NIGERIAN ROADS ARE IN A STATE OF DISREPAIR

 Almost every road statistics in Nigeria hardly deviates from the fact that  our roads are heavily pot-holed and recklessly punctured in  a state of disrepair .To be precise , 85 percent of Nigerian roads  are in a bad condition according to statistics by Rural road  access and mobility project [RAMP].

That only slightly above 16,000 sq.km. of secondary and tertiary roads in the country were motorable . The local government roads were the worst hit  about 70 percent  of these roads were impassable .Unfortunately  70 percent of Nigerians lived in the rural areas .

Out of over 160,000sq.km. of secondary and tertiary roads in the country with an average  registered network  of 4,000km.per state ,only 10 to 15percent  is paved .And a large portion  of this mess remains in the rural areas  which are in a very bad condition with only 15 percent of federal roads in good condition.It is sad that these roads which constitute about  67.7 percent  or 132 ,000km. of the entire road networks in  the country which ought to have received  emergency attention long long ago  continue to stall economic growth  but none so far has been repaired or status upgraded  over a dozen years of democratic dispensation. Even in Lagos the supposed center of excellence  over 60 percent of the roads are in bad state yet patching of  roads goes on,  on a daily basis .

Farmers faced excruciating pains of shouldering economic growth alone subsiding the nation with their agony and sweat .The challenges of protracted or long travel time ,increasing rate of motor accidents ,perishability of crops  ,growth rate of starvation and  hunger due to impassable access roads  are some of the consequences of bad roads  in the country ..More than 20 percent of the  agricultural production never reach end users and half of farmers outputs  are destroyed  annually in the process due to lack of infrastructure like lack of storage facilities and bad roads .

How come close to 500billion naira  is spent every year on these roads yet their deplorable condition and status remained unchanged ? The routine cost and periodic maintenance for the road network is put at 2billon dollars  per annum .The question is not about the money -a mere fiduciary resource  but the opacity  involved -a condition that has incessantly retarded the sanity needed in fund management  and funds being daily disbursed   for the purpose of turn around project.We earnestly desire  and clamor for change but when will this change come ?

Although with the emergence of GEJ administration some  roads may be wearing a new look as the administration undertakes thorough revamping of the state of Nigerian roads .Even at that with its exit in 2019 only time  will tell.