The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) recently raised an alarm over the deteriorating condition of most roads in Nigeria, revealing that many have exceeded their intended lifespan, signaling the need for immediate intervention. FERMA’s Managing Director, Nuruddeen Rafindadi, speaking at the 10th public lecture of the Nigerian Society of Engineers in Kaduna, highlighted that most of the country’s roads, which were originally designed to last between 10 to 25 years, remain in use with minimal or no maintenance. This, he noted, represents a challenge that demands prompt attention from federal, state, and local governments to prioritize regular upkeep, upgrade existing roads, and construct new ones.

The appalling state of Nigeria’s roadways and the widening road infrastructure deficit is a reflection of the broader issues of decay, stunted progress, and poor governance afflicting the nation.

Roads play a vital role in economic development, stimulating growth and providing important social benefits. As the World Bank describes, roads are “the arteries through which the economy pulses.” They offer critical access to employment opportunities, social services, healthcare, and education. Furthermore, an extensive road network can combat poverty by opening up new regions and fueling economic and social advancement. Due to these crucial functions, roads are regarded as the most significant of all public assets, as pointed out by World Highways.

Nigeria’s current road network spans approximately 202,000 kilometers, with the Federal Government responsible for 35,000 kilometers, states handling 50,000 kilometers, and local governments overseeing 117,000 kilometers of feeder roads, according to the Road Sector Development Team under the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. Most federal roads were built during the military era and shortly after Nigeria’s independence, leaving them now aged, potholed, and largely in disrepair. Where repairs are conducted, they are often poorly executed, leading to the rapid erosion or collapse of road sections. Alarmingly, critical inter-state roads that are vital for commerce have been reduced to dangerous, dilapidated death traps, including the Enugu-Onitsha, Odukpani-Itu, Oyo-Ogbomoso-Ilorin, Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa, Benin-Sapele-Warri, Enugu-Port Harcourt, and Benin-Auchi-Okene roads. These roads not only impede travel but have become hotspots for criminal activity, where criminals exploit the failing infrastructure to rob, kill, or kidnap travelers.

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) reported a staggering 5,483 deaths from road accidents in 2019, 5,574 in 2020, and 6,205 in 2021, with bad roads contributing significantly to these tragedies. This senseless loss of life must not be allowed to continue.

One of the busiest highways in sub-Saharan Africa, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, exemplifies Nigeria’s chronic road woes. Contracts for its current phase of rehabilitation were awarded as far back as 2013, yet completion remains elusive. As a critical artery to the country’s commercial hub and an essential economic corridor, the interminable delays in repairing this road serve as a stark testament to successive administrations’ lack of commitment to infrastructure development. Long-term reconstruction and comprehensive funding plans are desperately needed to restore dilapidated roads. Roads not only connect producers to markets but are also central to a country’s broader development agenda, according to the World Bank.

The European Road Federation, in a 2013 manifesto on road asset management, emphasized the importance of maintenance and modernization in road infrastructure. In light of this, both federal and state governments must urgently begin large-scale reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts. This requires a greater commitment of resources and increased funding. The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, admitted that the government currently owes road contractors a staggering N10.4 trillion, with unpaid certificates for completed works totaling N765 billion. This situation reveals a troubling laxity on the part of the government and the National Assembly, which is tasked with approving public expenditure and overseeing the executive branch.

A critical factor contributing to the slow pace of road rehabilitation and construction is insufficient budgetary allocations. Even when funds are eventually made available, progress on road projects remains agonizingly slow. Nigerians have expressed frustration over the drawn-out work on key projects like the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Kano-Kaduna-Abuja highway, and the Second Niger Bridge, despite the infusion of $311 million in recovered stolen funds earmarked for their completion.

In a bid to address the widening road infrastructure gap, the Federal Government is seeking to raise $1.5 trillion over the next decade to implement its National Infrastructure Stock plan. Various alternative financing methods have been explored, including the issuance of Sukuk Bonds to fund 25 road projects across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, followed by a second bond to finance 28 additional road projects. In 2019, a Presidential Executive Order titled ‘Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme’ was introduced, allowing major corporations to participate in road construction efforts. Currently, 19 road projects spanning 794.4 kilometers are being rehabilitated under this scheme.

However, these initiatives barely scratch the surface given the scale of road dilapidation across Nigeria. By contrast, China, which has rapidly expanded its road infrastructure, spent 702.6 billion yuan on major highways in 2018 alone. Since the completion of its first expressway in 1988, China has built over 160,000 kilometers of expressways, the most of any country worldwide.

In November 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law, unlocking funds for essential road projects, broadband expansion, and other vital infrastructure upgrades. India, too, has been aggressively developing its road infrastructure, constructing between 23 to 42 kilometers of roads daily in recent years. Nigeria must adopt similarly ambitious strategies to fund and accelerate road development and maintenance. Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) should be expanded, as they have been used successfully in other countries for infrastructure development.

Prioritizing road maintenance will yield widespread benefits, helping preserve current assets, reduce future costs for citizens, taxpayers, and road users, and contribute to a more efficient economy. State and local governments must also significantly ramp up their investment in constructing and maintaining roads to improve transportation and foster economic development throughout Nigeria.