If 1000 Nigerians travel to abuja daily from Lagos to Abuja, I can assure you 90% go by road, the remaining 10% by air.

ojogbontomoye:


@OP, Dont even try it if you dont know your way. Just because you did Gothenburg to Sweden doesnt mean you can do Lagos to Abuja. We dont have a well developed interstate highway in Nigeria like them Oyinbos. Security on the Lagos to Abuja road is absolutely nonexistent, and taking that route, for a noobie like you, is tantamount to risking the lives of you and your, most-likely average looking, GF for no reason.

Asinine unnecessary comment from a depraved lost mind.

What of armed robbers and illegal police checkpoints along the roads how much did that cost

LEXYLOV:

What of armed robbers and illegal police checkpoints along the roads how much did that cost

Nothing much, just a life . Presumably, his average-looking GFs should be enough.

The roads are terrible. Fly if you can.

@ dis guy you are dem right if i drive to abuja and you board a 8am flght to abuja by arik we will definitely get there at the same time cos arik will always delay your flight for like 4 hours so why fly.

at poster if you can do 140- 150 per hour man its no big deal, i drive to abuja to see my wife every week its fun if you know the route via owo

Going by road I would preer to use the transport companies. Its safer. Than a lone driver getting robbed. The transport company drivers are pro in the routes. They know the alternative routes whenever there is problem.

But wtf why waste all those hours, unless its your first trip by road .FLY! I get bored easily. Cramps, Well if you have movies on your ipad and lots of music maybe. Only thing I like about road trip is eating food from the local restaurants in different states. Now I miss my dad.

poster why do you want to take this kind of risk.why?drive yourself?hmm.pls enter bus if you really want to go by road,

A lot of folks seem to prefer the flight option. Hmmm, the flights do delay sometimes so it ain't a perfect system either.
Road trips are fun, just leave early and travel during the day. You can stop over at Benin or Akure. Nice places to chill.

OP,

Interesting thread. It has most of the info you need to take a decision. You will enjoy the food and the sights (its going to be nothing like your Swedish trip but you will definitely love some of the sights and the cuisine. It will be different from what you are used to, that's for sure).

In the end its your call - the decision to fly or take a road trip. But please do not underestimate the warnings about security and traffic congestion and insane drivers.

1 Do not travel at night. The risks (all of them) rise exponentially with night travel.
2 You must have an experienced guide to see you through, or if you decide to drive yourself, a co-pilot with a VERY detailed map/description of the route. If you do not have any of these, your trip might have a very different end from what you had in mind.
3 If you decide to take Route 2 (outlined in one of the previous posts) watch out for the Ipele junction and the Ibilo junction. The Ibilo junction is easy to miss.
4 Watch out for security threats in Ondo state and Edo State (Ogori-Magongo axis). You also need to be vigilant on the Okene - lokoja - Abuja axis. Armed robbery in Nigeria can be a hellish experience. If you notice that oncoming traffic has suddenly disappeared on a hitherto busy road, that could be sign that there's trouble ahead.

Be careful. But try to enjoy the trip. Some of us do it from time to time and we are still here. Just be aware of the risks.

That's all.

@ poster

naijas we always dramatize everything, i have had the pleasures of driving to and from abuja and even farther cities than it, security is subjective i have never been attacked on any road trip yet my cars has been stolen twice while in lagos once even at home just reversing for a neighbour to go out, planes crash, shit happens as they say.

if u enjoy road trip just get some1 who understands your destination the rest is Gods grace. 8 hours max you are in abuja from lagos except ur car crawls. though i do minimum 120kmph on highways.

I twice drove to Abuja from Lagos and drove back, it was a great experience for me, when I did, I had no girlfriend to accompany me and still do not have, I do not envy those who have them
But I think it is a good idea to drive in the company of a friend so that you would have someone to discuss with in the journey
The only problem was the Police mounting road blocks, they can be so scary when you are alone, they stop you for no offence and look around for things to STEAL or covet,
On the second occasion, they arrested me for no reason and took me to their police station around after Ibadan, I had to call a Colonel who spoke with them and they let me go
They capitalized on the fact of my being alone because they saw little money which they coveted with me, I was delayed and that made my journey a bit longer than normal
Beware of some Police on that way; they are not friend on that road,
Road safety are too catholic than the Pope on that road
If you don’t drive at Night, you would be 70% safe
I love to do it again, If you have a good car and intend to drive to Abuja, Call me up. Let us do it together it’s Fun +2348095325810
Pls Note: Automatic Cars Only. I stopped driving Manuals some years Backs

Goodluck to you. Your road trip will be synonymous to playing Russian Roulette with a gun with 6 bullets in its cylinder. Good luck, you will need it cause the odds are against you 100%.

