Road Conditions Crippling Business, Inflating Food Costs

The urgency of road rehabilitation in Nigeria do not only lie in improving transportation infrastructure, but to enhance economic growth, mobility and safety for citizens, Festus Akanbi  writes

Like every other region of the world, Nigeria is experiencing heavy rainfall in many parts of the country.

It is a season that farmers always look out for as the rainy season usually triggers a feverish planting exercise which also guarantees abundant food production. 

In a country where unabating insecurity has chased away a high percentage of farmers from farmlands, analysts said the downpours being experienced in various parts of the country may not translate to a bumper harvest for farmers at the end of the day.

The state of Nigeria’s roads represents a critical bottleneck to the country’s economic development. The impact ripples through various sectors, increasing costs, stifling productivity, and constraining growth opportunities.

Of all the critical roads in the country, only the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway can be said to be motorable. Others are deplorable.

The reality is with most potential farmers being chased away by insurgents and kidnappers, the few lucky ones may still find it difficult to reap the fruits of their hard work as the problem of bad roads is standing between them and the markets where customers are waiting.

Analysts say the coming of the rainy season has worsened the case for farmers on the one hand, and Nigerian households who need farm produce for consumption, on the other, as the attendant higher transportation costs are placing these farm products above the reach of many people.

Harvests of Dilapidated Roads

From the north to the west, east, and south of the country, various horrible roads are wreaking havoc on enterprises, their managers, and the economic activity that roads were designed to support. 

From whichever location one decides to assess the conditions of the Nigerian roads, the story is pathetic.  From the bypass in Benin, Edo State connecting the Sapele Road to Upper Sokponba Road, Agbor Road, and the Benin-Auchi Road terminating at the Benin-Lagos Expressway, all within the south-south region of the country, it is a litany of woes.

According to recent media reports, the Benin-Auchi-Okene-Lokoja Highway is in a poor state with a section from the Urokuosa community near Benin City to Ewu, in Edo Central most hit. The Okpella to Okene route in Kogi State does not fare much better.

In Ogun State, residents of Akute, Olambe, and Agbado areas of Ifo Local Government have been cut off from the rest of the state with the successive governments turning deaf ears to the cries of the people. Other parts of the state including the famous Sango-Ota area also appear jinxed as residents grapple with the bad condition of the road and the attendant setback to businesses.

Similarly, the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, Lagos-Badagry-Seme Expressway, East-West Road, North-East Link Road, Ekpoma-Abuja Highway, Jos/Bauchi/Gombe Road, Kabba, Ayetoro Gbede, Egbe -Ilorin Road, Lagos /Abeokuta Expressway, Jos-Kaduna Road, Itokin/Ikorodu Road, Keffi-Nasarawa-Borno Road, Abuja-Lambata-Bida Road, Calabar – Itu- Road are just a few of the major roads expected to make possible intra and inter-trade in Nigeria, but these roads are in a state of disrepair. 

Misplaced Priority

While Nigerians argue for the immediate restoration of the country’s outdated roads, another point of contention is the priority given to the 700-kilometer Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which is anticipated to cost N15.6 trillion. The first 47.7 kilometres will cost N1.06 trillion.

However former Presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi advised the federal government to prioritise existing unfinished road projects spread across the country instead of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project.

Obi stated that the project was a misplaced priority given the numerous unfinished roads throughout the country. He added that the budget allocated to the Ministry of Works is insufficient for significant progress on the country’s various unfinished roads, let alone their completion.

Obi, while acknowledging the potential benefits of coastal superhighway infrastructure, advised that the government prioritise the existing infrastructural projects in the country, especially the numerous uncompleted roads scattered across the country, many of which have become death traps and security risks.

 Businesses Count Losses

Although the current administration has embarked on a massive road project, the fact remains that Nigerian roads are in a terrible state. The Minister of Works, David Umahi, recently captured the dreadful state of these roads after taking a tour around the country to have firsthand information about the state of federal roads. 

He said: “When you ask me to go and intervene on certain roads, which have collapsed, I have to liken the situation to a man on life support. The man needs immediate attention. Where there is an emergency, the road is cut and the people are suffering, movement is stopped, it needs an emergency. So, we appeal for a contingency to respect your directives on fixing emergencies.”

“I travelled through the roads myself and I shed tears for the kind of pain our people are going through. I spent 14 hours on the road having started my journey at 10:00 am and got to Benin City at 2:00 pm the next day I was very happy I experienced the pain, “he added.

 Business concerns that suffer from the horrible state of roads across the country include small, medium, and large organisations. These businesses include transporters, importers, exporters, manufacturers, haulage companies, marketers as well as farmers to mention a few. 

The National Coordinator, 100 per cent Compliance Team of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Ibrahim Tanko, was quoted as saying that the deplorable state of the roads across the country is negatively affecting not just citizens, but also businesses. According to him, it hampers the ability to connect one part of the country with another smoothly.  

According to him, “Almost every day, trailers fall on the road with cost implications for both the transporters and owners of the goods. If there is anything this government should do for us, it is to find a solution to the insecurity crisis and fix the bad roads. If they succeed in this, 80 per cent of our problems are solved.”

The Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said that sometimes consignments are lost to accident on the way to being delivered to the wholesalers due to dilapidated roads. 

“And even some of our raw materials, especially those being moved from remote areas to the factories suffer the same fate in some cases because of the breakdown of the trucks. And the perishable goods, we lose the raw materials, when the vehicle conveying them upturned. 

“Very importantly, the cost of moving goods because of the bad road is also a major concern which affects the prices of products, sometimes leading to consumers’ apathy. Thus, we are not able to sell as we should. This is because when we put the cost on our end product, the price becomes higher. 

On her part, the Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Chinyere Almona, said LCCI is deeply concerned about the ongoing challenges faced by businesses in Nigeria, particularly, those operating in the logistics and transportation sector. 

She explained that “One of the key issues highlighted by transporters is the alarming delays experienced by their drivers on federal highways due to the dilapidation of the road network, which, in turn, adversely affects their cash flow, increases maintenance costs in addition to the impact of foreign exchange volatility on imported spare parts and tyres.”

Movement of Agricultural Products

Agriculture, the major contributor to Nigeria’s GDP, contributing over 23% and employing over 34% of Nigeria’s workforce is highly dependent on available road networks. Farmers in rural areas are affected by the lack of access to good roads resulting in the inability of most farmers to transport their goods to available markets leading to loss of perishable farm produce. 

The industrial sector is not left behind as a good road transportation network is required to bridge the gap between the place of production and the point of final consumption. 

One can only ask the federal, state, and local governments to prioritise road repair so that the benefits of whatever changes are implemented can reach the most vulnerable.

The importance of road repair in Nigeria rests in enhancing transportation infrastructure to boost economic growth, mobility, and citizen safety.