Concerns over deplorable Nigerian roads (III)

Dilapidated Nigerian roads, metaphorically begging for government’s attention, pose enormous worries to road users. Apart from the security and economic implications, bad roads menace has eventuated in scores of accidents and deaths. Despite government huge statutory allocation for road construction, repairs and maintenance since 2016, many Nigerian roads are still in appalling deplorable conditions, leaving road users in perpetual trauma and vulnerable to dangers. With the current ember season, travellers get more worried about the horrific states of the roads and expect urgent government intervention.  In this edition, Daily Trust on Sunday rounds off the regional series reports commenced four weeks ago across states with the South West.

Highway of death in Ogun

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“The Gateway State,”  the appellation of Ogun State, is not a misnomer because it is the door to other parts of Nigeria and, indeed, other  West African countries through Benin Republic. It borders Lagos State to the South, Oyo and Osun states to the North, Ondo to the East and Republic of Benin to the West.

However, the major highways in the state have become death traps.

The Sagamu/Ijebu-Ode/Benin, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Lagos-Abeokuta, Abeokuta-Sagamu and Ota-Idiroko highways are notorious for road crashes. Findings by our correspondent indicate that the roads account for about 90 percent of accidents in the state.

The Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) said about 267 persons died in 814 road crashes recorded between January to August in the state.

Of the 267 who lost their lives, 136  were killed in 450 crashes on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.  Also, 975 people out of a total number of 1,645 who got injured within the same period suffered the fate on the same expressway.

Our correspondent gathered that deplorable condition of roads in Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway and diversion in some axis of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway are responsible for the crashes. Also, excessive speeding on the part of drivers accounts for an increased number of crashes.

The State FRSC Sector Commander, Ahmed Umar, who recently flagged off the command’s end-of-year road safety campaign, said the rate of involvement of trucks and articulated vehicles in road crashes, especially along Lagos-Ibadan expressway was alarming. Umar said 441 trucks and articulated vehicles were among the 1,324 vehicles involved in road accidents during the period under review.

He said the campaign focused on sensitising members of the public about safe mobility in the state in spite of the high number of trucks and articulated vehicles plying the roads there.

Umar also appealed to drivers of trucks and articulated vehicles to obey the stipulated 60km per hour speed limit by installing Speed Limiting Devices.

“We shall sustain our enforcement drive against driving under influence of drugs and alcohol on all categories of vehicles in collaboration with the NDLEA. We also advise all drivers to ensure they possess the appropriate class of driver’s licence as the command is committed to sustaining ‘Operation Show Your Drivers Licence’ in line with directives from FRSC headquarters,’’ he said.

However, the deplorable condition of Lagos-Abeokuta and Ota-Idiroko expressways has pitched workers in the state against Governor Dapo Abiodun and the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, following Wednesday’s mass protest.

Workers under the aegis of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Ogun State again protested the deplorable condition of the highways, describing Fashola, as a liar and an enemy of the State.

The NLC said Fashola had visited Ogun some months ago and promised to commence reconstruction work on the collapsed portions of the Sango Road.

However, the workers, during another protest on Wednesday, expressed disappointment that “Fashola failed to fulfil his promise” months after.

The NLC had, on October 6, stormed the Sango portion of the Lagos-Abeokuta highway, with a threat to shut down the state if nothing was done within 21 days.

When the 21 days ultimatum elapsed, Ogun workers and residents gathered in Sango again for a protest, carrying placards with various inscriptions like, “Enough of bad governance,” “Dapo Abiodun, let us enjoy the dividends of democracy in Ogun,” “Dapo, this suffering is too much,  “Hear our cries, Ogun people are suffering,” “Dapo,  repair our roads, it is our right.”

The NLC Chairman in Ogun, Emmanuel Bankole, said: “Ordinarily, the decision was to shut down this place entirely, but with the efforts that we have seen by the state government, the place will not be shut down. We are sensitive. We are not here to inflict pains on the people of the state. They are already in pains. We are not here to add to the pains, but to make the statement loud and clear that we won’t allow them to make a mess of us, just like Raji Fashola is coming here to tell us that work would start immediately and nothing has been done for more than two months. This is unacceptable to us and we are ready to take action.”

But Abiodun described the protest as “unfortunate and politically motivated,” he said.

He berated the demonstrators for trying to paint Ogun in “colours that do not represent the image of the state.”

“Ogun and Lagos governments have made attempts to get the Federal Government to release the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road to us for reconstruction, but no response. I have called on the Federal Government on several occasions to give attention to the road. That road did not just get bad in the last two years,” he said.

No reprieve for motorists over Lagos-Ibadan, Ikorodu-Shagamu highways

The ongoing construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has caused untold hardship for motorists. The road is the major highway connecting Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of the country, as well as the North and other parts of the country.

The Works and Housing Minister, Babatunde Fashola, disclosed that the project being undertaken by Julius Berger and RCC would be completed in December next year.

Daily Trust on Sunday reports that while Julius Berger is handling the project from Shagamu interchange to Lagos, RCC is in charge of Shagamu-Ibadan end.

