…Heavy burden on Tinubu, Umahi
• Motorists, commuters spend over 2 weeks on Makurdi-Nsukka-9th Mile road
• Unending pains on East-West road, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway
• Kidnappers having field day on deplorable federal roads in Benue
• Motorists, commuters narrate ugly experiences
By Olakunle Olafioye (Lagos), Felix Ikem (Nsukka), Okey Sampson (Umuahia), Ogbonnaya Ndukwe (Aba), Tony John (Port Harcourt), Scholastica Hir (Makurdi), Noah Ebije (Kaduna), George Onyejiuwa (Owerri), Lawrence Chudi (Awka), and Paul Osuyi (Asaba).
To many, former Ebonyi State governor and Minister of Work, David Umahi, will need all the God-given power of his biblical namesake, who later became a King, to slay Goliath, to tackle Nigeria’s horrible, hellish, dysfunctional federal roads scattered across the country.
Indeed, the biblical David had reassuringly told himself that the same Almighty God who helped him to kill a lion and a bear at different times would also empower him with grace, courage, wisdom, and skill to bring down the gigantic Goliath, a dreaded war champion, and it came to pass.
Such faith is what the former Ebonyi State governor, Umahi, who acquitted himself creditably well and left a legacy of solid concrete road network that traverses the whole of the state needs at this material time.
No doubt, his decision to move Ebonyi roads from asphalt to reinforced seven-inch-thick concrete pavement established a new paradigm in road construction in the country.
Upon being sworn in as the Minister of Works in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet, to pursue the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda, Umahi instituted a new policy, and gave orders that henceforth federal roads would be constructed using the reinforced concrete technology.
Residents of Lagos, who witnessed the process of reconstruction of the now finished Oshodi-Apapa Expressway concrete road sponsored by the Dangote Group under a Public-Private Partnership arrangement are today happy driving that extensive corridor.
The lovely and pleasant experience of driving on that road, just like Ebonyi residents are enjoying their roads done by Umahi, is the desire of Nigerians in other parts of the country as captured in this report by Sunday Sun reporters across the country.
Makurdi-Nsukka-9th-Mile road of agony
The case of motorists and commuters plying the ever-busy Makurdi-Nsukka-9th Mile federal road is pathetic, making them to groan daily over the deplorable condition of the road.
This is as the Makurdi-Nsukka-9th-Mile road is the major access from the northern part of the country to the Southeast region. Today, the road has become a death trap for motorists as they pass through indescribable stress plying it.
The condition of the road was worsened by inadequate maintenance in the last five years, as well as the high number of articulated and heavy-duty vehicles conveying goods through the artery daily.
The Opi axis of the road through Ohodo, Ozalla, down to Ochima is the worst area as it has totally collapsed. It takes a week or two before lorries can navigate through them.
At every short distance, you will see fallen or trapped vehicles with goods worth millions of naira along the road. Sometimes big lorries with livestock, agricultural produce, perishable goods, building materials, and a host of other products fall on the road while trying to negotiate through the bad portions.
Some would be trapped in the middle of the road resulting in gridlock which sometimes takes a whole week to clear.
Before now, crossing the road was just a 30-minute drive, but these days it takes days and weeks, that is if the gullies and potholes on the road do not consume the driver, his motor-boys and their vehicle.
Due to the deplorable condition of the road, access roads to over 10 communities along the road have been cut off, exposing residents of the area to more economic hardship.
Some motorists, commuters, and residents who spoke to Sunday Sun on the development, described the current state of the road as “hellish punishment to the masses and an embarrassment to Southeast leaders,” and wondered why such a road that hitherto provided veritable bypass to motorists commuting the Eastern corridor would be allowed to be in such deplorable condition.
Mr Ebube Chukwuemeka, a trailer driver with Coca-Cola Company, said that it was disturbing and disheartening that such an important federal road that connects the northern part of the country to the Southeast region has been allowed to deteriorate to such a despicable level over the years.
“Before now, it took me just 45 minutes to drive from the 9th Mile Corner, through the road to get to Makurdi boundary, but plying the road these days is like a mission impossible for drivers.
“To get here (Ohodo axis) from 9th Mile it took me three days. This is so because it rained over the previous days, and the road became impassable due to the clay nature of the soil. So, we waited for two days to allow the water on the road to dry a bit before we could continue our journey.
