ACROSS the nation, the onset of the rainy season and the ravaging floods have once again exposed the decay in the nation's road networks, making life very miserable and hampering economic activities. Normally, a smooth drive from Oshodi to Mile 2, through the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, in Lagos, the former capital city of the country, would not take more than 20 minutes.
However, any day it rains, it is usually a harrowing experience for commuters, as the journey could take not less than four hours. It is like the rains and craters have conspired to make life miserable for road users and hampering economic activities
To say that most roads in the country are in a horrendous state is an understatement. The countless potholes and irritating detours that decorate the roads are the architects of a myriad of accidents and flooding often registered on the roads during the rainy season.
Indeed, floods in various parts of the country have forced thousands of people from their homes, polluted water sources and increased the risk of disease.
Successive governments have decried the sorry state of the roads and have repeatedly pledged to fix the problem. They have also allocated billions of naira for the project, but the road situation in the country, if it has changed, has only become worse.
In the past few days, in Lagos, the rains that fell unabated and exceeded experts' 100mm per day estimate during the months of June and July, almost grounded the state inflicted severe hardship on its residents. The downpour further worsened the heavy traffics that had become a trademark of the nation's economic capital.
Musibau Ajao, a systems analyst said: "The rain and the attendant flood cast serious doubts on how thorough, indeed, the infrastructural rehabilitation has been in Lagos or how far the government still has to go.
"It was not in any way near the real big ones that fall in Lagos but it exposed the continued lapses and shortcomings that have bedeviled Lagos. It showed that either what have been done are not enough or that they were not thoroughly done," He said.
"I could not believe my eyes that much of Funsho Williams Avenue was covered in flood almost drowning the road expansion work in progress," he stated.
Ken Amego, whose car was trapped by flood at Iyana-Itire on the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, shared similar views.
"But for the median, the expressway from Berliet to Ilasa was covered with swirling flood gushing out from the gutters on both sides of the road." he said
"Several months ago, there were workmen busy digging out silt and waste. We were also told the Odo-Eran canal that is supposed to evacuate run-off was being cleared, to check the menace of flood. Yet, the rain showed that much still needs to be done," he added.
A motorist driving from Isolo through Ire-Akari to Okota told The Guardian that the flood he had to maneuver his car through, was bigger than what he expected.
The rain also exposed the neglect of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road, a federal road, over the years.
The absence of gutters on both sides of the road ensured that run-off gathered and became large pools of water, eating into the road, increasing the number and size of pot-holes and worsening the traffic.
"We crawled in the traffic as much of the road from Hajj Camp to Seven and Eight was flooded. If this small rainfall gave so much trouble, one can then imagine what we will now face when the rains intensify," a commuter lamented
The ever-busy Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, being the nexus that connects Muritala Muhammed International Airport and the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports was also submerged by flood, even as motorists waded their vehicles through the artificial ocean.
From Enugu to Anambra, to Rivers, Benue, Abia and Ebonyi states, federal roads around are dotted with bad roads majority of which have become impassible owing to yawning gaps and gullies created on them by flooding.
At the popular Ugwu Onyeama, in Enugu State for instance, the State Commissioner of Environment, Chijioke Agu, who recently visited the area, had raised alarm over the level of devastation around the road, which has reduced movement to one lane of the dual carriage way.
Recently, a family of five returning from Benue had lost their lives after the vehicle they were traveling in ran into a ditch that developed soon after a heavy down pour that created a gully. The vehicle had unknowingly rammed into the ditch, causing the death of the family before help could reach them.
The situation in Aguata, Orumba, Agulu and Ekwulobia areas of Anambra State, flooding along major highways have left many homeless, just as efforts by the state government to check the trend have continued to be marred by incessant rains.
A journey from Enugu to Ebonyi, which ordinarily should not go beyond forty-five minutes, now lasts as long as two hours. The problem of the busy highway, which also provides passage for those traveling to Cross River, is compounded by the fact that it is a single carriageway. Efforts by the South East governors to attract federal government attention to dualize the road have not yielded dividend.
In the same vein, the Enugu -Makurdi highway that is the only access road that links the northern part of the country to the South East also has also continued to reel in decay. The single carriage way, which was said to have been commissioned by Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, as a military leader in 1978 has not seen any rehabilitation since then. It has also continued to kill people by the day following its bad nature. During the rains, travelers pass through hell moving on the road, as the entire area is so flooded that people at times spent days moving on it. The men of the underworld have as well found safe haven operating on the road.
The Okigwe -Ohofia, Arochukwu federal roads are not left out. Although the federal government, three years ago, commissioned one of the road contractors to rehabilitate the Enugu -Port Harcourt expressway leading to the Okigwe areas, the maintenance could not sustain the road as experts say, there was need for complete rehabilitation to cause free flow of water on the roads.
Traveling on federal roads in the South East especially in this rainy season is a nightmare. The federal government recently however, awarded contracts for the rehabilitation of some federal roads in the zone. To benefit from the exercise are the Enugu -Onitsha expressway, Enugu -Port Harcourt Expressway and Abakaliki as well as Enugu -Makurdi expressway. So far, one of the companies has started clearing the Enugu -Onitsha highway, with the hope that reconstruction work will begin on the road. But, it is being suggested that in view of the intensity of flooding in the area, the roads would last longer if they were provided with drainages for free flow of water.