Since the contractor was mobilized to the expressway, motorists have been facing difficulties in navigating it. Even as the ember months peaks, there is no reprieve in sight. This is due largely to the various diversions and lane merging on the expressway.

We gathered that the federal government was planning to construct three new bridges at Makun, MFM, and Lotto (Mowe) areas on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in addition to an interchange.

Findings by our correspondent indicate that while the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is ongoing, the alternative federal roads in Lagos are decrepit. Two major federal roads—Ikorodu/Shagamu Expressway as well as Ikorodu-Itoikin-Epe-Ijebu-Ode Express Way that would have served as alternatives are in deplorable state, prompting the senator representing Lagos East Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Senator Mukhail Abiru, to move a motion for the urgent rehabilitation of the roads.

In the motion titled: “Motion on the Urgent Need for the Rehabilitation of the Ikorodu-Sagamu and Ikorodu-Itokin-Epe Roads to Further Bridge the Infrastructure Gap and Enhance Economic Growth In Nigeria,” the senator called for urgent intervention on the critical roads connecting Ikorodu and other areas under the Lagos East Senatorial District to other parts of the country.

The Federal Government flagged off the reconstruction of the road but the work has long been abandoned, while the highway continues to deteriorate.

Lagos residents said the road would have been an alternative to motorists with the ongoing work on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and the attendant daily gridlock.

Apart from the major inter-city highways, the FG is also embarking on several repairs on major roads within Lagos State. One of the intra-city work  is the phase two repair work on the popular Eko Bridge in Lagos (Alaka-Apongbon section), prompting a diversion for the duration of 18 days from Saturday, 23rd October, to 9th November, 2021.

Commissioner for Transport, Dr Frederic Oladehinde, appealed to Lagos residents to bear with the government. He said the inconveniences being encountered would be a thing of the past.

Major roads haven for kidnappers, armed robbers in Ondo

Travellers that travel on the major roads in Ondo and Ekiti states are now exposed to abductions and armed robberies as a result of the poor states of the roads. Bandits leverage on the conditions of the road to abduct hapless road users.

Some of them include the Akure- Ado Ekiti Road which was said to have been awarded almost two years ago, without any visible work being done.

Recently, a lecturer at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Mr Mayowa Adinlewa, who was on his way to Ikere Ekiti to visit members of his family was abducted on the road.

A source said he was abducted while driving at a low speed at a bad portion of the road. Also, 28 passengers travelling in two buses were reportedly abducted by gunmen on the same road in June. Consequently, residents have staged a series of protests, following non-completion of the project that was awarded for N22bn.

It was also learnt that emergency rescue operations are hampered by the poor condition of the road.

Communities of Ugbe in Akoko North East Local Government, Simerin Uba Oka in Akoko Southwest Local Government and Epinmi in Akoko South Local Government areas of Ondo State have decried total neglect and marginalisation particularly in the area of roads.

Ugbe/Uba/Simerin to Epinmi road which was the shortest route to Edo and the Eastern states in years past have been taken over by erosion with gullies everywhere.

The road links the three local governments to other states.

The 12 kilometers road has been abandoned as no vehicle plies it any more, except motorcycles popularly known as okada which convey up to four passengers.

A community leader from Ugbe Akoko, Mrs Mary Amuda, narrated how the poor state of the road has led to incessant armed robberies and kidnappings.

“Ugbe to Epinmi was N20O when the road was a bit good, but it is now N700 per passenger on okada, while two passengers pay N350 each,” she noted.

An Epinmi Akoko community leader, Alhaji Alimi Maliki, blamed the neglect of the road on successive governments who didn’t realise that food crops are majorly from the rural areas.

Other federal roads in the state, including the Akure-Owo Expressway, Owo-Benin Expressway,  Ikare-Ikaram Akoko- Ajowa Road, Oka Akoko-Epinmi Road and Ipele-Ido Ani-Isua Akoko Road are all in bad shapes and a trauma to travellers.

Motorists lament in Oyo

Motorists have appealed to both the federal and state governments to urgently fix the major roads in the state.

Our correspondent gathered that the Chairman, Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency (OYSROMA), Honourable Kamil Akinlabi, recently said the state government needed the sum of N100 billion to fix all its roads across the state.

Akinlabi who admitted that there were many roads across the state that need attention, explained that a sum of one hundred billion naira which was half of the state’s 2022 budget would be required to fix roads in the state.

Adelowo Kazeem, a commercial motorist, told our correspondent: “There is urgent need for Makinde to fix bad roads in the state. As we speak, the Molete-Oke-ado Road is terrible. If you are going from Olorunda to Akobo, you will blame yourself.”

Another commercial driver, Chukwu Nnadi said: “I spend money on this car every day. It may affect travellers in December. You cannot believe that we spend so much of our income to fix our vehicles.”

By: Clement Adeyi (Abuja),  Peter Moses (Abeokuta),  Abdullateef  Aliyu (Lagos),  Bola Ojuola (Ondo),  Raphael Ogbonnaiye (Ado-Ekiti) & Jeremiah Oke (Ibadan)