“What led to this road’s present condition is lack of maintenance. I could vividly recall when the road was very okay, and how it started developing potholes here and there until it got to this present condition. People are suffering on the road every day and night. Two weeks ago, I spent four days on the road after my trip to Benue because a 911 truck fell on the middle of the Ogbede axis of the road. The condition of the road is a typical example of government negligence and insensitivity to the plight of her citizens. Then you begin to wonder if there’s no sitting governor from the state, member of the National Assembly from the area, Minister, and other top government functionaries from Enugu State. Why are they silent on the condition of the road?
“I appeal to the federal and state governments to have compassion on the masses and order for immediate repair and reconstruction of the road to ease the sufferings of commuters, motorists, and residents of the area who ply the road,” he pleaded.
For Mr Nnakee Emezie, a trailer driver, plying the Makurdi-Nsukka-9th Mile federal road is like making a journey to hell.
He said that he had his worst experience as a driver on the road between June and November this year.
“Since my 25 years as a trailer driver, I have never had the kind of ugly experience I had on this road in my life. I got trapped at the Ochima section of the road for 13 days on my way from Onitsha to Makurdi, with my vehicle fully loaded with motorcycle spare parts that belonged to over 20 different traders.
“It rained heavily that particular day, and a Mercedes 911 lorry that was coming down from Nasarawa State loaded with oranges fell in the middle of the road as he was trying to dodge the bad portions of the road. My vehicle was next to him from the opposite side. Before I could understand what was happening there was already a heavy gridlock of articulated vehicles from both sides of the road, and as if it was a planned deal, it continued to rain till the following morning. By then all the vehicles were trapped and the road was overflooded with muddy water which compounded the ugly situation. There was no room for manoeuvring. Before a towing van could find its way to remove the vehicle that fell we had already spent 13 days on the road.
“Within that period, some drivers and their conductors were attacked by bad boys who emerged from the bush with guns and other dangerous weapons demanding money and snatching their mobile phones. Some had their goods looted as well.
“The Ochima section of the road is currently looking like a sand excavation site. There is a 10-foot-deep gully that every vehicle plying the road must pass through. It’s so deep that it can swallow any vehicle that gets trapped in it. Then you begin to wonder if those in positions of authority are not aware of the situation. Why are they unconcerned about the situation? Why did they allow such an important gateway road to be impassable,” he asked.
Mr Abdul-Rashid Usman, also a trailer driver, said that the Makurdi-Nsukka-9th Mile road is the worst federal road in the country, adding that trailers are falling on the road with their goods daily, thus causing traffic gridlock.
“I have travelled through all the federal roads in the country, I can tell you authoritatively that Makurdi-Nsukka-9th Mile is now the worst federal road in Nigeria. The road is one of the reasons prices of most food commodities are on the high side in the market across the Southeast region. This is so because we are now charging double of what we normally charge for a trip from the North to the East,” he said.
Mr Alphonsus Nwagu, a farmer from the Ohodo community, Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area, Enugu State, said that the impassable state of the road has worsened the already bad economic condition of people of the area.
“Everybody is aware of the economic situation of the country. Then you can imagine what it means for the fate of people whose access roads have been impassable for several years. We feel rejected and abandoned by the government. The condition of the Markurdi-Nsukka-9th road is a nightmare to many people whose communities are around the road.
“Our local markets which used to attract commodity traders from neighbouring states due to varieties of our farm produce available in the market are now a shadow of itself because of the bad road to the market.
“Our land is fertile for cultivation of yam, groundnut, pepper, cassava, cocoyam, and other food crops, but we are not getting an appreciable return from our farm produce because of the impassable Markurdi-Nsukka-9th Mile road. People are now avoiding our area due to the bad road,” he said.
Another resident, Mrs Joy Ugwu, a trader from Ozalla community, Igbo-Etiti LGA, said that her business has collapsed due to the deplorable condition of the road.
“I sell vegetables and salad condiments on wholesale at Nkwo Ogbede market, but we are no longer getting regular supply of goods in the market because truck drivers are now avoiding the Markurdi-Nsukka-9th mile express since it has become a death trap for motorists and commuters.
“Traders from this area, especially most of us that trade on perishable goods have lost millions of naira. Some drivers, conductors and passengers at some points have lost their lives each time vehicles fall on the road with people’s goods.
“We need the government’s urgent intervention on the road for the sake of people living and doing business along the road, as well as for the entire Southeast zone.
“Some of us who are from this area cannot even organise social functions and invite people from outside the area to attend. They will tell you that they will not come because of the bad road,” she said.
Mr Sunday Eze, a commercial bus driver, said that the heavy vehicular movements had placed a lot of pressure on the road.
