timifakay:


Festive period means high traffic.... Chances of kidnapping will be lesser. You could just tail public transport buses by keeping an average speed with them and changing lanes with them at the bad patches...

commercial buses are annoyingly slow

speedfreak:
Good morning all, I recently moved to Lagos for a new job, having been here for a year I am planning on going back to Abuja for Easter, not really a fan of public buses and due to the surge in traveling Flight rates are astronomical for me and my fiancé, so driving would be my surest, most convenient and cheapest alternative. I have gone through previous travel threads but they all seem dated so I’m looking for an update.
I plan on leaving Thursday morning 5am, Im driving 2012 Honda Accord coupe. My questions would be:

Op, give it a try... the experience will teach you at least a new thing in life... for good I meant!

Determinations they say leads to success... I have driven not too long distance quiet some times

On the night lockdown was supposed to start last year, I was driving from Lokoja to Abuja, got home few minutes before midnight.... having a uniform man by my side that day had some positive effects with the men we met on the road.

If you can get a companion of such that is sharp and outspoken, I belief that can also assist a bit.

speedfreak:

This was very detailed, I’ve also not driven long distance before, farthest I’ve driven was Abuja to Jos, I’m not really worried about fueling, Tyre wear and suspension are my major worries. I plan on leaving by 5am, peeled of my tints to avoid police wahala a long time ago but I’ll still keep change handy ,thank you very much, we plan on enjoying the trip.

This tint of a thing, on the 27th of November, 2020 I was delayed for 40 minutes by police in Jos town(the roundabout after the police college) in the midnight( past 2am) because of it, the driver that was taking to Yobe that night did not want to pay them extra.... Police can be wicked unnecessarily...

Aanumi16:


Only suggested a safer route where you drive without worrying of being kidnapped or robbed. Might be wrong with the time.

Akoko - Okenne - Lokoja is the last route I will ever take, though a longer trip but will rather take Otukpo through oweto bridge as I suggested earlier or take Otukpa - Ayingba Ajaokuta - Lokoja. Nothing like peace of mind when driving.

Dude is coming from Lagos to Abuja, you are talking about Otukpa - Ayingba-Ajaokuta....


Mind you, the Itobe-Ajaokuta axis is also prone to abduction too

No where is literally safe... on God’s protection we all are

showietee:


This tint of a thing, on the 27th of November, 2020 I was delayed for 40 minutes by police in Jos town(the roundabout after the police college) in the midnight( past 2am) because of it, the driver that was taking to Yobe that night did not want to pay them extra.... Police can be wicked unnecessarily...

Lol, I’ve been in a similar situation in Jos also, although mine was just after nasco roundabout, dudes said as long as it’s not factory tint I shouldn’t even have a permit,after dragging for almost an hour,we paid 5k and left, I peeled them off the very next day before I went back to Abuja.

showietee:


Op, give it a try... the experience will teach you at least a new thing in life... for good I meant!

Determinations they say leads to success... I have driven not too long distance quiet some times

On the night lockdown was supposed to start last year, I was driving from Lokoja to Abuja, got home few minutes before midnight.... having a uniform man by my side that day had some positive effects with the men we met on the road.

If you can get a companion of such that is sharp and outspoken, I belief that can also assist a bit.

Thank you sir, would definitely attempt the trip in December, couldn’t convince madam to fly alone so we’ll both fly down tomorrow. Was really looking forward to the trip tho

speedfreak:

Lol, I’ve been in a similar situation in Jos also, although mine was just after nasco roundabout, dudes said as long as it’s not factory tint I shouldn’t even have a permit,after dragging for almost an hour,we paid 5k and left, I peeled them off the very next day before I went back to Abuja.

Even for factory fitted tint, some times naija police harass drivers.... what I have observed is that, you shouldn’t act like a prey with police, the moment you start begging, they will start billing you.... it’s better to speak accurately and intelligently with them, some times one can confuse them with intelligent talks.

speedfreak:

Thank you sir, would definitely attempt the trip in December, couldn’t convince madam to fly alone so we’ll both fly down tomorrow. Was really looking forward to the trip tho

All the best bro, how was your flight?

