Economic Development: The Reason For #FixGembuRoad Campaign

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By JD Yaji

Road infrastructure is a fundamental prerequisite of social development of any country since the economic progress depends on the available resources to the society and the efficiency of their usage. An average of 40% of the population spending at least 1 hour on the road each day Road infrastructure is essential for banishing hunger, alleviating poverty, and improving the quality of human life. Road transport is a means of transport that offers door-to-door transport which is suitable for the delivery of finished goods to consumers.

Road infrastructure has the potentials of transforming subsistence farming into a commercial and dynamic farming system which unlock the potentials embedded in rural areas. Understanding the conditions in which more or new road infrastructure does indeed foster economic growth is crucial for efficient management of road infrastructural project” Ben Okwudili Sidiq

There is a strong relationship between road condition and road user costs (i.e. travel time, fuel consumption, vehicle maintenance and safety)  However, the condition of a road deteriorates over time due to the combined effects of the traffic and environmental impacts.

Furthermore, development of housing area needs to be supported by several facilities for their daily needs such as the marketplace, education facility, and health facility whereas road network has an important role in connecting those facilities (Levashev, 2017) and (Giuffrida, Ignaccoloa, Inturria, Rofè, & Calabrò, 2017). In addition, the road network has a function in facilitating the people activities and a good road infrastructure give a positive trend in support the economic activity (Ivanova & Masarova, 2013) and (Meersman & Nazemzadeh, 2017) Public investment should not be constrained by accounting methods that impede a focus on economic returns, and road pricing strategy should be adopted in Nigeria because of its benefits of spreading demand for road transport, minimizing congestion and overcrowding, improving reliability and delivering benefits to the wider economy.

Yaji is a Social Commentator and Public Policy Analyst

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Sky Daily