When federal roads become perilous

For states in the South West, the deplorable condition of federal roads has remained a major source of concern for residents and motorists. This has oftentimes led to reported cases of road crashes, various forms of criminalities and economic repercussions. BOLA BADMUS, HAKEEM GBADAMOSI, MOHAMMED SUBAIR, YINKA OLADOYINBO, TUNDE OGUNESAN, YOMI AYELESO, YINKA OLUKOYA, WALE AKINSELURE and OLUWOLE IGE, after a tour, report the frustrations of plying these federal roads.

Whether in Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti, Lagos or Oyo State, federal roads have enjoyed little or no attention by the Federal Government. The importance of these roads cannot be overemphasised both for their economic importance or security implication.

For instance in Ondo State, aside the Akure/Ilesha federal road which was constructed by the former administration of Goodluck Jonathan,  all other federal roads in the state are begging for attention while commuters have been lamenting the state of these roads.

‘In Ondo, we lose lives, economic gains because of bad federal roads’

The deplorable conditions of the roads have contributed in no small measure to the carnage experienced. These roads include Owo-Akungba, Ipele-Isua-Akunnu, Ikare-Arigidi-Okeagbe-Oyin Akoko, Akure -Ado Ekiti roads, among others.

A commercial driver, Ibrahim Salau, told the Nigerian Tribune that Akure-Ado Ekiti road is one of the worst in the country and government seemed untouched by the plight of the people plying the road.

According to him, “At least, I spend N17, 000 on my vehicle every week due to the bad condition of the road. A journey of less than 30 minutes now takes more than one hour. This is so pathetic; the government should come to our rescue. Sometimes one can spend a whole day on the road. There is also the fear of being attacked by kidnappers or armed robbers.”

It will be recalled that both Ondo and Ekiti state governments disclosed plans to construct a dual carriage way.

We await FG’s approval to construct Akure-Ado Ekiti federal road—Akeredolu 

The Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, who disclosed this said the two states have concluded arrangements to construct the road and waiting for the Federal Government approval.

According to him, “when done, these roads will be tolled so as to enable the state government have a channel of repaying monies spent on them. On the Akure-Ado Ekiti road, we have written letters to the Federal Government and we are sure that the president will sign it and it will be taken to the FEC. We are only waiting for the approval of the FEC; the African Development Bank is ready to give us loan to dualise the road and it will be tolled.”

However, Segun Olabode, a resident of Ikare Akoko, commended the Ondo state government over some palliative measures in repairing some sections of Owo/Ikare road but said the state of the road was still bad.

Some commercial drivers plying the roads said if the roads had been fixed and maintained, most of the road accidents in the axis would have been drastically reduced, as it would have served as alternative routes to the clumsy Oka Akoko-Abuja road.

“We are appealing to the Federal Government to fix the roads for us. The roads should be attended to. I don’t think people should have to beg the government before this is done,” he said.

He said the state government intended to liaise with the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) on the need for the federal government to fix the roads.

No federal road under rehabilitation in Ekiti

The worsening condition of federal roads in Ekiti state has also been a source of concern to the residents as well as road users. For instance, in September 2019, five wedding guests perished on the Ado–Akure road when an 18-seater bus, while traveling, plunged into a ditch along the Ado – Ikere end.

Apart from accidents, passengers are made to pay arbitrary and high fares. The conditions of these roads have also provided fertile ground for kidnappers who take advantage of bad portions to stop vehicles with ease and commuters.

Some of the federal roads in the state which need urgent rehabilitation include Ado Ekiti – Akure road, Ado Ekiti – Ikare road, Ado – Aramoko – Itawure road, Ado – Ifaki – Ido Ekiti road, and Ifaki – Oye Ekiti – Ikole – Omuo road. Others are Omuo – Kabba road (stretching to some local governments in Kogi State), Omuo- Oke Agbe –Ikare  road, among others.

Unfortunately, as at the time of filing this report, no federal road is under construction in Ekiti.

Disturbed by the deplorable state of the roads, the Ekiti Council of Elders said the condition of the roads made the call for restructuring imperative.

The Secretary General, Yoruba Council of Elders, Dr Kunle Olajide, said the decay of the roads across the state called for revert to the days of public works department (PWD).

“Ekiti State could pioneer the return of PWD. There are so many engineers sitting idle in the offices. Draft them into PWD so that they fix the roads. That is a solution that can help considering the large scale damage to our roads in the state and across the nation.

“It is better to maintain/repair the roads immediately they start having problems rather than waiting till when they go bad. It is better to nip them in the bud whether state or federal roads before they go bad,” Olajide said.

‘Why NURTW should go on strike over state of federal roads’

Oluwaseyi Babalola, a driver and member of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) lamented that governments at all levels have abandoned their responsibility. He however blamed the leadership of the NURTW which appears to have been allegedly bought over by politicians.

According to him, “I don’t know why our leaders cannot mobilise us for a national strike to call the attention of the authority to the condition of roads?”