I enjoyed all the conversations.

One Love my people!

Plan moving to Abuja from lagos, and thrilled about driving my car along with an experienced driver in the next couple of week, say between now and weekend of july10th. I wonder which is the best route to ply now. Will be driving a Kia rio 2019, about a year old. I'd appreciate any advice.

ibullem:
Plan moving to Abuja from lagos, and thrilled about driving my car along with an experienced driver in the next couple of week, say between now and weekend of july10th. I wonder which is the best route to ply now. Will be driving a Kia rio 2019, about a year old. I'd appreciate any advice.

I did this trip august last year. Left gwagwalada 7am and I was at berger, Lagos before 6pm. One full tank from gwagwalada to ikorodu, was my first time driving such distance, didn't really know the routes. I picked some people at gwagwalada that helped me with directions coupled with google map. We took the lokoja - okene - owo- akure - ilesa - ibadan - Lagos route though. Drive was smooth with no issues. Car is a Peugeot 406 though.

ibullem:
Plan moving to Abuja from lagos, and thrilled about driving my car along with an experienced driver in the next couple of week, say between now and weekend of july10th. I wonder which is the best route to ply now. Will be driving a Kia rio 2019, about a year old. I'd appreciate any advice.

allow me tag along , yawo dey hungry me

Has anyone travelled by road just of recent from Lagos to Abuja or vice versa? Saying May or June. Please share ur experience too, so that we can have a recent situation of the road and its safety.

Bigdre31:


allow me tag along , yawo dey hungry me

Lol, I haven't firmed up plans yet. But I can hit you up when I'm set. You drive and have a valid license?

ibullem:


Lol, I haven't firmed up plans yet. But I can hit you up when I'm set. You drive and have a valid license?

o
I'll be expecting sir , Yea I drive , but was thinking I'd be your passenger dishing out endless gist ,.

Very correct boss one idiot was trying to play me that I needed medical permit for a FACTORY TINTED car ooooo telling me how he is a police officer and it’s his job to know.. I didn’t want to brag or show myself but at that point I knew if I don’t take him up on that statement he’ll take me for a ride so I made him understand I was a lawyer and knew exactly what the law said about factory fitted and self fitted tint. He had a smirk on his face and allowed me go.

showietee:


Even for factory fitted tint, some times naija police harass drivers.... what I have observed is that, you shouldn’t act like a prey with police, the moment you start begging, they will start billing you.... it’s better to speak accurately and intelligently with them, some times one can confuse them with intelligent talks.

emmancecute:
I did this trip august last year. Left gwagwalada 7am and I was at berger, Lagos before 6pm. One full tank from gwagwalada to ikorodu, was my first time driving such distance, didn't really know the routes. I picked some people at gwagwalada that helped me with directions coupled with google map. We took the lokoja - okene - owo- akure - ilesa - ibadan - Lagos route though. Drive was smooth with no issues. Car is a Peugeot 406 though.

Wow, Abuja to Lagos on one full Tank, 406 really have good fuel economy.

ibullem:


Lol, I haven't firmed up plans yet. But I can hit you up when I'm set. You drive and have a valid license?

How did the trip go in the Kia?

Frankdamaxx:


How did the trip go in the Kia?

It was quite smooth.

Used one full tank to Lokoja and did a top up there before heading into Abuja.

We left Lagos at 4:30am and arrived Abuja at about 5pm thereabout.

We took Lagos - Ibadan - Ife - Owo - Obajana - Lokoja - Abuja route. We were 3 drivers changing hands and using Google maps.

Had to download the offline maps of all states between Lagos and Abuja, so I did Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Kogi and Abuja maps, so it was seamless even when we got to stretches without network connection.