For the residents of Port Harcourt, particularly those living around Rumuigbo, Mgbuoba, Rumuodumaya, Rumuolumeni, Woji, D/line, Diobu, Aba Road, Mgbuoba, Diobu and Nkpolu areas axis, this is certainly not the best of times.
The torrential rains that usually characterize the rainy season in Rivers State, has often resulted in devastating flooding in the state capital. Though the rainy season hardly leaves any trails of death, it, however, does not fail to render thousands homeless and properties destroyed.
Though Port Harcourt is a coastal city, its flooding problem has been mainly due to the development within stream floodplains according to Nenibarini Zabbey Abbey
Head, Conservation Programme, Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), Eleme.
In the last two years, the city experienced an unparalleled flooding, which paralyzed economic activities and rendered some residents of the city displaced.
Economic development has led to an explosion of poorly planned construction that has strained Port Harcourt antiquated infrastructure to the limit in areas like NTA/Choba Road, Mgbuoba that appears to be worst hit by perennial flooding. The residents are desperate to see the establishment take steps to mitigate their sufferings.
According Tonye West, a resident: "If our government can buy planes and build multibillion Naira Government House, why can't they build better drains, better roads, give our citizens better amenities and prevent them from suffering unnecessarily. The heavy rains and flooding of the past few days reminds me that little or nothing has been done to prevent future devastations going by what we've experienced in this area since two years ago."
Causes of the flooding vary. The annual rainfall in the city varies between 2,000-3,000 mm because of its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, the source of the water. But inappropriate town planning, resulting in the construction of houses on natural water channels, and hence causing obstruction of natural drainage channels largely causes the flooding crisis in Port Harcourt.
Aggravated still, is the fact that the city has insufficient and poorly maintained drainage systems. Virtually all the drains and gutters are full of silt and clogged with garbage, which are most times dumped there by the city's residents who often display disdain for sanitation and decency.
Mrs. Oguchi Okorafor, a trader on Olu Obasanjo Road, told The Guardian that she was considering relocating her shop along the road due to perennial flooding that prevents customers from patronizing her during the rainy season.
Okorafor said: "I have been very worried over the failure of the government to tackle this problem. Each time it rains, nobody in his right senses would want to drive his car through this water saturated road to purchase goods from the shops located along this Olu Obasanjo Way. This unchecked flooding by this time of the year always impact negatively on the businesses around here."
The condition in the dilapidated Benin – Ore road that caused the former Transport Minister, Mrs. Dezeani Allison-Madueke to shed tears and apologized to Nigerians has remained the same.
The re-construction work going on along the Benin bound axis of the road was what was awarded by the administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
Even at that, the contractor, RCC (Reynolds Construction Company) is yet to be paid fully for the work they have done in the N7.5 billion worth of re-construction of the 50-kilometer stretch of the road.
Though the reconstruction work on one lane has brought temporary relief to commuters, but the vehicular movement on the only viable lane, has resulted in many avoidable accidents and the fears that the road may soon collapse.
Commuters and drivers who spoke to The Guardian on the state of the road complained of the "very slow pace" at which the work was going on.
They wondered why only 50 kilometers of the over 320-kilometer stretch from Benin to Lagos would take over two years to complete.
"It means this would take nothing less than 10 years to do if the stretch from the boundary between Ondo and Edo is taking over two years, it shows that government is not ready to work on this road," a commuter told The Guardian
Isa Edwin, a driver with Iyare Motors Benin, said:" I have been driving the Lagos road for over five years. The road is in a deplorable condition; it is so bad as of now. I don't feel happy and I don't feel comfortable driving the road because of the way the road is,"
"On a normal basis, it takes three hours to reach Lagos but now it takes five to six hours." He added
"The roads affect vehicles badly, when you drive the vehicle continuously on the road for about three weeks or a month, the effect from the road start showing, parts of the vehicle start giving way, talking about the tyres and bushings; those are the main parts if the vehicle is new, but if the vehicle is not new then you begin to talk of the amps, they start disturbing the amps, the axle part of it, the bushings all.
"The rainy season is here so the hours we spend on the road will increase because once there is a breakdown on one part because of these lorries, it increases the number hours you spend on the road" Hakeem Salaudeen, a distributor of Solak paints, recounted his harrowing experience. He said: "The experience is really terrible. You can imagine waking up early in the morning, ready for another business day and then you are greeted with heavily drenched and messy roads. Managed to get half way, only to get stuck by a road barricaded by flood."
"A journey that usually takes less than an hour now stretches beyond five hours, depending on how lucky I get. The discomfort is unbearable. It is telling on economic activities. I sometimes wish my business is seasonal, where I could close-up shop in rainy season and just go on vacation elsewhere", he said.
Also speaking with The Guardian, a commercial bus operator in Ejigbo, Lagos lamented that floods, as a result of successive heavy rainfalls, poor road and drainage channels had been a nightmare to their activities and to the residents of the area.