We have lots of cowards in this country! See as people talking of driving from abuja to lagos as if is driving to hell!
Op, their's no biggie about it. I've drove that road in time without numbers with my legend; it's all fun. U just have to be watchful for unexpected potholes.
I do leave abuja as early as 5.30a.m. and before 1p.m am in lagos. Same when leaving lagos for abuja.
Option2 is your best bet.
Safe journey!

Person say him no like flying - say him go avoid flying at all cost - and una still dey say make him fly. Una dey read so?

werepeteri, help me tell dis guy way don fly tire, wats d big deal in travelling lag-abj by as long as a car in in good shape n u understand road netwok, police, road satety, customs etc are a malise of our tymes. D koko is to get ur own acts together u'd be laughing @ ur destination. Imagine my sweetie who only started drivn 2 yrs drove wit me 2 as far as ore frm lag witout blinking b4 i took over talkless of a guy whose used 2 long distance driving. If i actually had my wishes i'd neva fly!

I acknowledge the fact that you dont like flying.

I have 2 options for you:

1. Since you dont know the route, dont drive yourself. Get an experienced hand. But if you want an adventure, carry go, after all, it is sometimes good to have a story to tell .

2. Take transport company vehicles and enjoy your trip, transport companies like ABC, Big Joe, Silver Travels, Fairplus,  etc. If you want more space in the vehicle, book for 3 seats. I travel in these vehicles always.

Good luck.

If you don't know the way, just take this strait route and enjoy your journey. Lagos to Benin (4hrs), then Benin to Abuja (5hrs). Leave Lagos at 6.30am or 7am and drive to Benin. Once you diverted to Benin road off Lagos Ibadan express way, it a strait journey. You should be in Benin latest 11am. Lodge to a cool hotel and enjoy yourself. The following mornin take the Auchi road and strait to Abuja.

Pls maintain a speed level of 100km/hr or so because of sudden pot holes and patches.

apache77 has said it all, No more no less.

Nice thread

Dude, fly if u can. It aint worth d hassle. If u wanna tour naija, go thru a tours company dat would guarantee ur safety. Pls i beg of u dont drive urself. If u must, hire an expert driver that is conversant wit the route. The most dangerous part of the trip is the abuja-lokoja rd. All these pple advising u to make the trip r not factoring in the fact dat u r not conversant wit driving on naija interstate rds. Its a whole different ball game. Remember u r also responsible for ur GF in dis decision. Have a safe trip.

People talk about Abuja Lokoja road - when in actual fact, a larger part of the road has been dualised and is being used. Talk of old timers. A good driver can drive on any road anywhere- so long you maintain the speed limit (some will say there is no speed limit, but then, use your head) - observe road signs, etc etc. I have driven all over Nigeria - Jos, Bauchi, Gombe, Jalingo, Makurdi, Yola, Calabar, Uyo etc etc. These are roads I have never driven on, it takes common sense to know that you should be careful on roads you are not conversant with - you should not over speed, and you should not assume there are witches all over the place.

People in here talk like every stretch of road in Nigeria has accident inducing witches - come on. Spare me.

I don't live in Nigeria so I'm not too knowledgeable. However, my family has driven from Bauchi to Port Harcourt, and from Port Harcourt to Lagos. We've taken so many bus lines or whatever they're called, and it was awful. We're a family of 6 so we usually rent out a mini-bus and an experienced driver, which makes things go comfy. This was all around 6-10+ years ago, so I don't know how things have changed. Every other time we've travelled by air which is nothing fancy, just about convenience. Besides, Nigerian flight attendants are so unprofessional lol.

