Ado-Ekiti-Abuja road: In need of urgent federal intervention!, By Hakeem Jamiu

The parlous state of the Kabba-Omuo-Ekiti Road

The South-West caucus in the National Assembly, especially the Ekiti and Kogi caucuses, should raise the issue of the Abuja-Ado-Ekiti road as a matter of urgent public importance, so that the road could be fixed for the use of the people of Abuja, Kogi, Kwara, Ondo and other South-West states. The Houses of Assembly in the aforementioned states, especially Ekiti, where I currently serve, and Kogi, should also escalate it as a matter of urgent public importance.

The last time I travelled to Abuja from Ado Ekiti by road was about three years ago. The road was bad and it took me six hours, but the road has presently gone from bad to worse, such that the trip, which is 406 kilometres, took seven hours, instead of about four hours. I travelled on 25 June and came back via the same route on 27 June. It was an excruciating journey, to and fro. I had the option of traveling by air but I decided to embark on the trip by road out of curiosity and to also buy some foodstuffs on the road while coming back. I regretted my decision to travel by road and I realised that the terrible state of the road is the reason why many top government officials and the rich in private business prefer traveling by air, apart from security reasons like kidnapping and banditry attacks on road users. It is also possible that the Abuja-Ado Ekiti Road did not receive the deserved attention because top government functionaries, especially National and State Assembly members, including my humble self, travel by air most of the time, so they did not feel the pain that motorists go through. I feel so pained that the Abuja-Ado-Ekiti Road, which is the main gateway between the North and the South-West of Nigeria, is in such a sorry state.

I embarked on the journey from Ado Ekiti with my wife and a colleague at 8.30 a.m., and we started noticing the parlous state of the road immediately we left Omuooke and entered Iyamoye in Kogi State. The 78-kilometre Ado-Ikare federal road from Ijigbo junction, whose contract for reconstruction and dualisation was recently awarded due to the unwavering pressure mounted by Governor Biodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State, is bad up to Ijan-Ekiti. Ijan, Iluomoba, Aisegba to Agbado is fairly smooth. We had a very good ride from Agbado-Ekiti through Isinbode-Ekiti, Omuo-Ekiti, to Omuo-Oke, which was the road constructed by the immediate past Fayemi administration. The road is so bad from Iyamoye, Ekinrinade, Egbeda Eega, Ikoyi, Iyara, Kabba to Obajana, such that we could not drive for 10 minutes without applying the brakes. There was respite from Obajana to Lokoja, courtesy of the 43-kilometre concrete road constructed by Aliko Dangote, which made us drive smoothly for about 38 minutes non-stop, except for speed breakers. We stopped at Kabba for 30 minutes to eat. On getting to Lokoja, there were ongoing repair works on both sides of the dual carriage way. There was smooth driving for about 20 minutes out of about a one-hour drive immediately after Obajana to the Lokoja bridge. There was heavy traffic caused by the closure of one side of the two-kilometre bridge, leaving only one lane. This we later learnt was due to repair works on the bridge, but both sides of the bridge were open to traffic on our way back two days later.

We finally crossed the bridge after spending about 10 minutes in the traffic. Lokoja to Abaji, a distance of about 84 kilometres, took us about one hour, 30 minutes, and it was not that smooth, as most parts of the expressway has become corrugated and unmotorable, causing motorists to use only the lane from Abuja to Lokoja, which often leads to ghastly accidents on that road. It was the same with Abaji to Gwagwalada and to Abuja. The corrugated nature of the road must have been caused by the substandard construction, which made it give way as articulated vehicles with their weight plied the road. This should be considered while fixing the road and I wish to align with the suggestion of the Minister for Works, David Umahi that concrete roads should henceforth be constructed on our highways. The Dangote concrete road from Kabba to Obajana, constructed in January 2021, has remained solid ever since. We finally got to Abuja at 5.15 p.m. after driving for about seven hours.

On our return trip to Ado-Ekiti two days later, I decided to pay attention to the state of the road, right from the Central Business District, Abuja to Ado Ekiti, to know how many kilometres are motorable out of the 406-kilometre distance. I discovered that the longest stretch of the road, on which we drove non-stop for about one hour, 24 minutes was from the Central Business District to Abaji, which is about 118 kilometres. The next stretch was a 38-minute smooth drive on the 44-kilometre concrete road from Obajana to Kabba. The final stretch was the 25 minutes  smooth drive on the 34-kilometre Omuo-Agbado road. The 25-kilometre Agbado-Ijan road was fairly smooth. The alternative route to Ado-Ekiti from Omuo is the Omuo-Ilasa-Ayebode-Oke Ayedun-Odo-Ayedun-Ikole-Osin-Itapa-Ilupeju-Oye-Ayegbaju-Ifaki-Iworoko-Ado-Ekiti route, which all consists of federal roads. Some rehabilitation was carried out from Omuo to Oye but the road is still very bad. Governor Biodun Oyebanji is currently fixing the Ado-Ifaki road, which is a federal government road. Altogether, the length of the road that is motorable from Abuja to Ado-Ekiti, using the Omuo-Isinbode-Ode-Agbado-Aisegba-Iluomoba-Ijan to Ado Ekiti route is about 222 kilometres, while the remaining 184 kilometres are in a terrible state.

