YINKA OLADOYINBO writes that the condition of Okene-Lokoja road has become a nightmare for travellers as commuters recently spent 48 hours there for a journey that should have lasted only a few hours.
For a very long time, the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja road had become a nightmare for most commuters and traveler, but none of them prepared for what they experienced penultimate weekend. For many it was their worst travel experience as many of them were stranded on the road for almost 48 hours.
Many travelers that left the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and other parts of the northern states with the hope of getting to either the southwest or parts of south-south destinations within stipulated time were disappointed as they had to spend the night in the gridlock occasioned by many damaged sections of the road in and around Okene.
The ugly situation started with a torrential rain that weekend, which further worsened the road and made it impassable for several hours. The failed sections of the road had gradually become gullies and difficult for articulated vehicles to ply. However with the rains, many of the trailers and lorry drivers were trapped in the bad sections as their vehicles got hooked.
Apart from the vehicles that were hooked, many others were damaged as they attempted to negotiate the badly damaged portions. In the process, water got into their engine compartments. The development thereafter led to a complete lockdown of the road for several hours, leading to a traffic swirl of more than 12 kilometers.
Hundreds of heavy trucks and small vehicles were stranded as another alternative route that would have served as escape route, the Okene-Itakpe road, was also in bad shape with people lamenting the unfortunate situation.
Some of the travellers, who spoke with Arewalife lamented that they were travelling from the north to either western and eastern part of the country, but got stranded in Okene, Kogi State, as a result of the bad road. Some said the situation had become so difficult that they had to abandon their vehicles and look for any alternative mean to get to their destination.
Stephen Ayeola, a banker, who boarded one of the vehicles being operated by a popular transport company, regretted that he undertook the journey. He said he had left Abuja with the hope of getting to Ibadan for an appointment but was caught up in the traffic. According to him, it was unfortunate that governments at various levels allow the road to get to its present situation.
According to him, apart from the damaged sections of the road in and around the Federal College of Education (FCE), Okene, the Okene-Lokoja road has also become a death trap with many failed sections that could lead to accidents and loss of lives. Ayeola tasked the federal and Kogi state governments to collaborate and end the nightmare of the people on the road.
In the same vein, a motorist, Ahmadu Suleman, who said he spent two nights on a spot, said many of them driving trucks and trailers could not make use of any other alternative routes because of the nature of their vehicles. He added that the Itakpe-Okene road that would have served the purpose was very bad, resulting in the pressure put on the Okene-Lokoja road. He pleaded with the appropriate authorities to rehabilitate the road, which he said had been creating yearly problems for the users.
The truck driver said, “This road has always been giving the users problem for many years now, particularly around this Okene. They have only been doing palliative measures that do not last and the problem has always been there. This is a road that connects the north with the south and government should endeavour to make it good so that people will not be spending three days for a journey of seven hours, it is pathetic”.
However, difficult as the situation was for many, it was a good opportunity for some others to make quick money and smile home. Commercial motorcycle operators, popularly called okada made brisk business as they outrageously charged stranded passengers that were willing to find their way out of the critical situation.
According to Musa Yakubu, a commercial motorcyclist operator, they charged passengers who are travelling to Edo State the sum of N1,000 to transport them to the outskirts of the town where they could easily get vehicles travelling to the state and other parts of the country. He said, “Although we also don’t like what is happening, there is nothing we can do. It is an opportunity to make money and since the people are desperate to get out of the problem they area also ready to pay”.
Apart from the okada operators that do business within Okene town, intercity commercial vehicle operators also capitalised on the situation to milk passengers, as they astronomically increased their transport fares. During the period, Okene to Lokoja that used to cost N500 moved to between N1500 and N2000 because of scarcity of vehicles as many of them were already stuck in the gridlock.
Many of the passengers, however, called on the federal government to rehabilitate the road along FCE and equally appealed to the state government to also rehabilitate Itakpe-Eika-Kuroko-Okene road since the road served as alternative for motorists travelling through the town whenever the FCE road is blocked.
One of the government agencies that had a herculean task during the period was the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC). Men of the agency were drafted to the scenes to maintain order and ensure smooth and gradual pull out of the vehicles that have spent days on the same spot.
The sector commander of the corps in Kogi State, Olusegun Martins, said the situation was brought under control with the combined efforts of agencies of governments saddled with road construction and safety.
He said: “The Federal Road Safety Corps has done what we are suppose to do and we will continue to cooperate and collaborate with other agencies who are in charge of the reconstruction.”
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