He appealed to the Federal Government to find an urgent solution to the situation particularly as the Christmas season is around the corner.
“The Federal Government should declare a state of emergency on the road. If not it will be hectic during this year’s festive period,” Eze said.
Is there respite on the way? That is the big question in the minds of people in the area. To them, Senator Okey Ezea, representing Enugu North Senatorial District at the National Assembly has offered what seems like a ray of hope. In a recent chat with journalists in Nsukka about the ugly condition of the road, Ezea disclosed that an intervention by the Federal Government is in the pipeline.
“Graciously, the interventions of the current legislators from the Enugu North Senatorial District, including my passionate appeal to the current Minister of Works, Mr Dave Umahi, has led the Federal Government to award the contract for the rehabilitation of the Makurdi-Otukpo-Obollo Afor-9th Miles Road which is currently in decrepit condition,” Ezea said while the people are eagerly waiting for his words to materialise.
Lagos-Ogun road
For road users, plying the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, it is the apt definition of a journey of endless pain.
With the approach of the Yuletide festivities, commuters and motorists are set for a terrible experience on the road as the volume of traffic is expected to increase if no immediate palliative measures are undertaken to make the road motorable.
Last week, Sunday Sun correspondent observed that ditches, potholes and craters dot some stretches of this all-important expressway.
The failed road has made travelling on it a tough task even as most motorists resort to making detours, using some alternative inner roads, while some other drivers take to the dangerous option of driving against traffic in attempts to evade the bad portions of the road.
The worst portions of the ever-busy road include the Abule-Egba U-turn-Toll gate axis, the Onihale-Ifo axis, and the Ewekoro-Wasimi axis, among others.
A driver who simply identified himself as Idris said that the deplorable state of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway is impacting negatively on transportation business along the road.
“Most drivers plying the road are not happy that the government is not doing anything to ease the pains of the people using the road because it is causing a lot of damage to their vehicles. It is also slowing us down because we have to move at snail’s pace when navigating the bad portions of the road. This prolongs the duration of the trips and reduces the number of trips we can cover daily,” he said.
Lately, the Abule Egba U-turn-Tollgate stretch of the road has become notorious for drivers who drive against traffic with the attendant carnage that often occurs when drivers exhibit such disregard for traffic regulations.
When an accident which claimed the lives of four siblings and several others at Amje Bus Stop last year happened as a result of a motorist driving against the traffic, not a few had anticipated that the tragic incident would elicit a positive response from the government towards fixing the road.
This was, however, not so as many more lives are said to have been lost along the road in similar circumstances.
A shop owner at Adura Bus Stop along the Abule-Egba-Kola stretch of the road, Samuel Idowu, said that at least five similar accidents have been recorded along the route in the last few months.
“On a particular day in June or July this year, two separate accidents happened between Ijaiye and Meiran bus stops. Both accidents happened within the space of two hours and almost at the same points because the drivers were driving against the traffic in a bid to evade the bad portion of the road. It is saddening to see a major road like this becoming almost impassable. The government must do something urgently to fix the road and save the people from the danger posed by one-way drivers,” he stated.
Some commuters who also expressed displeasure over the deplorable condition of the road said that passengers are being made to pay for the failure of the government to live up to its responsibility of fixing bad roads.
“Sometimes you spend hours at the bus stop before getting a bus to convey you to your destination because most drivers are avoiding the road. But when you are lucky to get one, you are slammed with prohibitive fare. Imagine having to pay N500 as transport fare for a trip between Kola and Agege because the driver wants to meet his daily delivery obligation to the vehicle owner despite making reduced trips. The distance between Agege and Kola was N200 before the removal of subsidy, but now we pay between N400 and N500 because only a few drivers are willing to ply the road; others avoid it like a plague,” Atinuke, a passenger, said.
Abia residents call for rehabilitation of federal highways in God’s Own state
Several portions of most federal roads in Abia State have seen potholes widen and turn into craters, as result of prolonged non-maintenance by the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, all through the eight years of the Buhari Administration.
However, there seems to be hope on the horizon. Recently, while on a visit to Abia, the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi disclosed that the Federal Government was involved in the rehabilitation of 11 highways in the state. Some of the road include section 2 of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, the Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene, the Aba-Ikot Ekpene, Umuahia-Owerri and the Umuahia-Bende-Ohafia highways. Others are the Uturu-Isuikwuato-Akara, Aba-Owerri, Ohafia-Abiriba-Nkporo highways and the Umuchichi Road in Aba.
