By Ali Elias
Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has renewed his call for the government to prioritize repairing existing roads instead of launching new projects. Obi shared his frustrating experience from a road journey on October 15th, where a trip from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Anyigba, Kogi State, which should have taken three and a half hours, dragged on for over seven hours due to poor road conditions. His ordeal highlights the worsening state of Nigeria’s road infrastructure.
Obi pointed to similar road challenges across the country, from Calabar to Uyo and Abuja to Kaduna, to stress the urgency for action. He emphasized the need for the government to shift focus and resources towards fixing existing road networks to ease the strain on commuters, instead of starting new projects that may remain unfinished.
His experience and comments were shared via his X (formerly Twitter) account: On Tuesday the 15th, my journey from Onitsha in Anambra State to Anyigba in Kogi State by road once again underscored my consistent appeal for all tiers of government to prioritize the repair and completion of existing road infrastructure, rather than launching new projects that may not be completed anytime soon, further adding to the growing list of abandoned projects scattered all over the country.
The journey, which should normally take around three and a half hours, took us over seven hours. The route through Obollo Afor, Otukpa Branch, Ejule, and Anyigba was exhausting. On the return trip, we took an alternate route via Ogugu and Enugu-Ezike, departing Kogi State around 2:00 p.m. and not arriving back until about 9:00 p.m. – all for a meeting that lasted just 30 minutes.
This is my travel experience across the country this year. In the first quarter, I had cause to travel from Calabar to Uyo, a trip that should take about an hour, but it ended up taking four hours. I travelled from Port Harcourt to Bayelsa, thinking I would use the East-West Road to Warri, but it became a treacherous journey. Warri to Benin was a similar experience.
In August, I travelled from Abuja to Kaduna, where I spent over two hours on the Kaduna bypass alone.
The Onitsha to Benin route was no different.
My recent trip from Benin to Auchi and back was excruciating, and one cannot help but wonder. I know these things cannot be fixed overnight, but my appeal is that there should be total commitment to alleviating the suffering of the Nigerian travelling public, rather than launching new projects.
The resources should be directed toward improving the existing roads and easing the burden on commuters.