The state government carried out some palliative work at Ureje Bridge and Aramoko road to ease the agony of commuters on that axis. However, Governor Kayode Fayemi while presenting the 2020 budget gave what appeared to be a glimmer of hope when he hinted that the Federal Government has given the nod to Ekiti and Ondo State governments to construct Ado – Akure road.

Contractors abandon work on Osogbo-Ilesa, Osogbo-Ilobu-Oko-Ogbomoso roads

In Osun State, findings by the Nigerian Tribune in Osun indicate that while some of the federal roads are in deplorable condition, others are currently undergoing rehabilitation, just as new contracts were awarded to fix some of the roads.

Our correspondent gathered that contractors handling some of the federal roads including Osogbo-Ilesa and Osogbo-Ilobu-Oko-Ogbomoso roads have abandoned the project sites.

A visit to Idominasi-Iregun along Osogbo-Ilesa road showed that the contract which was awarded in 2011 has remained stagnant with the portion of Idominasi-Ijegun unattended to.

Despite N311.4 billion contract, work yet to commence on Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa road

Another major federal road in Osun, which has been a nightmare to motorists, Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa expressway received attention September, last year, when the Federal Government awarded it afresh to a contractor at the sum of N311.4 billion.

However, as of the time of filing this report, work is yet to commence on the project, except for the occasional maintenance activities by the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) along the Asejire, Ikire and Gbongan axes.

Though Osun had, through some interventions years back, commenced work on some of the roads, including the dualisation of Osogbo-Akoda-Gbongan road, paucity of funds hindered the speedy completion of the project.

When our correspondent visited Osogbo-Ilobu-Oko-Ogbomoso road, the connecting bridge between Okinni and Ilobu was nearing completion, but the long stretch of the road project still remains unattended to as the contractor handling the project has abandoned work.

Speaking on the intervention by the Osun state government on some of the federal roads, the state Commissioner for Works, Mr Remi Omowaye said “the ones we have started before now, like Gbongan-Akoda, Osogbo-Ikirun-Ila Odo-Kwara boundary, are two major federal roads we have intervened fully.

“There are some roads being rehabilitated through collaborative efforts between Osun State and the Federal Government. We are seeking for reimbursement on Osogb-Ikirun-Ila Odo-Kwara boundary. Since Governor Gboyega Oyetola came on board, he has released some funds and you will see that the contractor is back on site.

“On Osogbo-Akoda-Gbongan road, we have released additional funds and by next week, we would released another fund so that the project can be completed on time. The federal government just awarded Ife-Ibadan road contract. Similarly, through the federal government, work is going to start on the dualisation of Mayfair-Lagere-Enuwa road,” Omowaye remarked.

For Oyo-Ogbomoso, Oyo-Iseyin roads, no respite in sight

From Oyo-Iseyin road to old Oyo-Ogbomoso road, Odooba-Takie-Gambari-Otte road to Ibadan-Apata-Abeokuta road, Ibadan-Ife road, Oyo-Ogbomoso dual carriageway, the state of federal roads in Oyo State has ranged from partial to total disrepair.

With casualties recorded from accidents, over the years, Nigerians have continued to cry to the Federal Government for rehabilitation or reconstruction of these roads.

The 45-kilometre Oyo-Iseyin road and the old Oyo-Ogbomoso road typifies roads that need full reconstruction while the Odooba-Takie-Gambari-Otte road exemplifies roads in the region in need of rehabilitation. For example, the Oyo-Iseyin road which was initially paved with asphaltic concrete is presently in bad condition with failed sections, isolated potholes and distressed pavement along the entire sections of the road.

A cross section of engineers who spoke with Nigerian Tribune observed that most of the federal roads in the region require rehabilitation in forms of scarification of existing failed sections, cutting and patching of potholes, reinstatement of washout, desilting of pipe culverts and carriageways, construction of reinforced concrete lined drain and box culverts, replacement of damaged guard-rails, provision, spreading and compaction of crushed stone-base, provision and spraying of bitumen and provision, laying and compaction of asphaltic concrete wearing course.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, had in 2019 stressed that the Federal Government was undertaking 14 road projects in Oyo State.

Speaking during a visit to the notorious Oyo-Ogbomoso road, Fashola had pointed to funding, interruption by communities and organisations and their demand for compensation as slowing down the pace of work on the road.

However, Ikebuaku, while addressing members of the Oyo Assembly, said work had reached 65 percent completion rate. Ikebuaku added that constant rainfalls also hindered contractors from laying of laterite for earthworks.

With regard to the rehabilitation of Odooba-Takie-Gambari-Otte road, Ikebuaku stated that the contractor had abandoned site since 2017 alleging inflation of material and low rate of contract items.

Meanwhile, work on the Ibadan-Apata-Abeokuta road has reached an estimated 77 percent completion rate while Ikebuaku said the dualisation of Oyo-Ogbomoso road experienced delay due to the rainy season and expectation of augmentation approval.

