Chairman Works Committee Senator Ayogu Eze spoke to LAWRENCE NJOKU in Enugu. Excerpts:WHAT is the priority of the Senate Committee on Works'We want to support the Executive to ensure that the road sector is a condition that will bring joy to the people. So far, this sector has brought agony and frustration because the roads are nothing to write home in terms of the quality. Over the years, maintenance has been a problem; our roads have been allowed to deteriorate and we want to ensure that these roads are in good conditions. We want to install a maintenance culture and the plank of our programme is to put in place a funding strategy that will bring in other stakeholders to fund the road sector. We are convinced that government alone cannot develop the road sector. This has always been the case in all economies and ours won't be an exception.With particular reference to the South East, what is the committee doing on the complaints by zone on the state of federal roads and that contracts are either not executed or poorly executed'We are worried about this and that is what I have spoken to in general terms. We are going to make sure that we increase funding because we have discovered that sometimes the contractor operates according to the level of funding he receives and sometimes there are no guarantees that if the contractor goes ahead to procure funds from other sources and uses it to execute the project that he will recover his money. There is also no deliberate effort by government to encourage the banks through such guarantees to fund projects so that the contractor can continue to work without disruption. Many economies have already put in place what they call the infrastructure bank; some even have road banks. These banks are specialised banks that fund infrastructure and they receive sovereign guarantees from government and I think this is an option that we are urging the Federal Government to embrace. We are worried about non-performance on the roads and we know that it is not entirely the fault of the contractors. Many of the contractors, we have discovered do not actually have the capacity and these are people that are given jobs apparently because they know the procurement officer, the Minister or somebody high up in government to influence things. This attitude should stop. Jobs should be given to only those who have the capacity so that when we tackle the issue of funding and get a robust funding structure, we will not have the problem of irresponsible contractors that will collect government money and abandon the roads midway.Are you saying that the dumping of awarded road contracts is not peculiar to the South East'It is not deliberate and the dam project that was recently flagged off in Nsukka cannot be said to have stopped. This is because when you do flag off, there are other preliminary things that are put in place and I think that is what is going on at the moment. But we are also going to check to see whether the contractor has been paid any money and if he has been paid, we are going to compel him to come to site. There is also a responsibility on the part of all Nigerians that when a contract has been awarded, they should investigate what is happening. They should know if the contractor has been mobilised or has he diverted the funds or what are his problems or has he any special influence distracting him' I believe it is the inertia on the part of the people that encourages corruption to go on unchecked.It will appear there is no going back on the removal of fuel subsidy; but what is worrisome is the rising agitation against it. What do you have to say on this'Government needs to dialogue with the people, the programme the government is talking about is for the people and government has concluded that the subsidy regime as it is does not profit the people. It is left for the government to dramatise what it is going to use the money that will be saved to do. I understand the government is going to put money into this problem about roads and other infrastructure to plug the funding gap. Nigerians can have uninterrupted power supply, good roads, water, good hospitals and creation of social safety nets where people who do not have capital are encouraged through certain level of subsidy; the government can subsidise health care and those things that affect the people directly, not serving the elite alone. I think that is what we should encourage government to do and I believe that is the thinking of this administration.Is the government aware that a few Nigerians who believe that government will manage the proceeds from the removal of the subsidy transparently'Corruption is such a menace that has so far defied all strategies. Government should not give up but if there is a sore on a finger, it will be wiser to lose the finger than to lose the whole body. I think that is what the government is saying. Government I believe sees the removal of the subsidy as a way of checking corruption.Don't you think that the planned removal of fuel subsidy and reintroduction of tollgates shows some insensitivity on the part of government considering the hard times Nigerians are facing'The palliatives to cushion the effect of some of these programmes are being worked out and the tollgates will take a while to become operational and before the tollgates become operational, there must be secondary routes. Tolling our roads does not mean we should not have alternative routes for those who might not want to use the tollgates. We will develop a new set of motorable roads so that those who do not want to take the tolled routes will take the secondary routes.Comment on the allocation to security in the budget'They lumped together the budget of the Army, Navy, Police and National Security Adviser's office but when we analyse it, we will know what the content is. Today's world requires a heavy investment in security. We are installing cameras and surveillance security all over the country; we are thinking of installing a global positioning system (GPS) blanket over Nigeria to ease tracking of criminals. We are thinking of modernising our forces and ensuring that they react to issues as they occur and these things require heavy capital.Criminals are becoming more sophisticated and security agencies require a sophisticated muscle to tackle them. We have to be very careful about how we comment on the budget for the security sector because we need to get the details as some of these things occurred because of their security nature and cannot be displayed publicly. Any nation that wants to move forward and be great by 2020 should begin to think like a great country today.Going by the number of committees working on the constitution, are we not putting too much emphasis on the 1999 Constitution'We believe we need to amend the constitution to create a true federal structure that will devolve power from the centre to the states and open up the country, and encourage states to develop resources within their domains. This is the only way the country can move forward. Right now there is too much concentration of power at the centre and that is what is making the centre rather too attractive. This is something that should be supported by all. The committee the president set up is only an advisory committee to help him articulate the position he will present to the National Assembly. There is no duplication, it is for him to organise his thoughts, get the ideas and items and bring them before us.As a member of Senate Committee on the review of the constitutional, how do you people intend to go about it'We are yet to meet and when we do, we will draw up strategies, which will include an interface with the people either through public hearings or visitations to the geo-political zones as we did in the past. The input of the people will be a key factor that will determine the direction that the amendment will take. One of the issues that I will bring attention to is state creation. I know there is a need to create more states because of the imbalance in the structure of the country. The South East zone for instance, with all its population, has only five states and there is a lot of potential for a viable and sustainable state. Another state will bring government nearer to the people and ensure even development of the country.What should Nigerians expect from the National Assembly in 2012'We will continue to create the environment for good governance, and more importantly we will make sure that our present debate of the 2012 budget, will result in the introduction of those things that will jump-start development and generate employment in the country.
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