Lagos (AFP) - 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.

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://news.yahoo.com/nigerias-road-shame-goes-online-hope-better-days-035920087.html;_ylt=A0LEVy1h11tUvKkA5iRx.9w4;_ylu=X3oDMTByMG04Z2o2BHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMQRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkAw--?.tsrc=lgwnaww

This is a welcomed course of action but unfortunately our leaders do not care.

God will heal nigeria after we sweep out the years of the locust of the PDP next year.

It has been 15years of wastefulness, cluelessness and corruption o lord .

Come heal and restore our land O Lord.

The journey to rejuvenate this country starts with me and you. Every sane Nigerian need to be part of the atmosphere and desire for change.

na una dey embarrass unaselves, yeye people

This is awesome!! Just viewed the hashtag and it's indeed gaining a lot of traction!!

#Anything to jolt the perennially inactive government to roll up its sleeve and get some job done is worthy of being encouraged.

Nice one there.

Where are the TAN ambassadors & GEJ ewarriors, here is an issue you need to explain.

I always have my heart in my mouth when ever I have to travel by land.

iterator24:
na una dey embarrass unaselves, yeye people

People with your kind of orientation are the reason why this government screws its subjects over and over again and get away with it.

Shame.

For those that did not notice this road is in a certain utopia/eldorado called LAGOS!!!!!!

This is a combined failure by our political class. By this I mean all our leaders from state level to federal level, and not just from this era but also from previous era!

To pretend it's GEJ's alone is simply living in denial.

Fashola and Tinubu also have responsibility here!

You can't praise APC/Fashola for all that is right about Lagos and then turn around to blame GEJ when it is bad news!

That's just double standards!

Thank God for the power of media

Urgent actions should be taken to make sure that every sectors of the economy are touched in addition to good social amenities

omenka:
This is awesome!! Just viewed the hashtag and it's indeed gaining a lot of traction!!

#Anything to jolt the perennially inactive government to roll up its sleeve and get some job done is worthy of being encouraged.

Nice one there.

My brother this government won't know what hit them by february next year. They think it will be business as usual they will see a rude shock.

How can you come to power through popular demand and goodwill and squander that woefully without anything tangible to show for it yet you think you must continue.

Change is here and it is within our reach.

Nothing will deny our march to freedom from the grips of the PDP by May 29 2015

mikeansy:
For those that did not notice this road is in a certain utopia/eldorado called LAGOS!!!!!!

This is a combined failure by our political class. By this I mean all our leaders from state level to federal level, and not just from this era but also from previous era!

To pretend it's GEJ's alone is simply living in denial.

Fashola and Tinubu also have responsibility here!

You can't praise APC/Fashola for all that is right about Lagos and them turn around to blame GEJ when it is bad news!

That's just double standards!

U are right its Lagos and I can tell its Oshodi apapa road which belongs to the FG.

this is not a party but general problem...... pple should stop the blame game. this bad image affects only d average man.. nigeria needs overhauling, I won't mind if our president is a brillant 45 year old realist tired of d ancient ppl e

pendy79:


...
...

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.


...
...

Did you guys read this part, please is the road in front of my house a Federal Government road?

I can see guys already acting like APC has paved all Lagos inner roads which are typically muddy or extremely rough with broken interlocking stones.

PDP is also filled with crooks.

We should do all we can to make this shh trend, to become infectiously viral!

solid3:
Where are the TAN ambassadors & GEJ ewarriors, here is an issue you need to explain.

I always have my heart in my mouth when ever I have to travel by land.

And I suppose all roads in Nigeria belongs to the FG. Most state owned roads even in APC controlled states are in worse condition than the one pictured, go to Imo State and see roads and you will cry for yourself.

The one thing this thread proves is that APC and their supporters live in alternative universe!

They won't even own up to our collective failures as a people!

Scared for the future of Nigeria if this is what Nigeria's progressives are offering

God will return our country to the path of greatness soon.

omenka:
This is awesome!! Just viewed the hashtag and it's indeed gaining a lot of traction!!

#Anything to jolt the perennially inactive government to roll up its sleeve and get some job done is worthy of being encouraged.

Nice one there.

like the govt cared...
Check out the increase in the construction costs..massive corruption!

I remembered when yar adua budgeted 50 million naira for independence, Jonathan entered and increased it to 50 billion claiming we shld av a memorable 50th year anniversary...

We no see wetin dem use the 50 billion do o...except bomb blasts sha, for abuja

Terrible..

mikeansy:
For those that did not notice this road is in a certain utopia/eldorado called LAGOS!!!!!!

This is a combined failure by our political class. By this I mean all our leaders from state level to federal level, and not just from this era but also from previous era!

To pretend it's GEJ's alone is simply living in denial.

Fashola and Tinubu also have responsibility here!

You can't praise APC/Fashola for all that is right about Lagos and then turn around to blame GEJ when it is bad news!

That's just double standards!

there is no lagos state road like this. It can only be a federal road in Lagos state. Point of correction.

SLIDEwaxie:
like the govt cared...
Check out the increase in the construction costs..massive corruption!

I remembered when yar adua budgeted 50 million naira for independence, Jonathan entered and increased it to 50 billion claiming we shld av a memorable 50th year anniversary...

We no see wetin dem use the 50 billion do o...except bomb blasts sha, for abuja

Bros, u can lie cha

symbol of bad governance( FG, SG, n LG) we need a total change. God bless NIGERIA