The Minister said that section 1 of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, stretching from Enugu to Umuahia Tower in Abia has been completed. He promised that the remaining stretch, from Aba to Port Harcourt would be completed, using the rigid pavement technology.
Apart from the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, where that reconstruction work has moved on considerably over the years, the other projects were practically abandoned.
While residents, especially those living along the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway commended the Federal Government for rehabilitating the road to Aba, those doing business in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, gave the Federal Government knocks for not doing enough to get the road completed and in good time too.
Residents of the state in the Arochukwu axis of the state strongly criticised the government for not rehabilitating the Ohafia-Arochukwu highway, thereby exposing them to untold hardship.
Commenting on the state of the Ohafia-Arochukwu road, a commercial bus driver, Kalu Inem, said: “People using this road are suffering tremendously. If one wants to go to Arochukwu from Umuahia, he must get to Akwa Ibom first because of bad road.”
Those who ply the Aba-Ikot Ekpene and Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene highways are also not happy with the Federal Government for not reconstructing the two all-important roads, thereby worsening their plight.
Not too long ago, angry and frustrated truck drivers blocked the Aba section of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway for nine days in protest. One of their grievances was the bad condition of the highway which they said had not only destroyed the vehicles, but had equally caused the death of many of their members. They demanded for the rehabilitation of the road.
In phone chat, an Aba resident told Sunday Sun that the Oil Beach Market, Alaoji, along the Aba-Ikot Ekpene Highway has closed down as a result of terrible state of the road.
He said that many businesses along that axis of Aba have all closed as the debilitating nature of the road has made it difficult for customers to come and patronize them.
“The condition of the road has become so bad that people have resorted to travelling on motorcycles from Aba to Ikot Ekpene, a distance of almost 40 kilometres.”
He, therefore, called on the Bola Tinubu administration to give the people a taste of the Renewed Hope Agenda by expediting the process of reconstructing the Road.
Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway
Not too long ago, Arab Contractors Limited, the construction company handling the reconstruction of the Osisioma/Tonimas, Ariaria Junction Uratta, Flyover, Asa Nnentu end of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway in Aba, Abia State, returned to the site.
But they are now having migraines because of what they say is the uncooperative attitude of road users, including motorists, commuters and persons transiting through the road.
The contractor wants them to exercise patience, and cooperate with its temporary arrangements to create easy access while work continues on the project.
The frustration of the people is understandable. Who would not blow hot after being in traffic gridlock for several hours before continuing on their journeys, with a part of the highway blocked from traffic?
As Sunday Sun investigation revealed, the work was suspended at the peak of the rainy season in August, but work has resumed in earnest, with workers of the construction firm, Arab Contractors, fully back on site and promising to finish the reconstruction early next year. The company blamed the road users for being reckless and responsible for the daily gridlocks along the expressway, which it said stemmed from their refusal to obey simple instructions and not adhering to traffic regulations even with the creation of temporary passages.
Narrating his experience on the road, Peter Adegoke, who drives a long-distance haulage truck from Onne/Port Harcourt Harbour to parts of the Southeast and Middle Belt regions through the road, said that many vehicles get trapped on the Aba part of the expressway, as a result of its poor state, with most of them falling and the goods being conveyed destroyed in the process.
Adegoke pleaded with the authorities and the contractors to create an enabling environment that will facilitate ease of meandering through the bad portions of the road, while rehabilitation work continues.
“As you can see, we are queuing in long lines, waiting to pass through; sometimes this can make us sleep on the road for days before continuing our journey. For instance, I haul containerised goods through the expressway even up to Benue, Kogi, Nassarawa and Plateau states. The gridlock caused by the bad state of the road makes it almost impossible to predict when we can reach our destination to deliver the consignment. This adds to our costs and increases the demurrage,” he said.
A trader in Ariaria Market, Chief Godwin Isiguzo, said that the bad portions of the road brought sorrow and despair to him and his colleagues as the dilapidated road situation, especially with heavy rainfall, destroyed the road which serves as a major entry point for bringing goods into the market.
A commercial tricycle rider, Uzondi Ikechukwu, said that the continued blocking of parts of the highway by construction workers on site makes life difficult for him and his colleagues plying the route carrying commuters between Osisioma and Asa/Nnentu/Flyover.
Ikechukwu’s earnest desire is that the contractor would consider the plight of the road users in deciding where to block portions of the road, an act that creates avoidable gridlocks.
