In this report, OLALEKAN OLABULO and IFEDAYO OGUNYEMI, take a look at the dilapidating conditions of roads in the country at a time the government has intensified the enforcement of payment of worthiness permits.
While trying to navigate the horrendous portions of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway last week Saturday, a tanker laden with 45,000 litres of Petroleum Motor Spirit fell and crushed a commercial bus and minivan at the Kola Bus Stop in the Alagbado area of Lagos State. An unnamed female passenger was declared dead in the accident that occurred around 4 pm while remaining passengers of the two vehicles escaped unhurt.
The death of the passenger and the unfortunate accident is a signpost of the many avoidable accidents that Nigerians witness daily.
Between Q4 2020 and Q2 2023, data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) and analysed by Sunday Tribune showed that a total of 35,696 crashes were recorded in the country, resulting in the death of 17,329 people.
While the causative factor for most of the crashes recorded in the period was speed violation, many observers and road users believe the poor conditions of the roads compounded the rate of vehicular crashes.
They believe many of the roads in the country under the supervision of local, state and federal governments have become death traps that continue to put the lives of many innocent Nigerians at avoidable risk.
Despite the condition of the roads, vehicle owners and drivers have been hounded by government officials who demand for proof of payment that their vehicles have been certified road-worthy. Many drivers, who spoke with Sunday Tribune, disclosed that the government is only concerned about collecting money and ensuring that vehicle owners obtained the permit. It is not concerned that its dilapidated roads are unworthy of usage and are destroying most vehicles.
Some of them said obtaining and renewing roadworthiness certificates is just a means of generating revenue, rather than ensuring compliance with safety.
With the number of vehicles in the country rising daily, many believe the operations of the vehicles will continue to mount pressure on the existing roads in the country that are already in a deplorable state.
Data provided by NBS showed that in Q2 2018, the vehicle population of the country stood at 11,760,871, representing 0.06 vehicles per population. Of the total number, 57.70% (6,785,956) were commercially owned, 40.98% (4,819,251) were privately owned, 1.27% (149,470) were government owned while 0.05% (6,194) were used as diplomatic vehicles.
Checks by Sunday Tribune showed that many of the roads available to motorists nationwide have become an eyesore for many months. One such road is the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, particularly the Abule Egba-Old Sango Toll Gate, Ewekoro-Papalanto and Ifo sections of the road, among others.
A student and resident of Abeokuta, Joy Okafor, who travelled to Lagos for a party using that road about two weeks ago, spent over three hours on the road because of its failed portions.
It was learnt that casualties are recorded from the accidents that occur on the Abule Egba-Old Sango Toll Gate section of the road almost daily. It was also gathered that the section of the road has failed to the extent that drivers have no choice but to drive against traffic. In Ewekoro, all incoming and outbound vehicles are diverted to ply just one part of the dual carriageway.
An X (formerly Twitter) user, Ogar Larrygenius posted a video on November 29 showing the deplorable condition of the Obollo Afor Nkalagu Road in Enugu State. In the video, commuters were stranded on the road while vehicular movement was grinded to a halt.
“Motorists and passengers were left stranded at Obollo Afor Nkalagu Road of Enugu State as a result of the very bad shape of the road. Dear president and governors of Nigeria, please do something,” the accompanying post read.
Another X user, who tweeted @Comrsamailaali, posted three photographs of an accident that occurred on the Bauchi-Gombe road, appealing to the “president and all other critical stakeholders to come to the aid of the Bauchi-Gombe Road,” because the road has become a death trap for travellers.
Checks by Sunday Tribune showed that many failed sections of the Oyo-Ogbomoso road continue to cause untold hardship for the people, as several portions of the road have become a death trap. Trailers, tankers and other articulated vehicles that ply the road usually fall into the gully-like potholes that characterised the road.
On Sunday, November 5, 2023, the road was closed for several hours after a petrol tanker fell on the road. The situation forced the management of Ajayi Crowther University, situated along the road, to commence palliative work on the road “to avert further disaster and to ensure free flow of traffic.”
“This particular portion of the federal road had become a deathtrap for some time now. As ACU Management, we had written to the Oyo State government, seeking state intervention, but since we have not seen any action, we cannot be looking at this dangerous situation without taking precautions,” said the Vice Chancellor, Professor Timothy Adebayo, during the repairs..
