Mile 2-Badagry road: Journey of 30 minutes, now five hours · Badagry residents recount ordeal, losses · Businessmen flee Nigeria, as people die every day on the road

By SUNDAY ANI (nichsunny@yahoo.com)

“If you drive from here (Badagry) to Lagos, you must use Panadol when you come back to relieve the pains sustained from the road. And there is no way you won’t change one or two things from your vehicle if you go to Lagos. If you don’t want to repair anything in your vehicle, don’t go to Lagos but the moment you decide to go to Lagos, be prepared to change one or two things from your vehicle and that is the fact about it.” That was how the Secretary, Road Transport Workers Union, Seme Kweme, Alhaji Akeem Sanni captured the condition of Mile 2-Badary Expressway for the residents of Badagry and its environs when our reporter spoke to him.

Alhaji Sanni is just one person among many residents of Badagry-Seme axis who have described their experiences on the road as nightmarish. To them, the road is a direct visa to hell as many people perish on it every day. They felt abandoned and rejected by both the federal and state governments that have kept deaf ears to the plight of the Badagry residents, despite reports of the number of accidents on the road every day.

They couldn’t understand why the road has not been fixed despite huge sums of revenue that federal and state governments rake in from Badagry and Seme border. To them, the action is foolhardy as they alleged that most businessmen who come to Nigeria from the neighbouring West African countries have all abandoned Nigeria for Ghana because of the road.

The complaints of residents of Badagry-Seme axis about the road, was confirmed when Saturday Sun reporter embarked on a journey from Mile 2 to Badagry to have firsthand experience. Talking about the road, the driver of the bus that conveyed him had said: “To say that the road is bad is an understatement; from Agbara end of the road to Badagry on both sides, the road has gullies at every 100 metres. In some places, you will discover that the road is cut into two. It is too bad and this is an international road that links other countries like Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Sierra-Leone and others. Before now, from Mile 2 to Badagry was just about 30 minutes drive but today, we spend two to three hours and when it rains, it could be anything around six, seven hours or even more.”

A soldier who was seated at the front seat with our reporter also volunteered: “The two or three hours the driver just talked about, is when the road is free. If there is hold-up, you can spend more than five hours and when it rains, you cannot estimate the number of hours you will spend on the road because sometimes, you may have to sleep especially if Agbara is blocked.”

Starting from Agric down to Badagry, the road could better be described as landmine. Places that are deadly and which should be noted by all road users included but not restricted to Agric, Alaba Aragun, LASU gate, Okokomaiko, Vespa, Agbara, Iyana Ibiye, Jar Michael, Agogo gbala, Limka, Dereko army barracks up to Badagry roundabout.

Findings revealed that why accidents occur frequently on the road is because most motorists no longer comply with the right of way rule. They ply whichever route that seems manageable; it doesn’t matter whether the person is driving against traffic and that has always caused head-on collision with articulated vehicles. Although, there seems to be on-going repair works at some portions of the road but it is just like a drop in the ocean as the black spots dot the entire stretch of the road especially from Agbara.

However, the area boys are not left out in their desperate efforts to bring succour to motorists, even though, they ask for stipend from motorists. At Agogo gbala area, you could see the boys trying to fill up the gully on the road but at the same time, it seemed as if they were more interested in collecting tolls from motorists for what they were doing.  

When our reporter spoke to a Badagry resident and stakeholder, Chuks Obini, he decried the dilapidated state of the road and described government’s nonchalance to the plight of the people living in the area as wicked. Painting a lucid picture of the road, he said: “The road is so terrible that we see hell every time we go to Lagos and the worst is that it doesn’t have any alternative route to Lagos. The road is most terrible between Badagry and Agabara and that is still the point that doesn’t have any alternative route to Lagos; at least from Agbara to mile 2 or other parts of Lagos, there are alternative routes one can take to avoid the road. The hold-up at Agbara is always standstill especially when it rains. Anytime I’m in Lagos and it rains, I will just call my wife to inform her that I won’t come home that day because you will spend more than six hours at Agbara alone. I will just find a hotel and sleep over and start going back the following day.”

He lamented the wastage of time and energy on the road when he said: “From Ghana to Seme border is about 42 kilometres and it takes about four hours. From Seme to Mile 2 is the same 42 kilometres but it takes four to five days; can you imagine the difference? How can one explain that to Non-Nigerians? It is a very pathetic situation.”

On government’s stance, he said: “The last time the president of Benin Republic, Boni Yayi, visited Nigeria; he volunteered to partner with the federal government to ensure that the road was fixed but our own President Jonathan never said anything. Even the much touted Lagos Ferry Services has collapsed; only one ferry was made available for the Badagry route but as we speak now, it is almost dead. The last time Governor Fashola visited Badagry, he came by boat through the sea; he couldn’t use the road. They have all abandoned us to our fate; it is very bad.”

