I am neither an economist nor a road/transport expert. I will therefore be speaking not from the point of view of an expert but from that of an ordinary observer.
I do not expect that toll gates will be distributed according to geopolitical zones, states or tribes. I see them as part of infrastructure management system. Like most other conscious rational decisions made by man, the decision to design and introduce toll gate system in the country must be targeted at some outcomes.
Outcomes devoid of unfair segregation against any section of the country. Bearing the desired outcomes in mind, factors that are believed to have the capacity to drive the process towards the realization of those outcomes should have been considered. Factors such as road type, traffic load, etc. Experts in this area will know more. I see the issue more as an economic matter than a political one.
I do not, for instance, expect a state with only one major road traversing it from one end to the other and another with 20 major roads traversing it from different directions to have equal number of toll gates.
Similarly, I do not expect a major road that registers one vehicle per day to have a toll gate unless you want to run the risk of not recovering the money to pay salaries of toll gate staff. Moreover, such a road will have less need for maintenance.
Toll gates are, in my understanding, made for motor vehicles, not for cattle or pedestrians.
I would expect 80% or more of vehicular movement to reside in less than 20% of the country.
Those who complain about toll gate distribution should furnish us with more facts about their objections so that we can join them in their considerations. Better still, those who know the basis for the distribution may help and lay it bare so that the rest of us will be able to engage in more informed discussion of the subject.
