Motorists count losses on bad Niger highways

In the last four weeks, motorists, especially heavy-duty trucks plying highways that link Niger State to the southern parts of Nigeria have come under severe stress. Traders transporting perishable food items and animals have incurred economic losses worth millions of naira due to the poor state of the roads, made worse by the rainy season. […]

In the last four weeks, motorists, especially heavy-duty trucks plying highways that link Niger State to the southern parts of Nigeria have come under severe stress. Traders transporting perishable food items and animals have incurred economic losses worth millions of naira due to the poor state of the roads, made worse by the rainy season. The bone of contention is the deplorable state of the long stretch of the Lambata-Lapai-Agaie-Bida road and the Minna-Bida road, where goods worth millions of naira are being transported daily.

Investigation by Daily Trust on Sunday revealed that for days, motorists will have to sleep on traffic that stretches over 50km on the Lambata-Lapai-Agaie-Bida road. The road is strategic as it serves as a major route that connects the North and the South. 

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Daily Trust on Sunday recalls that on September 3, 2021, heavy-duty vehicle drivers blocked the Lambata-Bida road to protest its deplorable condition, during which the federal government reiterated its desire to have the road reconstructed.

Motorists who spoke with our correspondent lamented that the condition of the road, which has been captured as part of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited road projects, has remained the same, calling on the government to expedite action in fixing the road to ease the suffering of travellers.

Samaila Mohammed, a truck driver who was to convey bags of groundnut worth N6million from Agaie market to Zaria, Kaduna State, said he got trapped in the traffic between Agaie and Lapai for four days.

“The groundnut is already rotten because it rains day and night. While trying to get out of the mud, my vehicle has broken down. We are suffering,” he said, in drenched clothes in the rain while mechanics tried to fix the wheels of his vehicle.

 

Kamal Mohammed, another truck driver, also told our correspondent that “perishable goods, including farm produce, have been lost on this road. I have spent 8 days in the traffic and the traffic extends from Badeggi to Lapai, over 30km stretched of the road. Those of us who carry cows and goats have lost many of them; they have died on this road.”

Yusuf Ali, a driver with pâté of drip on his left hand, said he had just been treated for typhoid fever at Agaie General Hospital after he spent 9 days in the traffic in Agaie town.

“I am conveying BC rubbers from Lagos to Kano. My vehicle has fallen down twice and it costs me N300,000 to lift it. We have lost a lot on this road,” he said.

Residents of Agaie, one of the major towns along the road lamented over the deplorable condition of the road, even as they said that heavy-duty vehicles fell regularly on houses by the roadside.

One of the residents, Alhaji Baba Katun said, “We face a lot of difficulties coming out of our houses in our cars because articulated vehicles have taken over the entrances to our homes. Sometimes they fall down, even those carrying petrol. We are always in fear. Government should fulfill its promise. This road has been like this for the past 8 years.”

Residents also decried possible outbreak of diseases as travellers and articulated vehicle drivers trapped in the traffic engage in open defecation by the roadside.

Also, the Minna-Bida road, which was awarded to the indigenous construction company, Dantata and Sawoe in 2018, is yet to attain 30 per cent completion, while bridges and river crossings along the road are on the verge of being cut off due to persistent rainfall. 

The project, which was said to cost the state N24billion, is being jointly funded by the Islamic Development Bank and a counterpart fund of N15billion by the state government. 

Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that the duration of the project, which was 18 dry months, had exceeded four years after, accompanied with tales of losses by road users due to the poor state of the road.

The state government had in 2020 blamed the snail pace of the reconstruction work on Minna-Bida road on the articulated vehicles plying it, and shot the road on heavy trucks, but barely three years after, the situation has remained the same.

Daily Trust on Sunday recalls that on February 25, 2020, the Niger State Government officially flagged off the reconstruction of the Minna-Bida road. 

The road, which residents said was first constructed in the 1990s, only underwent minor rehabilitation in 2003 during the regime of Abdulkadir Abdullahi Kure, an engineer, as governor in the state. It was also found that the Niger State Road Maintenance Agency (NIGROMA) carried out minor repairs between 2007 and 2011.

Also, in September 2, 2020, the state government, through the chairman, Infrastructure and Monitoring Committee and chief of staff to the governor, Ibrahim Balarabe Kagara, announced a total ban on articulated vehicles on the Minna-Bida road, which took effect from September 15 to allow speed completion of reconstruction work.

The incumbent governor, Abubakar Sani Bello had also on October 6, 2021, told journalists during an inspection tour that the project would be completed in a couple of weeks, saying he was satisfied with the capacity of the company handling the project.

Investigation by Daily Trust on Sunday revealed that major bridges and river crossings along the Minna-Bida road are on the verge of being cut off as one recently collapsed, forcing motorists to take a longer route through Zingeru-Wushishi-Bida, including those traveling to the South.

Calls put across to the commissioner for works in the state, Mohammed Sani Lafiya by our correspondent for reactions went unanswered. He did not also reply a message sent to him.

But while the condition of the road has continued to deteriorate over the years despite its importance to the state, residents said that out of the 86km, only 12km from Minna-Garatu has been asphalted in the last three years.

While residents believe that the state has been battling with security challenges along highways over the years, the Minna-Bida road has been free from insecurity, and they wonder why the reconstruction has been at a snail pace.

A resident of Garatu, one of the major communities along the road, John Abudu, told our correspondent that the deplorable state of the road had crippled economic activities in the area in the last three years.

“During the rainy season we cannot come out, and during dry season, dust is everywhere. Those of us with shops by the road, whatever you keep outside will be full of dust, and we suffer from catarrh. We are suffering a lot. 

“If this road is repaired, it will boost economic activities in the areas because people will be able to go to market easily. Instead of coming to our market, when they think of this road they would carry their goods somewhere else,” he said.

Danladi Zubairu, the supervisor of Nice-Travel Park, one of the major parks in Minna said, “Government has made promises several times to repair this road but nothing has happened. This road has damaged all our vehicles. Our vehicles get damaged due to the deplorable condition of this road.

He said commercial vehicles plying the Minna-Bida road now exchanged passengers between those in Minna and Bida at a location where a bridge recently collapsed between Sabon-Gida village and Bida.

“For the past 8 years, we have not seen the progress of the work. Contractors are just in one place while we suffer on this road on a daily basis,” he added.