A medical doctor, Seun Fajemilusi, who left Ilorin, Kwara State for Lagos to catch an international flight recently, was full of regret for travelling by road. He lamented that the poor state of the Ilorin-Ogbomoso, Oyo-Ogbomoso and Ibadan-Oyo sections of the road made the journey unbearable for him and other travellers.
He explained: “That road is nothing but an eyesore. Commercial vehicles were struggling with tankers and trailers for the few good portions of the road. I cannot believe people are not expressing serious anger over the state of the roads.
“I think it is high time the government of the day come to the rescue of the people. The stress and pressure that the road gives people daily is enough to compound other existing issues they are battling with.”
For many drivers in Lagos, who spoke with Sunday Tribune, the enforcement of payment for roadworthiness certificates without properly fixing the roads such vehicles will ply is nothing but double taxation. They also called on the government to fix all bad roads in the state.
A driver, Eugene Olorogun, said “the 1999 constitution, as amended, provides that the government must protect the life of its citizens. So, what comes to mind is how does government protect the life of its citizens. The government can do that by providing all the necessary amenities as enshrined in the constitution.
“This includes the provision of adequate policing of its citizens, good roads, hospitals, schools, water, electricity, conducive environment for business to thrive among others. In all, which one of these things have they been able to provide? Is it school, road, hospital, water, housing etc? I have provided a house for myself, created a road to my house, sank a borehole for water, contracted guard to secure my house, provided electricity.”
Speaking further, “what has the government done to warrant the demand for roadworthiness from its citizens? It is tantamount to milking the downtrodden further because it will add to the cost of transportation, and the escalating cost of food in the market. Medicare will be out of the reach of the masses.
“He who wants equity must come with clean hands. The roads are in a terrible situation and the government is demanding roadworthiness certificates. Government should start paying compensation to those who have lost their loved ones in accidents as a result of the bad roads.”
A driver around the Ogba/Akilo area of the state, who simply identified himself as Iskilu disclosed that some of the roads around Ogba and Agege have been dilapidated for about two years and the government has not done anything to fix them, adding that “that has not stopped them from forcing us to pay for roadworthiness certificates.”
He explained that: “Paying for roadworthiness with the condition of our roads is like paying double taxes. We pay tax to the government and we pay another to mechanics. Because of the condition of the roads, we take our vehicles to workshops almost every two weeks. The shafts, brake pads, shock absorbers and even the engines of our vehicles are suffering.
Another driver, Mutiu Awoko, said: “I don’t see any reason why the governments, not just in Lagos State should continue forcing drivers to get the roadworthiness permit every year. Some of us take our vehicles to different states and the roads in almost all the states are very bad.
“The policy is just for the government to make money instead of the intended mission of maintaining safety on the roads. The process of obtaining roadworthiness alone in Lagos State is very difficult, even though the roads are not worthy of vehicles.”
A driver, who simply identified himself as Akin, thinks the government is taking the people for a ride because of its inability to fulfil its responsibility.
“We pay for a roadworthiness certificate, but the roads are there to make your vehicles unworthy at the end of the day,” the driver stated.
He also queried the rationale behind running after private vehicle owners, while the commercial vehicles in the state are not subjected to the same process.
“These are people that hardly possess a driver’s licence. These are the people whose vehicles are never in good condition. They are even part of the problems we encounter on our roads daily. Not subjecting them to this process means that there is more to these things than meets the ordinary eye,” he stated.
Christopher Chukwuka, on his part, believes the government is only interested in milking people of the earnings while noting that many roads in the country are not worthy for vehicles.
“This government is taxing everyone with no mercy for the populace. Tell me any road that is worth paying the government to ply. Both the Federal and state government roads are bad, so it is wickedness and injustice for the government to demand roadworthiness from drivers yearly.
“The FG is making things difficult for the average Nigerian because commercial drivers are going to add the burden on them. The poor masses are going to pay for the roadworthiness of the drivers.
“The government should stop the collection of yearly roadworthiness permit payments. There are other areas that the government should explore. There are many mineral resources that have not been harnessed. It is not as if the government is going to channel the money to road repairs and make them road-worthy, but they will waste the money on our political officeholders,” Chukwukah said.
In a lengthy post on Facebook, Prince Amour Udemude, lamented the sorry state of the Ogbemudia road in Delta State, while calling on the Chairman, Isoko South Local Government, Victor Asasa, to fix failed portions of the road.
“This death trap road is along the popular Ogbemudia road, Oleh, headquarters of Isoko South Local Government Council. This very dilapidated road is almost before Aluta hospital and Amawha junction, Oleh,” he said in the post.
