That's why it's so difficult to take government seriously in Nigeria. You wonder whether it is a curse, ineptitude, wickedness or masochist tomfoolery.It's so difficult to find consistency in anything government does, even when the officials who took the initial decision are the same ones to preside over an inexplicable somersault. Toll was introduced on to Nigerian roads in 1978 when Major-General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua commissioned the Lagos-Ibadan express road. Government made so much money that the toll idea quickly spread to many highways in the country. As the money bags from toll collection swelled so the pot holes on the roads widened suggesting that it was the sheer weight of the bullion vans conveying the cash collected that ruined the roads. As the roads deteriorated, government said the toll collected was not sufficient to maintain them, so the toll fare was increased by 100 percent, from N10 to N20 for cars. I think it later moved up to N50 and N100 and more for bigger vehicles. So much water has passed under the bridge of these tool gates that it is difficult to keep track of the different somersaults. As the roads got worse, the government employees at the toll gates prospered. Toll gates became lucrative The new plot against OGD Text only to: 08070991006 abbeyzeekat@yahoo.co.uk 'Gov Gbenga Daniel postings. All kinds of tickets surfaced and many motorists simply paid half the fare and forgot about tickets. At the beginning you were required to pay at both ends of the toll road. Later, payment was changed to one end, but that didn't stop the unabated increase in the coefficient of lateral expansion, otherwise known as pot belly, of the clerks at the toll gates. Some clever, well placed persons noticed the dramatic change in the life style of these toll workers and decided this was a gold mine. Within the twinkle of an eye, the military government of General Sani Abacha announced it was going to privatise the toll gates. Works Minister, Major General AK Adisa executed the privatisation. The Atikus and many influential moneybags, many of them Abacha's friends, were beneficiaries of the privatisation and I am told not small money came in for them through these toll gates. That money must have oiled the political campaigns of 1999. All the balderdash that Nigerians were told at that time about the new operators paying some money that would be used for maintenance of the roads came to nothing but gas. The roads continued to decline. Then came Olusegun Obasanjo as President. While the going was good between him and Atiku, he saw nothing wrong in the privatisation of the toll gates. When things fell apart between them in 2004, after he had to beg Atiku to get a second term, he decided it was time to cut the man down to size. The toll gates' was a jugular. Obasanjo scrapped the toll gates principally to reduce the depth of Atiku's pockets. You see how they take decisions about our lives in fighting their personal wars. The official explanation was that the removal of fuel subsidy would make up for the money that would have come in from tolls. Nigerians paid more for fuel and the toll gates were scrapped. Today a massive subsidy is planned for removal and the Works Minister, Mike Onolomemen has confirmed to the Senate that the toll gates will be back next year. Government has taken Nigerians through circumlocutory routes on this toll gate matter and has finally decided to return them to where they were 33 years ago. What a game of musical chairs. Perhaps only to go through the whole cycle earlier traversed on this matter. God save Nigeria. Last line: Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is the acclaimed godfather and bastion of political power for President Jonathan. The father scrapped the toll gates, the son is re-erecting them. Are things falling apart or are we being entertained in the Fuji
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