When a former governor of Lagos State, Lateef Jakande, added his weighty voice to the agonised cries of Lagosians over the “terrible” condition of the roads, he re-ignited complaints on the poor quality of governance in Africa’s most populous city. In a marked departure from his accustomed reticence, the first civilian governor of the state remarked on the potholed and cratered roads, the permanent traffic logjam and their negative impact on the economy. His measured tone, despite the candour, still hardly captured the magnitude of the chaos on highways that has laid the city low, discouraged investors and fostered despair among residents.
Restoring confidence in governance and taking the coastal city back to its growth trajectory now fall on Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who has been denied the usual honeymoon with voters, five months in office as governor. This is partly because of the dilapidated roads and the attendant misery of residents and businesses. Jakande, aged 90, is celebrated for his development strides as the “Action Governor” of Lagos, 1979-83, including the construction and rehabilitation of roads, multiple mass housing estates and the country’s first mass transit rail project cavalierly abandoned by the succeeding military junta. His intervention, therefore, adds to the pressure on Sanwo-Olu to act and make commuting on the roads less excruciating. The governor is already feeling the pressure: shortly after meeting with eight major road contractors last month, he declared a “state of emergency” on the roads, vowing to fix them.
Lagosians are blaming him for the mess, though it is an inherited problem compounded by his seeming inaction. But governors are elected to fix problems they meet and Sanwo-Olu’s fitness for the job will be sorely tested. Roads, says that World Economic Forum, “are arteries through which the economy pulses.” With its economy adjudged to be Africa’s fifth largest at $131 billion and the country’s financial and industrial nerve centre, the terrible roads simply cannot be tolerated as they help entrench poverty. Most of Lagos State forms a rising “mega city,” hence the use of state and city interchangeably.
Describing many of the state’s 9,100 roads as decrepit is an understatement: some have been rendered impassable, potholes have given way to craters and a few have been cut in places. This has been compounded by unremitting rainfall from early in the year and still ongoing, the culmination of changes in the seasons. Even at the best of times, the notorious traffic “go-slow” defines Lagos, but a relaxation of traffic law enforcement re-energised the penchant of Lagos drivers for lawlessness on the highways. Officials, including law enforcement and security personnel, commercial vehicle operators, individuals and politicians, have taken impunity on the roads to new levels. All rules are routinely broken, including driving against traffic, on the kerbs, forming multiple lanes, breaking traffic lights and illegal parking. Between them, the yellow-painted minibuses, commercial tricycle (Keke Napep) and commercial motorcycle (Okada) operators have made the roads a daily living hell for commuters and pedestrians alike. Added to this, bad roads, therefore, turn journeys of 30 minutes into several hours, damage vehicles, force higher spending on transport and take a toll on health. Criminals taking advantage of the crawling traffic add to commuters’ misery.
Some of the major reconstruction works on some federal highways in the state have either been inexplicably suspended or are going on at a snail’s pace, while the inner arteries have suffered for some years. The state’s economy is taking a battering. About N6 trillion is lost by various sectors as a result of the failed Apapa Ports access roads and gridlock, says the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association. Sixty-five per cent of the country’s maritime trade comes through the Apapa and Tin Can Ports, and the Dangote Group says its salt and sugar subsidiaries lose N2 billion monthly to the gridlock, while manufacturers put their annual losses from the bad roads at N20 billion. With 45 per cent of Nigeria’s skilled labour force in Lagos, the impact on productivity is also obvious. Notably, the 20 per cent of the average resident’s income spent on transport has gone up, adding to poverty levels.
Sanwo-Olu needs to work harder to rejuvenate, fund and motivate the Lagos State Public Works Corporation to undertake emergency road works throughout the state. A report found that many roads fail as a result of poor design, construction and maintenance and host too many heavy duty trucks far heavier than the capacity of the roads. The 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas should also undertake simultaneous emergency repairs and reconstruction of roads in coordination with the state government. The wasteful, idle LGAs should do their part too. As military administrator in 1996-99, Mohammed Marwa worked out a collaborative programme where the state and the LGs repaired roads and concurrently constructed new ones, a synergy the governor needs to embrace. Lagos should have a holistic highway maintenance template by categorising road maintenance into three; routine, periodic and special/emergency works.
Sanwo-Olu should also revive the state’s once lauded drainage maintenance programme and enforce sanitation laws; neglect of both leads to flooding, damage the roads and hamper movement. Resuming work and at a faster pace should be integral to the emergency. Urgency and total commitment by the governor and officials are required to achieve quick results. It requires hands-on supervision, effective monitoring and funding.
Lagos, with 22 million residents and a relatively small land area, must key in to the vision articulated since Jakande’s tenure and ongoing for an inter-modal transport system featuring roads, water, rail and air transport within the shortest possible time and reduce the excessive pressure on the roads.
