NIGERIA’S government consistently fails in many fundamental aspects of national life. One of the most glaring examples is the mismanagement of emergencies on major highways.
The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway starkly revealed this neglect on Wednesday, when a petrol tanker crashed and was incinerated along with other vehicles, exposing the government’s ineptitude.
It is indefensible that, 24 hours after the incident, the Federal Government, Ogun State Government, the police, and the Federal Road Safety Corps allowed Nigeria’s busiest highway to remain engulfed in chaos, gridlock, carnage, and distress.
There was no hint of the impending chaos on the eve of ‘Democracy Day.’ As the day wore on, a series of events unfolded. First, a trailer crashed into a bus at KM44. At the Ogere Interchange, two auto accidents occurred on both sides of the expressway. Both incidents instigated massive chaos that lasted deep into the night.
All this was compounded by a petrol tanker that crashed at the NASFAT Camp area on the outward lane to Ibadan. The fire raged without control, incinerating other vehicles. The wreckage caused massive gridlock on the two sides of the expressway. Two people reportedly died.
As of Thursday afternoon, the expressway was still at a standstill. Law and order broke down swiftly, compounded by the absence of law enforcement agents and the irresponsible motorists who drove against the traffic from Berger to NASFAT.
Many people slept on the highway or in offices. Others cancelled their trips. There was widespread lawlessness as security agents vanished when they were needed most.
Both the federal and Ogun State governments should be ashamed of their failure to promptly manage the fire and related accidents. It is not rocket science to position dedicated patrol teams and equipment on such a critical highway, especially when the cost is trivial compared to the luxury SUVs government officials use to drive past the mayhem, indifferent to the suffering.
Originally opened in August 1978 by the Olusegun Obasanjo military regime, the expressway was a source of pride to Nigeria. Then, it operated three toll points in Lagos, Ogere, and Ibadan. Over time, it has become a source of discomfort. Obasanjo, in his second coming, inaugurated the reconstruction in 2004. He did not finish it.
Umaru Yar’Adua toyed with a PPP arrangement when he took over, but it did not materialise. The Federal Government repossessed the road as Goodluck Jonathan relaunched the reconstruction in 2013, promising a four-year construction period. It was not to be.
Muhammadu Buhari spent eight years after Jonathan, with most of the work in place, yet the road remained unfinished. Now, the question is: how long will it take President Bola Tinubu to finally deliver?
This lack of seriousness reinforces notions that in Nigeria, the government primarily serves the elite class who have abandoned road travel for air, enjoying the benefits of democracy while ordinary citizens are left to suffer. This should not be the case.
The government in Nigeria is notorious for poor choices. Just 127.6 km long, the expressway is the most important arterial road in Nigeria, linking Lagos, the commercial and former political capital, to Ibadan, Oyo State, and other parts of Nigeria.
This alone makes the highway a top priority. However, to the Nigerian government, it does not matter. What a shame!
Since 2004, the Federal Government has embarked on the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan highway. Twenty-one years on, the road remains uncompleted, a disgraceful record.
In that period, Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan, and Buhari have been president. The incumbent, Tinubu, is two years in the saddle. This is a national shame.
Although most of the highway has been rebuilt, many points, particularly at the Ojoo end in Ibadan and the interchanges at MFM, Lotto, and Aiyetoro, are abandoned.
During Easter, a lowbed vehicle damaged the Lotto Interchange. At several points, the completed sections have failed, especially at Ibafo, Mowe, and Ogere. This is bad governance.
Under Buhari and his Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, motorists went through hell in the hands of Julius Berger, the contractor.
The incumbent Works Minister, David Umahi, is wrangling over the cost to complete the highway with contractors, slowing down a process that should not take more than two or three years.
This particular minister is focused on revenue generation, elevating the tolling of the expressway above completion.
The excuse that the Federal Government does not have the funds to complete the highway is flat-out nonsense. A government that cancelled the petrol subsidy, floated the naira, gave N90 billion as hajj subsidy in 2024, and is constructing the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway with N15 trillion cannot now claim insolvency concerning the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Ogun State’s role is equally disappointing. Governor Dapo Abiodun, like his predecessors, has shown little initiative, despite most of the expressways running through the state. Residents compare Ogun unfavourably to Lagos in terms of emergency response, with accident sites being cleared quickly and traffic restored.
Therefore, Abiodun should mobilise resources, road safety equipment, and put men on the highway to ameliorate the suffering of commuters.
His predecessor, Ibikunle Amosun, built two pedestrian bridges at Ibafo and Mowe. Abiodun should erect more foot bridges and ensure that pedestrians use them, or risk fines and punishment for crossing the expressway on foot.
The law enforcement agencies, especially the police and FRSC, have been found wanting. Before the accident, traffic violations occurred with impunity. The most glaring was driving against traffic, constituting a public danger. So far, the two agencies seem incapable of curbing this, but it must end.
In fairness, the agencies lack equipment and personnel. Police patrols are limited because many officers are illegally attached to VIPs for elite protection rather than serving the public. Worse, there is no state police to pick up the slack.
Tinubu must prioritise this road. India’s Ministry of Roads and Highways constructed 3,600 km of national highways in the five years to April. From about 22 km per day during the previous five-year period from 2014-15 to 2018-19, the average pace of construction from 2019-20 to 2023-24 was about 31 km per day. This is noteworthy. Can Nigeria’s self-conceited leadership learn from this?
China is not far behind, constructing about 19 km of expressways daily. This resulted in over 161,000 km vast network of highways, higher than the network in the United States.
What should Tinubu do?
First, the President should find the funds to complete the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway not later than this year.
All the interchanges should be top priority.
The President should order the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to deploy round-the-clock patrol squads on the highway to stem crime and traffic violations.
The Ogun governor should review the operations of the Amotekun on the highway to provide an extra layer of security and safety for motorists and commuters, and quickly arrest the drift to mayhem in the event of accidents, which are frequent on the corridor. With factories springing up regularly on the corridor, it is in Abiodun’s interest to do this.
The FRSC should clamp down on driving against the traffic (one-way in local parlance). It is an affront to a decent society. It should have a method to bar rickety tankers and trucks from plying the highways.
The FRSC, police, and the Ogun government should clamp down on motorcyclists who ride with impunity, carry more than one passenger, and ride against traffic. They should seize such motorcycles and crush them to deter other potential offenders.
There should be no more excuses, Tinubu, Abiodun, and the security agencies must restore sanity to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Source: PUNCH.
