The Director General, Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), Prof Danladi Matawal has assured Nigerians that his agency is up to the task as regards finding lasting solutions to bad roads in the country.
Speaking on this edition of Question Time, he explained that the agency’s mandate is to conduct integrated research and development activities into several aspects of the construction industry.
The agency has been carrying out underground work in Abuja and Lagos in order to formulate models of traffic characteristics which will be used in research in other states of the country.
“We have research staff in Ota, who has been placed to assess and give us insight into traffic characteristics in Lagos.”
The agency has also approved research on Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway to look at traffic, pavement situation and create models to use in recommending a number of measures to alleviate failure of pavements.
“We are taking the bull by the horn on the issue of road pavement failure,” he said.
He however complained of inadequate funding which caused the agency setbacks in 2011. “The resource was so small; we couldn’t meet most of our plans” he said.
The DG attributed the low funding to “lack of appreciation for research”.