Lots of police presence on the road though, we were fortunate to attach ourselves to a military convoy from Ife to Obajana, so that helped us through most of the police stops, as we were trailing them bumperto bumper. It was one of the most exhilarating journey I've taken so far. And safely got to Abuja. It was my first time driving interstate, and the road stretch from Abaji to Abuja city was a marvel, super smooth road. My car did things I never imagined, even switch to a manual gear at some point, Lol.

ibullem:


It was quite smooth.

Used one full tank to Lokoja and did a top up there before heading into Abuja.

We left Lagos at 4:30am and arrived Abuja at about 5pm thereabout.

We took Lagos - Ibadan - Ife - Owo - Obajana - Lokoja - Abuja route. We were 3 drivers changing hands and using Google maps.

Had to download the offline maps of all states between Lagos and Abuja, so I did Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Kogi and Abuja maps, so it was seamless even when we got to stretches without network connection.

Lots of police presence on the road though, we were fortunate to attach ourselves to a military convoy from Ife to Obajana, so that helped us through most of the police stops, as we were trailing them bumperto bumper. It was one of the most exhilarating journey I've taken so far. And safely got to Abuja. It was my first time driving interstate, and the road stretch from Abaji to Abuja city was a marvel, super smooth road. My car did things I never imagined, even switch to a manual gear at some point, Lol.

Thanks for the feedback

speedfreak:

Thank you sir, the trip was last minute, the topic just came up last night and all the flight deals I’ve seen are a little expensive. Can’t fly air peace so it’s just arik. That roughly 80k plus minus hotel and other expenses, fueling would cost a little over 30k both ways. I’m worried about safety tho, with madam in the car I’m not sure I’d want to take the risk

Any reason why you can't fly airpeace?

lebete3000:


Any reason why you can't fly airpeace?

Just personal preference, plus I have extra affinity miles so i'd rather use those than pay full price on a ticket.

speedfreak:

Just personal preference, plus I have extra affinity miles so i'd rather use those than pay full price on a ticket.

Just seeing your thread

I think breaking the journey would have been lovely since you had your partner with you. You could break the journey at Lokoja or stop at Ekiti and relax a bit.


I do a 5 hour out of Lagos trip frequently and i most of the times use it as an opportunity to explore cities in between the destinations. Even if you leave Lagos by 5am, the construction along the Lagos-ibadan stretch would extend your journey by at least an 1hour 30mins.

Also the stretch from Ibadan to Ekiti isn't really that good with the police check points at almost every 5km. For your own sake, make plenty N100 or N50 changes. If they stop you and nicely ask for Bottle water money.
Abeg give them. Or you could have snacks handy and give it to them. They patched lots of potholes on the road but there are still lots of failed portions so you need to maintain 80 to 100km speeds at most. Lots of peeps fly past me at 120km/hr or even 140km only for you to meet them infront with a burst tyre. Last thing you want is stop to change tyres or driving without a spare with hundreds of km left to cover.

The Ekiti-kabba-okene end is an hilly area and the roads aren't that straight and smooth , so
expect a lot of curves and turns which means you can't maintain maximum speeds.
This would eat into your travel time considerably.

Most hotels outside of Lagos are dirt cheap for a 3 star one. You would get very good ones @ 15k or less with breakfast in most cities outside of Lagos. Breaking your journey helps reduces the need to overspeed or driving long hours at a stretch and most importantly avoiding night travel. Nigerian roads aren't equipped for such.

Google maps is pretty reliable inside of Lagos but once you are in a town/city outside Lagos. Please do not take its advice to follow a shorter route and deviate from the highway. You go lost. Google don carry me go drop for middle of road that was leading to a mountain in Ekiti, all in the name of finding alternative routes. Lol

speedfreak:

Just personal preference, plus I have extra affinity miles so i'd rather use those than pay full price on a ticket.

Which one be extra affinity miles again?

lebete3000:


Which one be extra affinity miles again?

