The opportunities to steal and the incentives to cheat are huge in construction and various construction companies have taken note. It is the brunt of this knowledge that Kaduna State currently suffers. Now, the hope is that the el-Rufai led administration will put a halt to this suffering by prioritizing projects effectively, negotiating smarter deals and ensuring that commensurate value is obtained for all state funds expended.

The dearth of infrastructure in Nigeria is enormous and citizens have responded to this by hollering at whatever government will listen and demanding an improvement or outright provision. A few crooked governments have yielded to this call by aiming to deliver massive developments at inflated sums and in paces that allow them award and re-award the same contracts so they benefit from exchange rate variations, inflation or default liabilities. Sadly, Kaduna has also been burdened by such leaders.

One would expect that a State nationally regarded as a center for learning will be smart in its dealings and reach only the most sensible contractual conclusions, but this is not the case. Under the immediate past administration, the State concluded a contract with Julius Berger to build what largely is a mediocre, poorly designed and executed vanity project of a Governor’s office for about N10billion.  For the sum, one will expect to see an entire estate; instead, what you see is a 4000 square meters dome shaped building whose beauty is subject to the viewer’s interpretation.

Mothercat Construction Company knows that with impressive proposals and corrupt politicians, the states treasury is practically yours for the taking. This is why through a bidding process rumored to be selective and which may have favored the company, it got awarded the N3.6bn first phase of the Kawo road expansion project. The expansions span some 5 kilometers from the foot of the Kawo Bridge to the Lugard Hall roundabout.

The width of the road presently is some 7.3meters and will be expanded by 3.65 meters. What this means is that 1 kilometer of 3.65meters road expansion is costing the state government some N720million.

When you combine this clearly inflated contract sum with the illegal circumstances suspected to surround its award, you will begin to get a glimpse of the monumental fraud this company perpetuates in Kaduna.

Water is essential for survival and this knowledge also presents opportunity for theft. At about 27%, water coverage in the State is pitiful at best, however, the need to ensure some very drastic improvement in this sector threatens to drown the state in a pool of its own resources and leave its citizens with only the hope of water.

Mothercat’s most ambitious project without a doubt is the 150mld Zaria Water Supply Expansion project. The project was awarded in 2008 at some N15.7billion and has now been revised to about N24.6billion. In associated consultancies alone, it is rumored the project has consumed some $6.1million or N1.2bn. The problem with this project is that between its commencement date and May 29th 2015, it has been awarded and re-awarded a minimum of three times. According to certain sources, this re-awards have cost the government at least N31.9m in defect liability. Besides this huge monetary penalty, some critics have lamented the lack of adequate distribution networks for processed water from this plant to the rest of the State.

Governor El-Rufai is introducing reforms to better match the state’s resources with its needs

If it is to get value for money spent, the Kaduna State Government cannot lax in its monitoring efforts. It must ensure that companies like Mothercat or Julius Berger do not charge exorbitantly for services that can be obtained cheaper. We must also root out the fraud in contract awards and ensure that honest, competent companies can compete for contract awards.

There is the need to probe releases associated with project execution and all agents involved, especially when they were awarded at clearly overstated prices. In a country like Nigeria where the probe of contract finances often leads to their abandonment, my recommendation to the Kaduna State Government is allow the projects progress as they are. Upon completion, probe their funding and everyone involved with them. Those who inflated contract prices or engaged in sharp practices must be made to atone for their evils.

After all, the country is waging a war against corruption and in this war, victory is the only option. Everyone who has by his actions tried to cripple the Nigerian State and its citizens must be crippled in their entirety.

Adejoh Idoko Momoh wrote in from Kaduna, views expressed are solely the author’s