In a similar SOS titled “My Peoples Lamentation” and posted on Facebook, a resident of Oyo State, Tunde Oyekan, called on the state government to urgently fix the failed sections of the Okeho-Iseyin road as it has great implications for farmers in the region hoping to transport their farm produce to the city.
“The current condition of Okeho – Iseyin road in the Oke-ogun axis of Oyo State is nothing to write home about. It has become a death trap for all the road users in the area. People cannot freely use the road unlike before. This is the only road that links Iseyin, Kajola and Iwajowa Local Governments together. We are using this medium, as a matter of urgency, to plead with Governor Oluwaseyi Makinde to quickly and courageously rise to this great task.
“Our major occupation in the region is farming. With this kind of road, it will be very difficult for our farmers to transport their farm produce to the city, and we know the implications behind this. Okeho is part of Oyo state, it also needs to benefit from the dividend of democracy. We refused to fall behind every other city in the state. We are urgently hopeful for quick intervention over this matter,” the post read.
While describing the state of the nation’s roads as despicable and dilapidated, another motorist in Ibadan, Clinton Oyindamola, disclosed that the potholes on the country’s roads as dungeons.
“I have a decade of my life travelling either as a driver or as a passenger on Trunk A roads, especially on Ife/Ibadan, Ife/Ilesa, Ife/Ondo, Gbongan-Ede-Osogbo, Oyo/Ibadan expressways, and I’ve had a couple of experiences plying that road. I either return to my base in Ibadan to fix my alignment or wheel balancing, or get to repair my shaft as the potholes on those roads are better described as dungeons.
“I have witnessed accidents and there are moments I almost became a victim of some of the accidents that occur on these roads,” Oyindamola said.
He implored the Federal Government to not only declare a state of emergency on our roads, but also make our roads worthy of vehicles.
Intervention on poor conditions of federal roads
Following a gale of complaints by commuters and residents in their respective constituencies, many federal lawmakers have raised several motions in the House of Representatives seeking the construction and rehabilitation of roads in their domains. One such motion was raised in the house by the lawmaker representing Isoko North and South Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, Jonathan Ukodhiko.
In his submission, Ukodhiko noted that the Warri-Benin Expressway has become a nightmare and death trap for drivers and commuters using the road due to the failed sections of the road, adding this has made life difficult for travellers entering and exiting the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
“As a matter of urgent national importance, I called on the Federal Government, through a motion I presented on the floor of the Green chambers of the Nigeria legislature, to direct all the relevant Federal Government agencies to expedite remedial action of repair and rehabilitation on all the failed sections on the road spanning from Benin-Warri-Port-Harcourt.
“Additionally, the motion also requested the Federal Government to direct the Inspector General of Police to detail more security personnel to the failed sections of the road to curtail the activities of criminal elements who are taking advantage of the failed portions of the road to rob drivers and commuters using the road.
“As Federal legislators, it is our duty to bring the Federal government’s attention to the problems of our people. We will continue to do this with the highest discretion and without violating anyone’s rights,” he said in a statement.
In response to the motions, the House of Representatives Committee on Works resolved to review all ongoing construction projects across the country, including those from the last administration.
A statement issued by the chairman of the committee, Akin Alabi, disclosed that about 24 motions on projects across the six geopolitical zones have been referred to the committee by the whole house.
“A list of all the motions referred to us so far. We will review them and see the ones we can work on immediately. We then make a plan for the others.
“We are starting to oversight. Starting with old projects before this administration.
“The supplementary budget we just passed. We must oversee the process from beginning to the end. We start by visiting all (or major) projects on the list to ascertain the current state,” the statement read.
Drivers, vehicle owners can sue the government — Lawyer
Meanwhile, a legal practitioner, Lere Fashola, has described, as fraudulent, the enforcement of roadworthiness permits on unworthy roads, adding that citizens can institute a class action suit that can challenge the government in court.
He told Sunday Tribune that forcing people to obtain roadworthiness permits on dilapidated roads can be challenged legally because part 2 of the Constitution touches on the duties of the government to the people.
“It is under part 2 of the Federal Constitution of Nigeria. It speaks about the duties of government to the people. It amounts to fraud to charge people for roadworthiness on unworthy roads. People travelling from Lagos to Epe will be on the road for hours.
“If citizens come together in a class action, they can challenge the government. There are some cases where it is stated that part 2 of the Constitution is justifiable, even some ECOWAS court cases,” Fashola said.
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