THE Edo 2024 governorship election may be hampered in Edo Central zone and Edo North senatorial zone due to the bad condition of federal roads in Edo State. The poor condition of federal roads in Edo is a threat to Edo 2024 governorship election. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials and election materials may not reach their destinations due to bad federal roads in Edo State. The condition of the roads is a threat to the Edo electorate. The condition of the roads will disfranchise the people of Edo State and it will prevent INEC from transporting electoral materials to their various destinations. The condition of the roads will prevent political parties from campaigning for September 21st election. Edo North and Edo Central will be cut off from Edo South if urgent action is not taken. The condition of the roads will affect the outcome of September 21st Edo governorship election. Electoral officials and materials may not reach the two senatorial zones due to bad federal roads linking the two zones. I am raising my concern over the bad state of the roads and calling for the urgent rehabilitation to save them from breakdowns. I am appealing to President Tinubu to consider World Bank assessment, the poor state of roads in Nigeria which impacts negatively on cost of production, and represents a major trigger of cost-push inflation.
President Tinubu should factor in the maintenance agency’s roles in all roads investment, including for example the SUKUK Bond funded interventions to save the dancing bridges on Benin-Abuja road that will soon collapse. River Orle bridge and River Ejo bridge on Benin-Auchi road are dancing and about to collapse. According to the World Bank, “roads make a critical contribution to economic development and growth, and bring important social benefits”. The economy and a greater part of the country’s population depend on road transportation. Unfortunately, these roads are acclaimed to be among the worst in the world as Nigerians go through untold hardship moving from one part of the country to another. Indeed, it has been estimated that the nation loses about N3trillion annually in assets value due to the poor conditions of the roads. Such a huge loss is, no doubt, detrimental to the country’s developmental aspirations. As a critical infrastructure, adequate road reconstruction, rehabilitation and maintenance have become periodically necessary. The responsibility for the building and maintenance of the road networks in the country is shared between the tiers of governments – federal, state and local.
It should be noted that, out of the total road length nationwide, about 35,000 kilometres are federal highways, 50, 000km state highways and 150,000 are local government feeder roads.
Most federal roads are gradually turning into death-traps and turned to hotspot for bandits and kidnappers. I am appealing to President Tinubu to repair the roads. I am appealing to President Tinubu to hasten its intervention on the roads and due to increasing pressure on them the roads keep getting bad. Potholes are ubiquitous on Nigerian roads. But there are gaping holes in the road leading from Benin-Abuja which have sparked alarm. There are deep gullies on Benin-Warri road, Benin-Asaba road and Benin-Abuja road. Upon closer inspection, the depth of the hole appears are posing potentially dangerous consequences for vehicles driving past. I am appealing to President Tinubu for Prompt and adequate road maintenance which is important. Once surface deterioration or destruction has started, it can proceed very rapidly. Postponing highway maintenance can result in several havoc such as fatal accidents to commuters. The goal of maintenance is to preserve the asset, not to upgrade it. I am appealing to President Tinubu that there is need for more cooperation with the Highway Controllers, even though the core mandate of FERMA is road maintenance, and that highway maintenance is very critical to increase in productivity and creation of jobs which is the goal of the present administration.
A journey from Benin to Ekpoma, which ordinarily should take not more than between 45 minutes and one hour, now takes more than two hours, while a journey from Bénin to Okenne through Auchi takes up to six hours! The sections of the road that are particularly bad include Okpella, Ekpoma and Ehor. Sadly, as motorists make effort to avoid the bad spots as they pass through Okpella community, the locals block the road and demand for money before they would allow them to pass. Of all the major highways in Edo State, the Bénin-Okenne-Abuja and Benin-Ore-Lagos are the most strategic for travellers across the country. The two roads connect the South-West and the North to the South South and South East. There are usually heavy vehicular traffic on the roads, especially during festive periods. The public outcry about the deplorable condition of the Bénin-Okenne highway had led to remedial work being done on it, but the heavy rains in recent times have destroyed the palliative work and rendered it impassable. The numerous potholes on the road are now giving motorists nightmares. At Obagie village near Ugha, the road has been cut off completely. Ehor Junction near Jehovah’s Witness has a big pothole that causes serious traffic jam while the conditions of many other sections of the road make travelling a tortuous affair.
The condition of the Benin-Abuja road is the consequence of years and years of neglect and that is why with President Tinubu is doing a number of road works concurrently to address this issue. The Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi axis of the road had been a recurring nightmare, dreaded by inhabitants and visitors to Benin City especially during rainy season. The attempt by the Federal Ministry of Works to shirk its responsibility to keep this axis motorable by not fixing the axis for over a decade is particularly painful to the people and residents of Benin City due to the huge economic importance of this road. Travelers have been known to spend days on the road from Lagos to Benin-Ore a journey that ordinarily would have taken a little over five and a half hours. On entering Benin, they are subjected to further logjam lasting several hours occasioned by waist deep flood waters at three particular points along the road. Shockingly, rather than redesign the road to take care of the flooding challenges, the Federal Ministry of Works has chosen to only patch the potholes, relay the asphalt overlay and install “New Jersey” median. The contract does not include drainage works in Benin City, a strange decision considering the fact that flooding remains the main cause of the road’s failure over the years.
A Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) research finding held that: “The annual loss due to bad roads is valued at billions of naira, while additional vehicle operating cost resulting from bad roads is valued at billions of naira. This figure does not take into account the man-hour losses in traffic due to bad roads and other emotional and physical trauma people go through plying the roads and the consequent loss in productivity. I am appealing to President Tinubu for adequate appropriations and releases in the annual budget circles, as well as any other special interventions to enable the Agency perform at its best. Benin-Abuja road had been abandoned (maintenance wise) over the years and became particularly dilapidated during the period starting around 2003 up till now.
The road has been the reason for public outcry and outrage for over a decade being the primary cause of fatal accidents and unreasonably extended journey times due to its scandalous state.
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