In its usual manner, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has embarked on a lot of enlightenment campaigns to sensitise travellers on the need for them to drive safely on the roads.
But there are some roads in the country which have over the years been notorious for claiming lives due to various factors, particularly during festive seasons such as the Yuletide.
The Lagos-Ibadan ExpresswayThe Benin-Ore Road
This is arguably the most popular road in the country. It is also one of the most controversial, as construction efforts on the road had in recent times witnessed a lot of contract cancellations, revocations and even litigation. Construction works on it by two construction giants in the country have recently witnessed stalled progress, among other problems.
Sadly, the road has also claimed its own share of human lives.
Despite construction efforts on the road, both inward and outward Lagos, the road still has a lot of bad portions which make it largely unsafe for driving.
Observations made by Saturday Tribune which travelled on the road recently showed many portions that were so bad they could throw a careless driver off his wheels.
This is yet another road of huge national importance, as it links the western part of the country to the eastern part.
Though, the road which was once notorious for many bad portions which often caused massive gridlock as well as fatal and non-fatal accidents, has witnessed positive turnaround in recent months, it is still a road to travel on with great care.
In August this year, about 14 people lost their lives while two others were injured in a fatal motor accident on the Benin-Ore-Lagos Expressway at Akinfosile Area in Odigbo Local Government area of Ondo State.
The accident was said to have occurred as a result of over speeding and reckless driving on the part of the drivers of the vehicles involved.
Owerri-Port Harcourt RoadLagos-Abeokuta Expressway
In a recent chat with the media, the immediate past president of Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents Port Harcourt-based businessman, Ernest Elochukwu, urged the Federal Government to repair the bad portion on the Owerri-Port Harcourt highway.
An embittered Elochukwu, pointed out that the Ohaji to Umuagwo portion of the road in Imo had become a nightmare to road users.
“The condition of the road has become deplorable and we plead that urgent attention or some amelioration repairs be carried out to save the situation.
“Road users, commuters, transporters and indeed, the business community in the South-East and South South zones are suffering and bearing unpleasant consequences,” he said.
It was gathered that the situation of things on the road has become so bad that it is causing a big nightmare for road users.
“It is also affecting business in the eastern part of the country because the business community uses the road virtually everyday,” Elochukwu had stated.
At the peak of the rainy season, just a few months ago, the queue at the Oke-Odo area of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway must have had no fewer than several hundreds of vehicles trapped in it.
After spending over one hour trapped in the gridlock, Saturday Tribune eventually got to know what the source of the problem was a large pool of water, which had gathered after a downpour that lasted for less than one hour. The development totally made a large section of the road virtually impossible for any vehicle to travel on. This made hundreds of drivers to be left with no choice but to scamper for the only dry section of the road that was available.
It is not uncommon to find large bad portions on many federal roads in virtually all over the country including the state that prides itself as the centre of excellence – Lagos.
Travelling on the Lagos Abeokuta Expressway (according to those who frequently make use of the road) is gradually becoming synonymous with passing through the proverbial needle’s eye as many bad potions full of crevices, potholes or cracks are not difficult to spot.Major bad portions on the expressway can be spotted in popular areas such as Iyana Ipaja as well as Abule Egba and its environs, while places such as Salolo, Adura and Kola in Agbado area of the Lagos Abeokuta Expressway as well many other portions in the Ogun State end of the road are also known to have various bad spots which often lead to massive gridlock, especially late in the evening.
Travelling on it during the festive season may not be an exemption.
Information gathered by Saturday Tribune further shows that many sections of the road have been in a state of disrepair for a very long time such that many denizens of communities adjoining the road as well as its frequent users have lost count of the number of years such sections of the road have been in that state.
Saturday Tribune which swung into action immediately after the gridlock experience gathered from a resident of Abule-Egba area of the state that many portions of the road had been in a state of disrepair for many years.
Apapa-Oshodi ExpresswayHowever, there are physical signs that residents of the area had, in the past, made attempts to ameliorate the problem. This they did by stacking the hole with bags of sand, but this, it was observed, has had little or no impact on operations on the road, as motorists still often try to avoid it.
Though not an inter-state road, the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, deserves a mention in this report because of its economic importance to Lagos State and Nigeria as a whole.
At the Balet Bus Stop area of the expressway, there exist many bad portions which, it is understood, have been causing massive gridlock, which at times extend from Cele Bus Stop to Balet/Sadiku areas of the road. A lot of motorists, it was gathered, had in the past rammed into many of the bad portions of the road, thus damaging their vehicles.
There are also reports that travellers to places such as Kaduna, Jebba, Calabar, Itu, Aba and Ikot Ekpene, Calabar and Ogoja, Onitsha and Enugu, among others generally have harrowing tales to tell about the state of roads in these parts.
Other roads that in this category include the Abuja- Lokoja, Nyanya-Maraba, Maiduguri-Monguno-Marte-Dikwa, Makurdi- Otukpo, among others.
President Muhammadu Buhari has himself admitted that most of the Nigerian roads are death traps and that they deserved urgent attention of the government.
The president, who advised all relevant agencies to make the roads work again, recently, said: “The roads are dead. Those who drive between Lagos and Ibadan will have a lot of stories to tell you. Those who drive from Kaduna to Jebba may have more stories to tell. The same thing is applicable to the East West roads.”
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