We noticed some repair works after Abaji for about 20 kilometres, but that was all. There was also reasonable security in place, especially joint security patrols and checkpoints involving vigilantes and the regular forces, between Lokoja and Kabba, which I learnt was put in place by the immediate past Yahaya Bello administration. This is commendable, as it has drastically reduced the kidnapping of motorists by bandits. It is so sad that as a country, we cannot fix a 400-kilometre road that links our country’s capital city to other state capitals in the South-West. There is no reason why the road from Abuja to Ado-Ekiti should not be well tarred and dualised with streetlights. I have heard about the Abuja-Lokoja road been awarded for reconstruction since the early 90s but the road remains in a sorry state. Abuja to Lokoja is 202 kilometres, which should be a two-hour drive but it takes over three hours because the road is bad. It is a known fact that not many travellers in Ekiti, Kwara, Ondo and Kogi states who ply the road can afford air travel and so it is imperative for the federal government to fix the road. It is also easier for somebody (either rich or poor) going to Omuo from Abuja (340 kilometres) to go by road than fly to Akure for about 40 minutes and then spend over three hours from Akure to Omuo, instead of just three hours and 20 minutes from Abuja if the road is fixed. Presently, the driving time from Abuja to Omuo is four hours, 32 minutes! The 80-kilometre Lokoja-Okene road is also in a bad state and it was the former route for Ado Ekiti-Abuja travellers before Dangote constructed the Obajana-Kabba concrete road.

The South-West caucus in the National Assembly, especially the Ekiti and Kogi caucuses, should raise the issue of the Abuja-Ado-Ekiti road as a matter of urgent public importance, so that the road could be fixed for the use of the people of Abuja, Kogi, Kwara, Ondo and other South-West states. The Houses of Assembly in the aforementioned states, especially Ekiti, where I currently serve, and Kogi, should also escalate it as a matter of urgent public importance. Governor Usman Ododo of Kogi State should mount more pressure on the Federal Government to fix the Abuja-Lokoja-Kabba-Omuo road as Governor Oyebanji is doing in Ekiti State, which has yielded result as the 78-kilometre Ado-Ikare road has been awarded.

The Oyebanji administration is presently constructing a ring road that would complement the Abuja-Ado-Ekiti road and be beneficial to travellers transiting through Ekiti State to other states. The ring road will save motorists the hassles of passing through Ado township roads and will reduce travel time. The first phase of the ring road, which starts from the outskirts of Iworoko, will lead to the Ekiti International Cargo airport through Ago Aduloju and the Ekiti Knowledge Zone, which will eventually link the Ado- Ekiti-Abuja road.

The incident of kidnapping on the Abuja-Ado-Ekiti highway will be reduced to the minimum if the road is fixed because the present parlous state of the road makes it easy for kidnappers and bandits to operate as motorists must go at snail speed or stop at some very bad spots on the road. It is also worthy of mention that the joint security put in place e,specially at the Kogi axis of the road, has been very effective, as this has reduced the incident of highway banditry and kidnapping. If the Abuja-Ado Ekiti Road is fixed, many of us who travel by air would prefer to travel by road because it would be cheaper and more pleasurable, as there will be no flight cancelation, non-availability of seats or flight delays. If the road is fixed and travel time is reduced to fours hours, a traveller from Ado to Abuja can keep a 10 a.m. appointment if he leaves Ado-Ekiti at 6 a.m.

In the same vein, the Akure-Ilesa-Ife-Ibadan Road equally needs urgent intervention by the Federal Government. It is a big relief that the Lagos-Ibadan expressway has finally been fixed after many years. Travel time from Ibadan to Lagos has been reduced to less than one hour now from the previous two hours due to traffic as a result of bad road. The earlier the Federal Government fixes the Abuja-Ado-Ekiti Road and the Akure-Ilesa-Ife-Ibadan Road, which are two strategic roads linking the federal capital to the rest of the South-West, the better for all of us. It is no rocket science to fix these roads because we have the resources and it is the least the citizens could ask for.

Hakeem Jamiu, the immediate past deputy speaker and member representing Irepodun-Ifelodun II in the Ekiti State House of Assembly, writes from Ado-Ekiti.