A writer and lecturer who is also a Fellow of the prestigious body known as the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Greg C E Ukaigwe, writes that great work is going on at FERMA as contained in this report. Happy reading.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government is concerned about the road infrastructural deficit in the country. His administration has demonstrated an undeniable desire to fix infrastructural decay to enable faster economic growth and prosperity initiates in the country. Unarguably, the recovery process has begun and with a high success rate. The rating garnered from the intensified presence on the nation’s highway can only be attributed to the simple reason that the man at the helm of affairs and the Managing Director/CEO, Engr. (Dr) Emeka Agbasi is a visionary leader who has decided to run with Mr. President’s Renewal Hope Policy on Transportation for Nigeria and institutional strengthening initiatives within FERMA, leading the charge towards a proactive era of road maintenance and management.
MD, FERMA, Dr. Agbasi, enumerated his road plans and priorities, such as nation-wide major rehabilitation of strategically selected routes across all six zones of the country; maintenance of optimal levels of repair and civil works maintenance along the entire Federal Highway Network.
Other re-engineering road infrastructure accomplishments are targeting special intervention funds to support road infrastructure projects; emphasis on process improvements using technology and innovation, and strategic partnership and collaboration to leverage resources and expertise.
FERMA, under Dr. Agbasi, is fostering commitment to delivering his statutory mandates and indeed driving President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda through various highlighted programmes. This includes the agency’s road network strategies, focused on sustained road surveillance, accelerated repairs, and recovery of failed and collapsed road, as well as emergency interventions and civil works preventive maintenance measures.
More importantly, going forward, to overcome prevailing challenges, FERMA’s short to medium-term priorities include strategic regeneration to enhance overall capacity and capabilities in road access maintenance and management, improving operational funding, and developing collaborating relationships with international road agencies. For Dr. Emeka Agbasi, leadership is perfectly equated to service and not self-aggrandisement. MD, FERMA, is a firm believer in delegating responsibilities, rewarding accomplishments, and providing a learning experience for honest mistakes and recognises the value of individual freedom in addition to the loyalty of subordinates. Dr. Agbasi, an epitome of excellence and impactful leadership style is a valid confirmation of his passion to further strengthen engineering infrastructure in our dear country. Dr. Agbasi is a civil engineer and holds MSc/DIC (Concrete Structures) and PhD (Civil Engineering) degrees from Imperial College, London and University of London respectively and a post-graduate certificate in Engineering Management from University of Bath Management School, UK. He obtained his BEng (Civil Engineering) and MEng (Material & Construction) degrees from University of Nigeria Nsukka. He is a UK certified PRINCE 2 practitioner, APMG certified PPP professional, and has attended several courses including management and leadership courses at Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA.
Prior to his appointment as the MD/CEO FERMA, he was a Director and Head, PPP, Multilateral & Special Duties Department at FERMA where he led and pioneered development work on mainstreaming asset management, deploying new strategies for maintaining the road network and integrating climate change resilience, managing the interface of the Agency’s programmes with DFID/FCDO, USAID, ECOWAS, JICA, Government of Japan, World Bank, AFDB, amongst others.
Prior to joining FERMA, he was a Senior Structures Advisor and Project Sponsor at the Highways Agency (HA), an executive Agency of the UK Department of Transport. Other engineering roles in the UK built environment and construction sector were with Kvaerner Technology (part of Kvaerner Construction Group, now Skanska Construction), and WhitbyBird (now part of Ramboll Group). He has been engaged as a research associate at Imperial College London, and Loughborough University where he executed fixed term commercial research contracts. His early career was in Nigeria where he worked as a civil/structural engineer in a consulting engineering practice and a Researcher/Lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nukka.
It is not in dispute that the road network is not in its best form. Across the country, we still have roads that are in bad shape. This is the consequences of glaring poor funding for the sector. However, the maintenance activities of this government on the road are worth celebrating, and this is because despite the limited funding, they are visible, appreciable road recovery efforts.
A glaring strategy that has assisted greatly in reducing accidents on the road is Dr. Agbasi’s adoption of a more proactive Direct Labour Operation. Although it has been a major part of FERMA’S Operation Model in time past; however it was not with the spate
of force, speed and result recorded under Dr. Agbasi’s re-engineering leadership.
With huge accolades coming in from road users, it is apparent that the MD/CEO has not failed observers in the discharge of this enormous national task.
Dr. Agbasi has over 30 years local and international engineering and management (consulting and contracting) and applied research experience spanning design and construction, structural investigation, condition survey and assessment, onsite troubleshooting, materials testing at macro and micro levels, product development and project management. He has developed and implemented strategies and methodologies for repair and maintenance regimes for civil infrastructure and advised on serviceability issues to ensure adequate in-service performance, particularly for structures procured under private Finance Initiative/Design Build Finance Operate route with long-term concession period. He has maintained an interest in whole life management of structures including IT tools for asset management and integrated project delivery processes. He has authored several technical reports/papers and has presented papers at international conferences in Africa, Amercia, Asia and Europe.
He has served on several local and international committees and working groups on construction excellence, project delivery, transport and trade facilitation, national development plan, highway structures, road infrastructure and subsector reforms amongst others. Some of the committees and working groups include Project Advisory Group, TRL UK Overseas Road Note 31, Anambra State Transition Committee, Anambra State Vision 2070 (Economic Transformation Sub-Committee), Transport Technical Working Group (TTWG), Nigeria Medium Term National Development Plan (2021-25), Project Delivery Team FMWH Highways Development & Management.
Initiative (HDMI), US Transportation Research Board (TRB) Committees, Advisory Panel, Annual Africa Road Infrastructure Investment Congress, FGN Nigerian Road Safety Strategy (2019 – 2023) TWG, FGN InterMinisterial Committee of Stakeholders on Road Haulage, African Continental Free Advisory Committee on Federal Roads Authority, Consultation.
Committee (Nigeria), Abidjan Lagos Corridor Management Authority (ALCoMA), Focal Point Public Works. (Nigeria), Abidjan – Lagos Corridor, Lakaji Corridor Management Group (LCMG), National Facilitation Committee for Trade and Transport, HMW Committee on Road Sector Reform, HMW Highways Specification.
Review Committee, NSE National Infrastructure Scorecard and Cost Indices Committee, NSE Codes and Standards Committee & Bureau Services Board, and NSE Presidential Task Force on Road Sector Reform. Other include 2nd Benue River Crossing PPP Advisory/Feasibility Study Team, UK Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Gateway Reviewer, Construction Ambassador, UK Construction Industry Training Board, Technical Project Board for UK DMRB Standards BD02 and BA55, and Highways Agency Eurocodes Implementation.
*Chief Greg C.E. Ukaigwe, FNIPR author and lecturer, authored this piece from Nasarawa State.