By Samuel Olusegun Precious
Motorists, commercial drivers, and interstate commuters across Nigeria are facing mounting hardship and severe distress as major federal highway networks continue to deteriorate into near-impassable conditions.
Travelers along critical interstate corridors report being stranded for days, resulting in massive losses of productivity and perishable goods. On the Benin-Agbor axis of the East-West road, severe disrepair has left commuters trapped in surrounding bushes for up to five days. Viral social media footage showed stranded passengers lamenting endless gridlocks, including one trader who lost her entire consignment of live catfish to the prolonged delay.
Conditions are similarly dire on the Benin-Warri corridor, where drivers are forced to navigate hazardous bush paths. Meanwhile, traffic along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway ground to a total standstill on Tuesday; a commuter leaving Lagos at 8:00 a.m. bound for Benin had only progressed as far as Christopher University by 3:30 p.m.
The nationwide road crisis has also taken a deadly toll. Over the weekend, a fatal crash along the Mokwa-Bida road in Niger State claimed nine lives. Key routes including the Abuja-Kano highway and the unfinished Port Harcourt-Enugu expressway remain in critical state. The gridlock on the roads is further compounded by a struggling national rail network, where operations on the Abuja-Kaduna, Warri-Itakpe, and Port Harcourt-Aba routes remain severely restricted due to operational inefficiencies and security concerns.
Critics and stranded commuters have voiced frustration, alleging that the Federal Government appears prioritized on the new Coastal Highway project at the expense of existing, critical national infrastructure.
In response to the growing public outcry, Minister of Works David Umahi conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the Benin-Agbor axis on Tuesday. While Umahi noted that the corridor had been placed under concession since 2025, his explanation offered little relief to affected travelers.
Following the assessment, President Bola Tinubu issued a direct directive to the Federal Ministry of Works to execute immediate emergency repairs on the Benin-Agbor-Asaba route to alleviate the acute gridlock and restore traffic flow.