Rightfully called affinity wings, its a rewards program Arik gives frequent flyers, you accumulate miles on each flight and can use these miles to pay for flights, excess luggage, move up from business to first class etc. Ive been flying with them since my school days so ive racked up enough miles to make a huge difference on regular ticket prices.

onegig:


Just seeing your thread

I think breaking the journey would have been lovely since you had your partner with you. You could break the journey at Lokoja or stop at Ekiti and relax a bit.


I do a 5 hour out of Lagos trip frequently and i most of the times use it as an opportunity to explore cities in between the destinations. Even if you leave Lagos by 5am, the construction along the Lagos-ibadan stretch would extend your journey by at least an 1hour 30mins.

Also the stretch from Ibadan to Ekiti isn't really that good with the police check points at almost every 5km. For your own sake, make plenty N100 or N50 changes. If they stop you and nicely ask for Bottle water money.
Abeg give them. Or you could have snacks handy and give it to them. They patched lots of potholes on the road but there are still lots of failed portions so you need to maintain 80 to 100km speeds at most. Lots of peeps fly past me at 120km/hr or even 140km only for you to meet them infront with a burst tyre. Last thing you want is stop to change tyres or driving without a spare with hundreds of km left to cover.

The Ekiti-kabba-okene end is an hilly area and the roads aren't that straight and smooth , so
expect a lot of curves and turns which means you can't maintain maximum speeds.
This would eat into your travel time considerably.

Most hotels outside of Lagos are dirt cheap for a 3 star one. You would get very good ones @ 15k or less with breakfast in most cities outside of Lagos. Breaking your journey helps reduces the need to overspeed or driving long hours at a stretch and most importantly avoiding night travel. Nigerian roads aren't equipped for such.

Google maps is pretty reliable inside of Lagos but once you are in a town/city outside Lagos. Please do not take its advise to follow a shorter route and deviate from the highway. You go lost. Google don go carry me drop for middle of road that was leading to a mountain in Ekiti in the name of finding alternative routes. Lol

Thanks for the response, took a trip with Gigm last month to gauge how the route presently is to and fro, almost changed my mind about making the trip in December, concerned about lost time on those curves and turns at ?Ekiti-kabba, plus the okene to lokoja stretch is quite bad so I'm thinking a 3-4hr slowdown? Previously made late night trips up north, Jos- Abuja, Abuja-Minna so i could handle driving late into the night, not so sure i want to risk it right now with the present security challenges? Madam has also sworn to never travel by road after our last trip so i"m pretty much alone, Plan on breaking at lokoja and finishing the next day.
What would you advise?

Lavisha:
Honda are good cars only if you maintain em.
to answer your questions;
I've done it from Lokoja to lag and back with my Accord 2007 and it was cool.
A full tank should do tho but without Cat? who knows?!
Meanwhile, you need to drive with dexterity by speeding and braking at the right times, some portions or the road are good while others are very bad, rough driving may damage you CD player, engine seats etc.
Google map is okay.

Godspeed.

Really? My CD player doesn't play anymore , could it have been as result of deep Lagos pot holes or my rough driving? Its hard to believe sha

speedfreak:

Lol, I’ve been in a similar situation in Jos also, although mine was just after nasco roundabout, dudes said as long as it’s not factory tint I shouldn’t even have a permit,after dragging for almost an hour,we paid 5k and left, I peeled them off the very next day before I went back to Abuja.

now this is very right. Only cars without factory tint should require a permit. Factory tint should have no business with permit. But we do things anyhow in this country.

onegig:


Just seeing your thread

I think breaking the journey would have been lovely since you had your partner with you. You could break the journey at Lokoja or stop at Ekiti and relax a bit.


I do a 5 hour out of Lagos trip frequently and i most of the times use it as an opportunity to explore cities in between the destinations. Even if you leave Lagos by 5am, the construction along the Lagos-ibadan stretch would extend your journey by at least an 1hour 30mins.

