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Travelling in Nigeria these days can be hazardous and even frightening. Whether the journey is done by road or air and even rail or water, the danger is present in all these modes of transportation in the country. This can explain my fears when I was billed to deliver a lead paper at a conference on “Criminality and Violence as Growing Phenomena in the 21st Century Globalized World”, at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Travelling from Lagos to Enugu by road, you have to contend with the killer herdsmen that operate along the Ore axis of the Shagamu/Benin Expressway. Recently, Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, the daughter of Afenifere chieftain, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, was gruesomely murdered on that road some hours after visiting the old dad. When the beasts on some of the nation’s highways did not kill their victim(s), they demand hefty ransom in local and foreign currencies before their victims regain their freedom.
From Lagos to Abuja, the story is the same. Our highways are no longer safe. If you are traveling by air, you have to contend with rough weather and dilapidated runways of most Nigerian airports. You have to contend too with Tokunbo planes that fill the domestic air space and poor landing facilities that beautify our airports. In Nigeria, planes lose cabin pressure too easily and overshoot runways.
If you are travelling by water, the story is almost the same. Many boats had capsized on Nigerian waters where passengers do not have safety life jackets or given inferior ones that cannot function effectively. Whichever mode of transport you choose in Nigeria; you must hold your prayer beads and pray fervently for safe arrival throughout the duration of the journey.
It is now dreadful to travel in Nigeria. The new minister of transportation and his/her aviation counterpart must tackle these travelling nightmares before it is too late. With these fears swelling in me last week before I embarked on the journey to UNN, I called Professor Florence Orabueze of the Department of English and Literary Studies, UNN, the Convener and Host of the Conference on which mode of transport I should use.
Ordinary, I would have preferred going by road to see the countryside and probably buy kola nut and alligator pepper, bush meat, local pear and corn by the road side. Going by road would enable me listen to the jokes by the mobile medicine hawkers and self-styled doctors in luxury buses or listen to the Armageddon messages of the prayer warriors that pray for passengers to reach their destinations safely only to bring envelopes for donations to aid their ministries or those that claim they run orphanages.
Travelling by road in Nigeria, especially Lagos to Onitsha, Enugu or Owerri can be fun on a luxury bus. But now the new kings of the highways want to extinguish such fun. Prof. Orabueze plainly told me to go by air to Enugu and complete the rest of the journey, which is about 45 minutes drive from Enugu to Nsukka, by road. When I mentioned using road, she pleaded with me to use air because of the dangers one can encounter by using road.
I obeyed her and decided to travel to Enugu on Sunday by air. The flight was not too smooth due to bad weather and perhaps the smallness of the aircraft. While on flight, the aircraft continued to make the kind of noise that put fears on passengers. While some blame the noise on old age, others blame it on over-speeding.
But I think the noise may have to do with the age of the aircraft and the poor maintenance culture in the aviation industry. It may also be that the pilot is over-speeding but I am not too sure because every flight has pre-scheduled time for take-off and arrival.
One infuriating thing about domestic flight in Nigeria is the disruption of travel time. Such disruptions are irritating and make nonsense of the timeliness of air travel. On approach to the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu, the pilot warned us of the rough runway which probably had potholes. All said and done, we landed safely.
Some people that travelled from Abuja to Enugu through evening flight could not land due to heavy downpour and probably poor visibility. So they flew back to Abuja because there was no nearer airport they could land. The Owerri airport has no night landing facilities. I do not know of that of Port Harcourt airport. These are the issues the new aviation minister must tackle forthwith. Since the conference was on Monday, I used the Sunday to have a look at the Coal City and what Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has done so far to ensure development and peace in the state.
I can testify that Ugwuanyi has done much in transforming the state and even making it a tourist destination of sort, east of the Niger. I was impressed with the beauty and cleanliness of the roads in the city. I learnt some undergraduates are engaged to do the job early in the morning before going to school or other engagements. The 4.8 kilometer Milliken Hill road which was reconstructed and modernized by the governor was a marvel to behold. Most people and motorists travelling to Enugu from other parts of the country enter the Coal City through the snaking road.
The Milliken Hill road can be turned into a veritable tourist attraction. Hotels can be built around that road where possible, especially at the peak point where one can have an aerial view of the entire Coal City. When the new International Conference Centre being built by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi is completed, it will definitely add to the state’s tourism potentialities. The Okpara Square renovated by Ugwuanyi also adds to the aesthetics of the City as well as the Nike Lake Resort. I learnt the governor has also done so much on rural roads. On Monday, I set forth on the last leg of the journey from Enugu to Nsukka.
The long road to Nsukka is windy and snaky like the Milliken Hill road and the motorists are moving at astonishing speed that does not fit the road. Thanks to the speed breakers erected at certain points along the road to force the fast-moving vehicles to a halt. I love such halts. The road safety officials must enforce speed limit on our roads, especially on such snaky roads by the hillside. But the dual road that leads to UNN with street light is also beautiful. The UNN campus is a great beauty to behold. Its greenery and serenity make the campus a haven for rigorous intellectualism.
The lawns and the trees that provide shades make the campus suitable for learning. But there is need to improve the maintenance culture in the university. The dilapidated roads should be repaired. To me, going to UNN is like a homecoming having visited the campus first in 1990. I met with lots of my friends including my former teachers from other schools and classmates who are teachers in the school. I express my gratitude to the students who participated in the conference, especially the first day which was hectic and energy-sapping. Their hunger for knowledge showed that there is still hope for Nigeria. UNN is indeed a good place to be. All Nigerians including Hausa, Yoruba and other tribes work in UNN. I wish other universities will emulate the UNN in its cultural diversity.
I commend the University for coming first in Nigeria and 17 in Africa in the new Webometric ranking. It shows that something good is happening in the university. There is no doubt that the new Vice Chancellor, Professor Charles Arizechukwu Igwe, will take the university to greater heights. I thank all my UNN friends including Chijioke Ngobili and Dr. Okechukwu Nwaubani for taking me round the campus. No doubt, the UNN is restoring the dignity of men and women. It must not depart from that goal set by its founder and political colossus, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.