He also informed that businessmen from neighbouring countries no longer come to Lagos because of the road. “Do you know that a number of traders from the neighbouring West African countries who come to Nigeria for business no longer come? They have all abandoned Nigeria and moved over to Ghana and other neighbouring countries because of the road. Do you know how much the federal government and state governments are losing by that singular development? It is that bad. We are appealing to both federal and state government to come to our aid and fix that road,” he submitted.

Also speaking, the Coordinator of Igbo Progressive Union Seme, Chief Ogonnaya Gordon Ajah, while decrying the carnage caused by the poor state of the road every day, appealed to the federal and state governments to fix the road. He said: “As a matter of fact, the condition of the road is very pathetic and unbearable. It looks as if we don’t have any government in place. I am short of words because I have never seen a major road like that in such a state of decay and neglect. It is inhuman and unacceptable; people are dying every day because of bad road. You can’t meet up with your appointment any day. If you are living in Badagry, it will take you about five hours to get to Mile 2; it’s unbearable my brother and I don’t know how to express it.”

Aja who lamented that the state of the road had affected his business adversely also said: “The state of the road has affected us so much. You can’t go through the road because trailers fall on the road every day and these are trailers that generate revenue for the government and there is no insurance that covers all these loss; that is the worst aspect of it all. We can’t transport our goods from Seme to Mile 2 easily. To say you can do that in two days is an overstatement because you know the speed of the trailer coupled with the bad road. It takes days to get to mile 2. Then, you talk about the activities of area boys on the road. Because the roads are bad, most of the trailers fall on the road and as soon as that happens, the area boys will come in with their problem. So, in most cases, after paying huge sums of money to the government to bring in your goods, you still find out that the area boys will steal your goods, mob the drivers, collect their money and you end up paying so much.”

In appealing to the relevant authorities to rescue the road from the imminent total collapse, he said: “Like I said earlier, it’s like we are not Nigerians. I don’t know of any country to compare what happens here with; we are begging the government to come to our aid and save our lives and businesses. Once the trailer falls down, the goods inside will be damaged and we lose money; so we are appealing to the government to repair the roads for us. After all, we pay our taxes and government makes huge revenue from the area; the customs and other government agents are at Seme and it is when business flourish that they also make revenue for the government. They can’t make any money when businessmen are gnashing their teeth. The road should be made accessible because when that is done, most of the goods that are transported through the road will be made cheap in the market. But with the condition of the road and activities of Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) and the area boys, the goods will be expensive when it gets to the final consumer because whatever the owner spends, he will add it to the cost of the goods for the final consumers.”

He also corroborated fears that businessmen from the neighbouring countries are shifting attention from Nigeria to Ghana because of the road when he said: “Yes, some businessmen no longer come to Nigeria because of the road. There is Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS) Trade Liberalisation Scheme which makes it easy for Nigeria and other ECOWAS countries to do business along the major road but because of this bad road, they cannot come. From Ghana to Nigeria border takes you about four hours and from the border to Mile 2 now takes two days; can you imagine the difference in time lag and the extra cost the person will incur because of bad road. So, it has affected the area so bad that we are losing a lot of them; they don’t come any longer. We are only trying to manage the road because we cannot leave here and that is why we are calling on the government to come and assist some of us who are still here.”

The President of the non-indigenes in Seme kweme and Secretary, National Union of Road Transport Workers, Seme kweme branch, Alhaji Akeem Sanni, also condemned the poor state of the road. He said: “It is an eye sore; if you look at it, you will see that the situation of the road is very bad. It is not even motor able. Even when the governor came to Badagry last three weeks, he couldn’t pass through the road; he had to come through the sea using a boat. Most of the time, the state government has told us that the road belongs to the federal government but even at that, since it is still in our state, government should do something to assist us. If you are going to mile 2, you must surely spend three to four hours but before now, it used to be between 30 and 40 minutes. The three or four hours are only possible if the driver moves at night; if the journey is during the day, it is not possible because if you want to go to mile 2 around 12 noon, you will expect yourself at mile 2 around 6pm. So, if the government still remembers that the international border at Seme rakes in some percentages of money into its purse, I think urgent attention needs to be paid on the road. For the people coming into Nigeria from the neighbouring countries, the condition of the road presents Nigeria as a ghost country. Go to Cotonou and see the kind of roads they have; you will love it. Even if the government keeps us in the dark, we wouldn’t complain much as long as this Badagry-Mile 2 road is made accessible. If you drive from Badagry to Lagos, you must use Panadol when you come back to relieve the pains. In view of this, we are appealing to whoever that is concerned, either the federal or state government to please come to our aid and repair the road for us.”

Counting his losses on the road, Alhaji Sanni also said: “As a transporter, nearly every two weeks, I buy new tyres for both my commercial and private vehicles. I change my tyres and even shock absorbers every two weeks. There is no way you won’t change one or two things from your vehicle if you go to Lagos. You better stay around the area so that you won’t repair anything but the moment you decide to go to Lagos, be prepared to change one or two things from your vehicle and that is the fact about it.”