I know the roads are not good, pot holes, etc., so beware and like others have said night trips are not advisable. I would advise hiring a driver and you both can split the driving so you have a bit of the action lol. Taking all this into account, I think this is a risk worth taking. Road trip are the best, and Nigeria is not an exception. I say go for it, and have fun! Hope your gf thinks like you, if not she'll be pissed.

[b]Though my journeys to Abuja has been by public transport and flights but i can tell you that It will be a good experience driving on such a journey except the fact that our roads are bad, armed robbery, insulting and time wasting checkpoints that sometime makes the journey boring.

I tried such adventure for the first time in my life when i had my annual leave 3 year back and i make bold to say that it was the best thing that ever happened to me in my life as the experience throughout my trips remain very special in my memories and i am sure will be for decades to come.

I took off from Lagos on my way to Portharcourt by using the longer route of AGBOR , ASABA, OWERRI TO PORTHARCOURT after which i connected EDO to UROMI, ISHAN LAND, bacK to BENIN and to Lagos purely on expedition and my quest to know what travels by road on leisure means.


Good to know that i have never gone through those routes before, i was determined to do it and the various sign post on the express really helped me a lot.

I enjoyed it thought there were some high level of risk driving through Nigerian expressway especially for those who are not famiiar with the roads.

You leave your destination very early in the morning, go it on a much lower speed, be mentally prepared because it gonna take some energy out of you and be prepared to break your journey and cool off in a nice hotel if need be ( such was the case when military patrol stopped me along Agbor road for no just cause, wasted hours of my time such that i had to sleep over in a hotel when i eventually got to Asaba and continued my journey to portharcourt the next day ),it was fun because i prepared for it anyway.[/b]

Its not out of this world to travel by road in Nigeria, though the risk is high, attaching cost , energy and metal alertness required.

As for my gf who was with me through the journey,  she was so happy to get on the journey, though she was somehow tired along the way due to several hours of driving but she enjoyed every stops at the restaurants, sleep over at Asaba with a feel of nite life around. She was down with malaria on her return but all in all it was memorable.

WISH YOU SAFE JOURNEY.

If you decide on going by road, take Ground Air Travel @ Jibowu. . Run by some dude out of St. Louis Missouri so the American mentality is evident in the way they run their ops, and I think they still use only American spec buses. I give it to them, GAT is the way forward on the Lag-Abj route. . Totally love them!

yuzedo:

If you decide on going by road, take Ground Air Travel @ Jibowu. . Run by some dude out of St. Louis Missouri so the American mentality is evident in the way they run their ops, and I think they still use only American spec buses. I give it to them, GAT is the way forward on the Lag-Abj route. . Totally love them!

Person say him wan drive - u say make him go enter bus! Which one be American mentality o my brother.

The cost of getting a Sat Nav is enough to get you and your GF to Abuja in 45mins in one piece.
That road is not safe,don't let anyone deceive you and the time of 8hrs people gave above is not guarantee because traffic on that road is like an epidemic or plague.
My in law left Lagos 6am last week with a 2010 Range Rover and arrived Abuja 11am,is that what people refers to as 8hrs? Just yesterday Chadian robbers attached and robbed 4 soldiers on their way back from Abuja,that's to say civilians like you and me are not safe on that route.
Arik will take from Lagos to Abuja in one piece,a word is enough for the wise.

werepeLeri:

Person say him wan drive - u say make him go enter bus! Which one be American mentality o my brother.

sorry, guess i missed the part about driving personally rather than doing public transport.
and as to the american mentality aspect, have u used the greyhound coach? or the tube? im talking about the western efficiency and all. not the whole naija mentality where the transporter is king and'll insult u ontop ur cash/take-off late and are just generally sloppy.

People troop into abuja daily - ask yourself - what percentage of people coming in to Abuja daily fly? Maybe 10% and the other 90% do what? they drive on the same roads.

@OP what me i will tell you is that, drive to abuja yourself, let ur gf stay in lag. Fly back to lag, then drive back to abuja with her. You woulda known all the routes, turns and all and prepped for the real deal.
Safe trip and let us know abt ur xperience.

Despite most ppl being scared of flying, the irony is air travel is far safer than road travels going by d frequency of accidents, plus it's faster and less stressful.