According to director, Highways, Southwest, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mr Funsho Adebiyi, work on the 53-kilometre Oyo-Ogbomoso dual carriageway was ongoing.

He decried that the nation’s roads were over-stretched owing to the fact that most Nigerians depended on the roads as means of transportation.

Adebiyi however decried the sand mining activities on the road alignment by some residents of Ogbomoso as making earth-work difficult in the road construction.

He added that the failed portions on the old Oyo-Ogbomosho road was receiving due attention as the ministry had directed RCC handling the new road to fix the old road to ease traffic snarl on the single carriageway.

On the Ibadan-Ife road, Ikebuaku said though the Federal Executive Council had given approval for the complete rehabilitation of the road, engineers awaited orders from the ministry to commence work.

Pending the commencement of complete rehabilitation of the road, an official of FERMA, Mr Tolu Adeniji, said the agency was carrying out maintenance work on some of the failed portions of the road, which had reached appreciable stages.

Apart from this, the Ife-Ibadan road has always been a source of concern to travellers on the ever busy highway.

The dualisation of the road, which was constructed after the creation of Osun State in 1995 to RCC has proven to be a nightmare as the newly constructed part of the road had always caved in.

Several efforts that were made to ensure that the road was passable had proven to be fruitless as successive governments tried their efforts on the road.

Mostly affected portions of the road are Asejire dam, Ikire town, Gbongan, Akinlalu to Ipetumodu axis bank the road.

Several palliative measures put in place to rehabilitate the road have not been able to solve the problem.

However, worried by deplorable state of the road, the Federal Government recently awarded the road’s reconstruction.

Lagos: With 70 federal roads, only 12 being rehabilitated

Lagos State with well over a 6000-road network belonging to the state government has a lot of challenges in terms of having majority of the roads in poor state, with many of them poorly passable.

It took Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to declare a state of emergency on the state roads last October, directing that massive rehabilitation work on critical roads and highways be carried out across the state.

In some areas of Ikeja and adjoining areas like Agidingbi, repair works had been done and affected roads are now looking good for motorists to ply. But so far, a visit to the Government Reservation Area (GRA) also in Ikeja is definitely calling for attention of government as most of the inner roads area eyesore.

Also in Ojodu area of the state, streets like Gbadamosi, Tunji Tope Hill, Abe, among others are crying for attention, while the palliative work done by a lawmaker representing the state on Aina Street in Grammar School area, also in Ojodu, has not in anyway made the road the delight of motorists as they have to take their time to navigate the road so that they don’t end up taking their for urgent repairs.

Roads in Idi-Oro and Baba-Olosha in Mushin Local Government of Lagos State are equally not motorable, causing the journey there to take a longer time.

Findings showed that roads in Ijesha in Surulere Local Government are also calling for Lagos State government’s attention right now, so also are roads in Oshodi-Isolo LCDA of Lagos.

Regarding Federal roads and bridges in the state, the Controller, Federal Highways in Lagos, Adedamola Kuti, told our correspondent on telephone that the number of Federal roads in the state is 70 and together with the bridges stretching 400kms, adding that reconstruction and rehabilitation are going on 12 of those roads.

For instance, the Apapa-Oshodi, Badagry expressway, Lagos-Ibadan, among others, are some of those road projects being currently addressed with their attendant gridlock, tears and pains that commuters and motorists have to bear with. The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway gridlock on daily basis is ugly experience that many Lagosians cannot easily forget in a hurry as they are still going through it.

Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune on the issue of bad roads in the state, the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, said given the high number of roads that were affected, they are being attended to one after the other, assuring that contractors had been mobilised to site, while the state Public Works Department had been equipped and empowered to do the work according to its mandate.

Ogun residents berate state of federal roads

In Ogun, the state of many federal roads has been condemned by residents, just as they have continued to call for the rehabilitation of these roads. These federal roads include Sagamu Interchange to Papalanto; Sagamu-Ogijo-Ikorodu road; Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode -Ore-Benin highway; Abeokuta-Lagos highway; Owode-Idiroko road; Ilaro-Owode Yewa  road; Old Ilaro road; and Lafenwa-Rounder-Aye.

Sagamu-Papalanto impassable despite economic value

The Sagamu Interchange to Papalanto road is in a deplorable condition. The road has been abandoned by motorists. Only trucks and trailers ply the road. The road is impassable despite its economic value to the country.

For the Sagamu-Ogijo -Ikorodu road, the palliative measure carried out on the highway had made travelling a bit easy for motorists using the highway. The road, apart from linking Ogun to some parts of Lagos State, has the Mosinmi depot of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) along the stretch. The depot at a time was shut down by members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) and the Petroleum Tankers Association (PTD), Mosinmi branch because of the state of the road.

It is worthy to note that the state has the longest stretch of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway which is currently under reconstruction. But that is not the same with the old Ilaro road. The road needs urgent government attention. So also is the Abeokuta-Lagos expressway. This road connects Abeokuta and Lagos State.

However, the Owode-Idiroko road is a federal government road, and it is currently receiving attention from the Ogun State government.