Job Osazuwa
As Nigeria’s Green and White flag was first hoisted at the historic event at the then Race Course, now Tafawa Balewa Square, Onikan, Lagos, following the lowering of the Union Jack of the United Kingdom, an undiluted enthusiasm reverberated across every part of the country.
October 1, 1960, was when Nigeria got her independence from British colonial rule.
Indisputably, hope was high on this new dawn. Nigerians looked keenly towards better days ahead. They must have painted a future of a country where dreams would be fulfilled with little or no trouble. But 59 years down the line, the narrative has changed on many fronts. There are mixed feelings, resentment and gross dissatisfaction among the citizens over how they have been ruled and governed by their leaders.
As expected today, while the country’s political leaders are rolling out the drums to celebrate what no doubt was a great national feat, the same could not be said of the common man in the street who are gnashing their teeth over continuous dilapidated infrastructure in the country. The question that is readily on the lips of disgruntled citizens is “what is there to celebrate”?
Many believe that it has been a long tortuous journey of almost six decades laden with infrastructural decay and sheer degeneration from the anticipated glory. No wonder, more Nigerians, especially the youths, are leaving the country in droves not minding the consequences of even escaping through the death-filled terrains of the desert.
As motorists and commuters ply both major and inner roads across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, lamentations resonate. Some of the roads have not witnessed any form of rehabilitation since they were constructed decades ago. Many commuters believe that travelling on many of the roads in Nigeria is purely a punishment. Man-hours are wasted on the road why the government looks the other way.
In some areas, residents might be tempted to jump into conclusion that construction of roads and fixing of bad ones is not part of the responsibilities of government. In many villages and cities, good and access roads have become some sort of luxury.
Angry Nigerians have blamed all tiers of government for the abandonment of this critical area of infrastructure that can attract accelerated development. They believe that a simple routine maintenance by the federal and states’ ministries or agencies would have saved most of the situations. In many instances, little potholes have been allowed to become gullies that claim lives and cause diverse economic setbacks.
Motorists who ply their trade on the dilapidated roads might have no better option than to take pain-relieving drugs to subdue the body pain that is associated with the hassle on the roads. Even the vehicles are adversely affected. Now and then, they are taken to the mechanics for one repair or the other. The passengers are often at the receiving end because they will pay more fare to get to their destination.
The Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, which connects the South-East and South-South, through the Niger Bridge, linking Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi states, as well as the North, via Benue and Kogi states, has been in the news as a result of its deplorable state. Investigation revealed that over the years, this all-important road that has become home to gridlocks has been bad without intervention.
Sadly, accidents have become frequent on the bad spots. Trucks and fuel tankers meandering past the failed sections often overturn. On a rainy day, the situation is further compounded, as the road is flooded due to lack of a drainage system. There have been robbery cases on the route leaving the road users to lose their cash and belongings.
A trader in Onitsha Market, Anambra State, Mr. Marcus Izu, told the reporter on the telephone that commuters now spend between four and five hours between Onitsha Bridge and Enugu. In the days of yore when the road was okay, a similar trip took 45b minutes.
“One part of the expressway between Onitsha and Enugu has been abandoned by drivers for about 20 years, having collapsed and taken over by weed. Everybody has been managing the remaining part. But, as l speak, both sides have become terrible. I don’t think that there is a government in this country. There is no sane government that can abandon such a busy road for this long,” he stated.
The Benin bypass, which was commissioned in 2002, came with wild jubilation because it was built to tackle the perennial traffic congestion that then gripped the city. For years, it served its purpose, but today, it has become a death trap for vehicles and a hideout for armed robbers who launch attacks on travellers using the road. The forest along the bypass has been dubbed “evil forest” for its numerous criminal activities, including kidnapping.
The condition of the Lagos Abeokuta Expressway is not better. Residents and motorists in the Owode/Ijoko/Iyana-Ilogbo areas of the Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State have lamented the deplorable condition of the road.
About a month ago, motorists have raised the alarm that the road, which had fallen into disrepair, had worsened their travel experience. Some drivers complained that besides the stress being encountered, the road had made their vehicles to become rickety. Traders and residents also decried the security risks they face on a daily basis while plying the road.
Since the road went bad, residents of Iyana Cele, Owode, Ilogbo in the area have described living in the area as horrible and nightmarish. They often have to board motorcycles or trek for several minutes and hours in order to beat the traffic congestion. The reconstruction of the road, residents and motorists complain, has been abandoned for a long time now.
Recently, after a downpour, a collapsed major link bridge at Lafiya Lamurde on the Yola-Gombe Road left many passengers stranded. The bridge links Adamawa and Gombe states where road users are able to connect Bauchi, Plateau, Kano, Kaduna and Abuja.
Following the incident, Adamawa State governor, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri made an appeal to the federal government to find a solution to the problem. While decrying the deplorable condition of the Gombe-Yola Road, he called on the government to revoke the contract and rearward same to a competent contractor for speedy completion of the project.
Also, the Federal Capital City (FCT), Abuja is not exempted from the degradation of Nigeria’s roads. Residents of Obasanjo Road in Dutsen Sagbagyi II of Bwari Area Council in Abuja recently called on the authorities of the FCT and Bwari Area Council to save them from being cut off from other parts of the FCT.
The residents, who cried to the government on August 19, said that the call had become necessary as the three bridges connecting the community to old Bwari Road and other parts of the FCT had collapsed. This followed a downpour, which started in the early hours of that fateful day that left majority of residents who work and do businesses outside the community stranded, as neither car nor motorcycle could freely ply the road.
The people also lamented that it has become more difficult for them to trek out of the community through the deep valleys and heavy flood of waters created by the rains. The residents of the community were said to have intermittently shouldered the responsibility of the construction, repairs and maintenance of the major link roads.
In the South West, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, under construction, has been in a terrible state for long. So has the Ibadan-Ife-Ilesha-Akure Expressway, which has since turned to a kidnappers’ den.
The Lagos-Badagry Expressway, as well as Oshodi-Apapa Expressway has totally collapsed. Daily lamentations reverberate from residents and commuters plying the roads.
The Akure-Ado-Ekiti Road and federal roads in Kogi, Edo, Delta and virtually every part of the South-East and South-South have become impassable.
Indeed, at 59, it is no exaggeration that Nigeria has been on a torturing trip on roads that have been completely ravaged. And no solution seems in sight.