Godwin Ahamba a car dealer who plies the road virtually everyday said: "Like today, I came through Akure to Lagos because I came to deliver a car and I want to reach in time. But if I have to take through Ore, I don't think I can make it early as the road is in a bad shape."
The same is the situation along the Benin – Okene – Abuja, which has been in a very poor state. No fewer than 100 persons have died on the Auchi – Benin stretch of the road in very horrible circumstances.
The latest high profile personality to have died on the road was the Edo state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Samson Ekhabafe, his son, his driver and police orderly. They were burnt to death in a multiple accident near Ewu three weeks ago. In fact the deplorable state of the road particularly the portion between Agbede and Egono along the Benin-Auchi axis of the road forced the State House of Assembly to summon the head of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) in the state, Comptroller, Federal Ministry of Works and the State Commissioner for works. House Minority Whip, Philip Shuaibu, said that portion of the road had become a death trap as the rehabilitation work started since last year have been abandoned with deep ditches dotting the area and there was no sign to alert unsuspecting drivers who have not been using the road.
In Cross River State, the rains have worsened the deplorable conditions of federal roads in the state.
Some of these roads include, the Calabar- Itu, Calabar-Ikom-Makurdi, Uyo-Ikot Ekpene-Aba high ways, Ugep-Itighidi-Abaomege access roads and the Adiabo-Ikoneto-Uyo roads and few other ones.
The Calabar- Itu, Calabar-Ikom-Makurdi, Uyo-Ikot Ekpene-Aba high ways are the busiest of the roads receiving thousands of traffic on daily basis. It is a common scene, to see heavy trucks and cars falling on these roads, blocking everywhere every day causing untold hardship to motorists.
To salvage the situation, the Governor of Akwa Ibom Sate Chief Godswill Akpabio awarded contract to Julius Berger for the dualisation of the road of the Calabar -Itu highway. However, the Itu axis to Ekom Iman section of the road is almost ready.
According to information from the state's ministry of works, The Calabar-Ikom-Markurdi and the Calabar-Itu federal highways were rehabilitated last year at the cost of N364.4 million and N220million respectively, but today these roads are in deplorable state and there are fears that they may collapse soon.
The Managing Director of Tinapa, Mr Bassey Ndem said; "If we can have the road improved between Cross River and Akwa Ibom, that would be satisfactorily enough for us. This major road that goes from Odukpani all the way to Uyo and on to Aba and from there to the rest of the country, If that road is dualized, we would have six lanes on each side. I am sure it would be much better for all of us. And the same thing too from here to Makurdi through Ogoja, we need that road as well in order to evacuate goods."
Equally commenting on the bad state of roads in the state, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba said, "the position of Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has not changed. In fact with every passing day, I get more and more convinced that FERMA is not needed. First of all, take Cross River State. Where is the evidence of FERMA in Cross River ? Somebody should show me one spot, one project that FERMA has worked on in Cross River. I have not seen it. Maybe I have not looked well enough but I have not seen it.
"The other reason why FERMA sooner or later should be an anachronism is that the world is moving from government funding of transport infrastructure to Private Public Partnerships or concessioning and you know that not long ago, the National Assembly passed our own Infrastructure Concessioning Act. Recently, the board of that authority was inaugurated with the former Head of State, Chief Ernest Shonekan as chairman. So everything is now in place for us to begin to move from direct funding to either PPPs or concessoning. So if we are going to that, it means we are going to see more and more private sector participation in our infrastructure than now. So where would be the place of FERMA. So as far as I am concerned, it is just a matter of time for FERMA to die a natural death".
Lord Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Calabar, Rt. Rev. Tunde Adeleye who dared to travel by road from Calabar to Lagos recounted his personal experience. He said: "To state that our roads are bad in Nigeria will be stating the obvious. It will not be wrong to say that we do not have roads at all. Where there are roads, they are terribly bad. Someone has aptly described them as death traps.
"The pleadings for having good roads in Nigeria have been repeated in many avenues and, unfortunately, the conditions have persisted. A few months ago I traveled on road from here to Lagos . I also came back by road. It became clear to me that it is definitely suicidal for anybody to attempt to travel by road in Nigeria. Majority of our roads are unsafe. It is attempted suicide. With the rampant deterioration of roads, coupled with the high accident cases across the country, one is also forced to question the seriousness and quality of the stakeholders charged with the responsibility of constructing and maintaining roads across the country.
"It is one thing to construct roads, and it is quite another to equip the roads with potent drainage facilities. The constant flooding of several roads across the federation during rainy season exposes the engineering fraud that is the bane of road construction in Nigeria today. The poor drainage system does not only engender flooding of roads but also sets the tune for erosion, which gradually transfigures the roads into graves for unsuspecting motorists,"
Maintenance culture in the country is fast eroding, with more efforts channeled towards the replacement of the old with the new. This sad scenario has now turned many Nigerian roads into an adventure unto themselves.
GUARDIAN Friday, July 03, 2009
Report By ANIETIE AKPAN, KELVIN EBIRI, SEYE OLUMIDE, LAWRENCE NJOKU, ALEMMA-OZIORUVA ALIU and WOLE OYEBADE.
