It is not clear to what extent the present move would shame Nigerian leaders to bring about the desired change, but the dismal state of Nigerian roads is now a campaign on social media which has gone viral on the internet.
Posting under the hashtag #MyRoadIsWorseThanYours#, Nigerians have been sharing pictures of the country’s worst roads to shame the authorities into action. From the eyesore that is the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) road in Lagos, to the busiest road in West Africa (the Lagos-Ibadan expressway), the pictures of the dilapidated road network represents the worst degree of national shame. The eyesore is a bad advertisement for the country that reinforces the poor sense of priorities and ineptitude of the government. If visitors gauge a country by the aesthetics of its entry and exit points, Nigeria would rank as a refuse dump. The situation is a nightmare and an embarrassment that Nigerians cannot afford to live with any longer. Jonathan must rise up to the challenge, in the larger interests of the Nigerian people.
Certainly, the future is ominous if this challenge is not addressed comprehensively. Pictures of decrepit, dilapidated, bomb crater-sized potholes, with gulleys of water combined with mud to create trenches and muddy rivers have been posted online on Facebook and twitter. Amongst them include: the bumpy waterlogged death trap Ikorodu-Shagamu road, in Ogijo, Ogun, the Nnewi-Ameichi-Uga-Arondizuogu road; Rijau -Kontagora road, in Niger State and the Igbe road, Igbogbo Ikorodu where residents have been purchasing water pumping machines to assist in draining the water-logs on the road. Nigerian roads should rank highest on the President’s transformation agenda.
However, the government has refused to be outdone in the new war that is being waged on twitter, Facebook and other social media. Instead of taking up the challenge to fix the roads, the Presidency is fighting back with its own campaign on social media. Using the hashtag #BeforeandduringGEJ, the Special Assistant to President Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri, has been posting images of some roads before and during the Jonathan administration on twitter. But the move has invited an avalanche of criticisms from followers of his twitter account, who attacked him from posting computer-generated dummies and prototypes of roads that are not in Nigeria. This prompted Omokri to ask for testimonies from road users if the roads are indeed in Nigeria. But, why are Nigerian roads so bad?
It is highly regrettable that in spite of Nigeria’s resource endowments, no administration has made it a priority to arrest the descent into anarchy with sound policies and appropriate investment in the road infrastructure. The federal authorities stand accused of despicable conduct by continuing to overlook the sorry state of Nigerian roads especially as visitors to the country are immediately exposed to dirt, disorder and insecurity upon arrival in Nigeria. Fuel tanker drivers compound the problem with their lawlessness, as they have little regard for the safety of other motorists. Containers from unlatched articulated trucks have also claimed many lives on the pot-hole infested roads, while the unlit portions of highways and roads across the country give safety worries to many road users especially at night. Nigeria has the highest road fatality rates in Africa and one of the world’s highest rates of road deaths.
The unpleasant ambience is made worse by commercial vehicle operators having little regard for traffic regulations. Nigerians spend a lot of money on car maintenance because of potholes, and the collateral damage it has on tires, wheel rims, shock absorbers and other components. Also, the debilitating roads cause traffic jams which rob businesses of productivity. Commuting in Lagos and other big cities in Nigeria can be a gruesome ordeal as well as a heart-rending life time experience. It also does not help that motorists stuck for hours in traffic jams are sitting ducks for armed robbers.
This sorry state of affairs is attributable to the federal government’s negligence, despite the whooping 1.4 trillion naira ($8.5 billion) reportedly spent on road infrastructure since 1999. So much has been appropriated for Nigerian roads with very little to show for it. The system is rotten and nothing but a thriving platform for corruption in the country. As the nation’s much talked-about centenary year comes to an end, and another election year approaches, this is the time for a systemic revolution that should upturn the tables of Nigerian roads. Nigeria cannot afford to plummet further, by remaining the crawling giant of Africa, and the beggarly, weeping boy in the assembly of nations.
If after 54 years of independence, a country cannot project in good light the road leading to its main airport with a view to showcasing its potentials in tourism and business, how can it manage anything else? The cosmetic patching by Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) is not what Nigerian roads need; it is an insult on the intelligence of Nigerians. As states and the federal authorities trade blame over responsibility for maintaining and improving the roads; nothing gets done, and frustrated Nigerians are left to spend their time in traffic jams, cursing and developing high blood pressure.
The embarrassing photos have dented the already battered image of Nigeria. Reversing the ugly trend requires policies and a state of emergency declaration on Nigerian roads. Nigeria has abundant deposits of limestone for producing cement. There must, therefore, be a collaborative effort by the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, the Nigerian Road Federation, the Federation of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors and the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, for the use of cement as a substitute for asphalt in road construction.
The federal and state governments have a responsibility to salvage the road infrastructure begging for attention in the country. What the poor road infrastructure advertises is that Nigerian leaders, who frequently travel abroad, have no class. Recently, the Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen expressed the federal government’s desire to implement the Road Reforms Initiative that commenced in 1993. On this, the Minister announced that a Cabinet Committee headed by the Attorney General is reviewing the Draft Bills for establishing the National Road Fund and the Federal Highways Authority. In so doing, this government is breaking from the norm of the past in which governments missed the opportunity to set up an appropriate government agency for roads.
It is hoped that the Road Fund and the Federal Roads Authority will guarantee the steady flow of funds and the management structure for efficient road networks in Nigeria. With this, the funding of road safety programs is also secured. And under the scheme, road projects will be so routine that the nation’s roads will be transformed in no time. So, with this scenario, the government has its job well cut out. But unless it discharges it creditably, the much vaunted transformation agenda would remain nothing more than a political slogan.
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