Lagos – The dismal state of Nigeria’s
roads is a constant source of
exasperation for the long-suffering
population but a tongue-in-cheek
campaign on social media is trying to
shame the authorities into action.
Posting under the hashtag #
MyRoadIsWorseThanYours, Nigerians
have been sharing examples of the
country’s worst highways. Bomb crater-sized potholes, roads
resembling muddy rivers in the annual
rainy season and some unrecognisable
even as public thoroughfares have
been posted online.
“Here’s one Lagos road (state
governor Babatunde) Fashola needs
to repair fast,” says one tweet, with
a picture of a motorcyclist
navigating a flooded road, with water
nearly up to his saddle.
The tweets have an underlying
seriousness: when Africa’s leading
economy and oil producer claims to
have pumped 1.4 trillion naira ($8.5
billion, 6.75 billion euros) into
infrastructure improvements since
1999, why are the roads so bad?
They have also helped balance out the
pages of self-congratulatory
newspaper advertisements taken out
by state governments, proudly
displaying the smooth tarmac of
upgraded, traffic-free roads.
– Deaths, strikes, responsibility –
Olanrewaju Adenekan is a clearing
agent at Lagos’ main port of Apapa.
He is 51 but looks two decades older
and is in poor health. Both he and his
doctor blame it on his daily commute.
Adenakan leaves his house in Sango-
Ota, north of Lagos, before 4:30 am
every day to reach Apapa at around
9:00 am. The distance door-to-door is
just 37 kilometres (23 miles).
“The traffic situation is bad. I spend
between four and five hours for a
journey that should take less than
one hour,” he told AFP.
Adenekan owns two cars but prefers
to take public transport because it is
cheaper — and also because the badly
maintained roads take a debilitating
toll on his vehicles.
“Nigerians spend a lot of money on
maintaining their vehicles because of
potholes, which damage tyres, wheel
rims, shock absorbers and other
components,” said quantity surveyor
Alani Amusa.
Time spent in traffic jams is also
dead time, robbing businesses of
productivity and effective workers.
When they eventually arrive, they are
often exhausted.
Motorists stuck for hours in jams are
sitting ducks for armed robbers.
And bad roads mean more accidents.
Nigeria had the highest road fatality
rates in Africa in 2010 at 33.7 deaths
per 100,000, the World Health
Organization said in a report
published last year.
Recently, petrol tanker drivers
threatened to go on strike if the bad
roads were not fixed, blaming potholes
and gullies for causing accidents.
Nigerian states and the federal
authorities have been in dispute about
who is responsible for maintaining and
improving the roads — meaning
nothing gets done.
The Lagos State government for
example has been at loggerheads with
Abuja over reimbursements for
repairs to federal-owned roads
dating back to when Lagos was the
country’s capital.
– Corruption, under-funding –
As in so many walks of Nigerian life,
corruption is also part of the problem.
“Contractors like to cut corners by
not working to specification,” said
Amusa, who is involved in a number of
road projects in Lagos state.
“They connive with corrupt officials
to use sub-standard materials in
order to maximise their profits.
Many roads lack proper drainage,
turning them into swimming pools
within minutes of a downpour;
roadside culverts overflow; tarmac
disintegrates; traffic lights and road
signs are often absent.
Project costs can also be grossly
inflated.
The 338-kilometre (212-mile) dual
carriageway linking southern oil-
producing states was awarded at a
cost of 138.9 billion naira ($835
million, 670 million euros) in 2006
under former president Olusegun
Obasanjo.
Eight years later, the cost has
increased nearly three-fold to 347
billion naira — and the road is not yet
finished.
Questions have been asked too about
the cost of reconstruction of the
127.8-kilometre Lagos-Ibadan
expressway — the busiest road in west
Africa, carrying an average of
250,000 vehicles per day.
The contract was awarded for 167.9
billion naira but some experts believe
it could have been revamped for a lot
less.
Most people, though, just want their
own muddy, potholed streets paved
and well-maintained to make the
journey from their front doors to the
main road less of a bone-shaking
obstacle course.
Works Minister Mike Onolememen
blamed chronic under-funding from
the federal government, which has led
to contractors revising up their
project costs to accommodate rising
prices of materials.
“About 500 billion naira was needed
every year for the next four years to
pave bad roads,” he said. So far, he
said the treasury has released just a
quarter of the sum for the coming
year.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/11/nigerias-road-shame-goes-online-myroadisworsethanyours/

good both Pdp and Apc are guilty