mr President Sir, knowing the emphasis that your administration places on infrastructural renewal, we can unequivocally opine that you might not have approved the use of lower specifications of rod for these constructions.

“It is well known that superior specifications fortify the cast and make the road stronger and more durable. We equally know that the use of these low caliber specifications by the contractors would undermine the lifespan of these roads.

“These are the ones we are seeing. What of the roads far away from us? Which specifications are being used for other road projects across Southern Nigeria? Why should contractors use inferior materials and undermine the guaranteed lifespan of our roads? Would these not amount to waste and economic sabotage?”

According to the group, the cost of construction materials soars higher every day, adding that it cannot be in the public interest to undertake constructions that would easily depreciate the next minute, thereby wasting scarce resources.

“Also we know how long it takes for the government to maintain or construct these roads. It’s therefore better to optimally do these constructions in the best public interest, to last as long as they should.

“We call on Mr President to please passionately look at these issues with the utmost urgency they deserved so that the FG and the Southern public will not be shortchanged by profiteering contractors. The videos of both roads are hereby attached,” the group added.

However, when contacted on the development, Uchenna Orji, the Special Adviser (Media), to the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, dismissed the claims by the group, insisting that the ministry ensures that quality materials are used for road construction across the country.

Orji said, “Every road has its own specification and the materials to use. The people complaining are paid jobbers who do not understand what the Federal Government is doing to revolutionize road infrastructure in the country. They should visit the sites and enquire from the contractors the materials specified for a particular road.

“The road construction and innovation we are doing now is what is called ‘continuously reinforced pavement’. We can tell you that any signature of the ministry on any road has a guarantee of 30 years. And coming to South-East/South-South roads, it is even more advantageous because of the nature of the soil texture there, the honourable minister of works, decided that majority of the roads will use concrete pavement.

“Those people that are talking are strange to the concept of concrete pavement. If there is any complaint, they should let the field engineers or supervisors of the project know, writing to the President shows that they are out for a mischief.”