Also the stretch from Ibadan to Ekiti isn't really that good with the police check points at almost every 5km. For your own sake, make plenty N100 or N50 changes. If they stop you and nicely ask for Bottle water money.
Abeg give them. Or you could have snacks handy and give it to them. They patched lots of potholes on the road but there are still lots of failed portions so you need to maintain 80 to 100km speeds at most. Lots of peeps fly past me at 120km/hr or even 140km only for you to meet them infront with a burst tyre. Last thing you want is stop to change tyres or driving without a spare with hundreds of km left to cover.

The Ekiti-kabba-okene end is an hilly area and the roads aren't that straight and smooth , so
expect a lot of curves and turns which means you can't maintain maximum speeds.
This would eat into your travel time considerably.

Most hotels outside of Lagos are dirt cheap for a 3 star one. You would get very good ones @ 15k or less with breakfast in most cities outside of Lagos. Breaking your journey helps reduces the need to overspeed or driving long hours at a stretch and most importantly avoiding night travel. Nigerian roads aren't equipped for such.

Google maps is pretty reliable inside of Lagos but once you are in a town/city outside Lagos. Please do not take its advise to follow a shorter route and deviate from the highway. You go lost. Google don go carry me drop for middle of road that was leading to a mountain in Ekiti in the name of finding alternative routes. Lol

dude mind don cut. Not travelling again. On one of my trips from lagos to abuja, google map led me to a stream in kogi.

speedfreak:

Thanks for the response, took a trip with Gigm last month to gauge how the route presently is to and fro, almost changed my mind about making the trip in December, concerned about lost time on those curves and turns at ?Ekiti-kabba, plus the okene to lokoja stretch is quite bad so I'm thinking a 3-4hr slowdown? Previously made late night trips up north, Jos- Abuja, Abuja-Minna so i could handle driving late into the night, not so sure i want to risk it right now with the present security challenges? Madam has also sworn to never travel by road after our last trip so i"m pretty much alone, Plan on breaking at lokoja and finishing the next day.
What would you advise?

I think road trips are still very interesting if you love driving long hours and have the time to spare.

You can stop over at Lokoja . But that's like a 12 hour drive stretch exclusive of traffic or stop overs. Too long for my liking. Also Lokoja to Abuja is just about 4 hours, so why spend so much hours on one leg of the traffic when you drive so little the second day?

Personal preference would be to stop at any functional city i get to along the way by 3pm if Travel start time from Lagos was 6am.

Even with the brightest lights for night driving, you would be driving almost blind in pitch darkness without road markings or street lights on pot hole filled roads. This is asides the security challenge. Also the rule of thumb is to prepare for eventualities, what happens if you have a breakdown on the road at 9pm? You are likely at the mercy of whatever lurks in the dark till morning.

Also don't compare those night bus journeys to your reality. They always have multiple drivers doing the stretch of traveling.

speedfreak:
Good morning all, I recently moved to Lagos for a new job, having been here for a year I am planning on going back to Abuja for Easter, not really a fan of public buses and due to the surge in traveling, Flight rates are astronomical for me and my fiancé, so driving would be my surest, most convenient and cheapest alternative.

I have gone through previous travel threads but they all seem outdated so I’m looking for an update.

I plan on leaving Thursday morning 5am, Im driving 2012 Honda Accord coupe. My questions would be:

1. First time driving such long distance, is it advisable? I’m not such a tough chap but I’m sure I can manage

2. How safe is the trip? With the kidnapping trend going on.

3. How much would it cost me to fuel? Car is a 4 cylinder without a cat (catalytic converter)

4. How rough will it be on the car? Car is less than 5months old, wouldn’t want to rough it up just yet.

5. How accurate is google maps? It estimates 12hrs through Ibadan and 14hrs through illorin.

Aside from the above any other advice or assistance would be welcomed.

Very accurate with Google map. You are covered with that.

For the safety part. The lord is thy strength.