However, an engineer with the firm, Pius who didn’t give his full names, blamed the attitude of the road users for causing the gridlock by their penchant to drive against the flow of traffic.
His words: “Aba people are always in a hurry and this makes many of them refuse to obey simple instructions. We went on break at the peak of the rainy season in early August, as well as issues relating to the coming in of the new government in the country. But we came back this November, and have commenced work in earnest.
“Before blocking a portion of the road for asphalting, we created a temporary passage for vehicles, but as you can see, the motorists don’t want to cooperate among themselves. Some of them are in a hurry to outspeed the other users thereby blocking the road and causing the gridlocks.”
Engineer Pius said that work was going on seriously on the road and that the blocked portions would be opened within a few days when the asphalting would have been completed, adding that work was advancing and would reach the Uratta/Umunteke/Obokwe ASA junction soon.
At a location further down the road, a foreman with the firm, Patrick Ekeocha, told Sunday Sun, that the blocked portions were to allow site workers with construction equipment to carry out their work with ease, adding that those complaining of being frustrated were doing so for not being allowed to become reckless while meandering through the temporary passages created for them.
He gave assurance that the major lane that was blocked would be opened soon after completing the asphalting.
At the Ariaria Junction/Uratta axis of the road, workers of the construction firm complained of harassment, intimidation and even attacks by commercial tricyclists and motorcyclists, who accuse them of blocking the access road and refusing to them free passage, which they said is dangerous while heavy-duty vehicles are busy on site.
Three of the workers, who declined to disclose their names and spoke in Pidgin English, lamented that instead of cooperating with them and obeying simple instructions to use temporary passages created for them, so as not to distract ongoing construction work, to enable them to finish the work as scheduled, youths from communities along the highway, threaten to deal with them.
“As me, I dey man this area, my oga deploy me make I use this rope (he showed our reporter the cellophane tape in his hand), they block the road, some of these okada and Keke men, dey threaten say they go show me.
“Them dey insult us say, why we no finish the road work since they give us the job. One of them even ‘chook’ my colleague with a dagger. Na soldiers wey come this side save us. The boy ran away. We are not happy say, instead wey they go support and cooperate with us, them dey threaten us with machetes, dagger and even guns.”
East-West Road
The East-West Road, which cuts across Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ondo and Rivers States has always been in the public glare.
This is because the road has become a death trap because of its deplorable state. Criminal activities like kidnapping, robbery and hijacking of commercial vehicles frequently occur on the road, especially along the Ahoada and Eleme sections of the road, in Rivers State.
Also, there have been pockets of protests by natives, especially on the Eleme axis by the Ogoni people. Accidents, sometimes leading to death, have become recurring decimals on the road.
For over 15 years, the Eleme axis of the East-West Road has been in a sorry state. In 2022, Ogoni youths blocked the road leading to the location of many federal establishments.
It is the only road that gives access to the communities in the four local government areas (Eleme, Gokana, Khana and Tai) that make up the Ogoni ethnic nationality in the state.
It is through the Eleme section of the East-West Road that a person can get to Port Harcourt Refinery, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority, Indorama Petrochemical, Nigerian Navy Basic College and many others.
During former President Muhammadu’s administration, federal lawmakers from Rivers State staged a protest at the Eleme Bridge.
The reason was the loss of several lives recorded at the bridge because of the dangerous state of the road.
Since then the situation has been a sad and horrible experience for commercial and private motorists, shop owners, as well as other road users.
Some of the drivers who spoke to Sunday Sun blamed the Federal Government’s insensitivity to the plight of the citizens.
One of the drivers, Michael Chukwukere, a commercial driver, said: “I am tired of this road. I am based in Port Harcourt, and I drive to Lagos. The reason I ply the East-West Road is to shorten the distance. But, it is no longer like that. Can you imagine how long we have been on this hold-up? At the end of each trip, you spend your money on repairing your vehicle. Unfortunately, the Federal Government does not care what Nigerians are passing through on this East-West Road.”
Similarly, Mr Godslight Ginika, a private car driver, recounted his daily ordeal: “I work at Oil and Gas Free Zone, Onne. This is what we drivers suffer every week. The lives of drivers and passengers, as well as other people using this road are in danger. Imagine struggling with the drivers of container-laden trucks for space to move. It is too dangerous.”
Several passengers find the experience so disgusting as they spend several hours on the East-West road. According to them, it is a nightmare travelling through the road.
Douglas Alalibo, a student of a state-owned university said: “Traveling through East-West Road is an inevitable risk. It is painful and regrettable.”