A BUMPY RIDE: ON THE ROAD FROM ABUJA TO LAGOS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001083

SIPDIS

STATE PASS DOT FOR SAMPLE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELTN ECON NI
SUBJECT: A BUMPY RIDE: ON THE ROAD FROM ABUJA TO LAGOS


1. Summary. Embassy officers drove on February 1 from Abuja
to Lagos on a combination of good, bad, and dangerous roads.
They averaged barely 45 m.p.h. despite two-lane highways'
comprising nearly 35% of the distance traveled, and
encountered or observed at least 42 checkpoints and
roadblocks -- official or otherwise. The overall lack of
two-lane highways created dangerous conditions for passing.
Stretches of road surface were missing, extending down to
bare dirt, and only one instance of road repairs was under
way. Inefficiencies, poor conditions and shakedowns do not
bode well for road transportation's role in developing
southwestern Nigeria's economy, or for the safety of the
region's motorists. End summary.


2. Economic officer and consular officer traveled by road in
a four-door sedan from Abuja to Lagos on February 1. This
trip, which covered about 540 km (335 miles),took seven and
one-half hours to the outskirts of Lagos from outer Abuja --
an average speed of barely 45 m.p.h., despite two-lane
highways' comprising nearly 35% of the distance traveled.


3. Officers departed from outer Abuja at 8:45 a.m. There
were two lanes leading from Abuja only to the turnoff to the
Abuja international airport, then a single lane in each
direction until reaching Ilesa, in Osun State. There was
one Motorized Police (Mopol) roadblock 5 km beyond the
airport-road turnoff, and four more Mopol roadblocks on the
way to Lokoja, about 200 km (125 miles) from Abuja, as well
as a Federal Road Safety Commission (FSRC) stop and one
indeterminate, quasi-government checkpoint. Mopol
checkpoints, generally manned by two to six policemen,
either were "rolling" or complete stops. One unspecified
"customs" stop -- either state or federal -- was set up at
the northern edge of Lokoja, and another checkpoint 2 km
south of Lokoja was operated by an unidentified government
agency. Wrecked cars were common. Traveling toward Lokoja,
six crashed cars and two wrecked trucks littered the
roadside in a 9.5 km (6 mile) stretch. Though some vehicle
wrecks in Nigeria are left in place, these vehicle carcasses
appeared to be relatively recent, with two completely gutted
by fire.


4. There were 14 Mopol checkpoints from Lokoja to Akpata,
and 13 more, often with large logs blocking the road, from
Akpata to Ilesa -- a combined distance of roughly 240 km
(150 miles). At the edge of one town, two men dressed in
civilian clothing operated their own checkpoint to stop
trucks. They blocked the road with a large, flat board from
which long nails protruded, and the men appeared to be
"shaking down" commercial drivers.


5. Some truck drivers at times traveled no faster than 30
k.p.h. (about 20 m.p.h.) because of the heavy congestion in
towns, poor road conditions, and poor traffic control, with
vehicles parked haphazardly at the roadside. In one place,
a 40-foot by 20-foot stretch of road was missing, down to
bare earth. Potholes reached down to the dirt. Multiple
120-foot stretches of the road surface were missing entirely
in some places. The road quality sometimes improved for
stretches and then deteriorated again, with portions of the
road missing part of its top layer. A double-lane highway
began at Ilesa and continued to Lagos, but was not always
marked with painted lane lines.


6. Potholes were common, including at 100 km (62 miles) west
of Ibadan. There were FRSC stops north and west of Ibadan,
and three other FRSC stops in the vicinity of Ibadan.
Although the road quality improved southwest of Ilesa, with
two lanes in each direction, serious accidents appeared
increasingly common. There was one several-days-old body at
the roadside 75 km east of Ibadan. Another officer observed
east of Ibadan two bodies lying at the roadside, as well as
the wreckage of two single-car crashes with their dead
drivers still at the wheel, on the same route on February 1.


7. Gasoline was sold consistently at the state-controlled
price of 65 naira per liter (about USD .51 per liter). Gas
stations were plentiful, but many appeared never to have
opened for business. Anecdotal reports say many stations'
owners instead sell their gasoline for high prices on the
black market. Owners of gas stations also frequently tamper
with their pumps so as to dispense less gasoline than the
gas pumps indicate. The officers arrived in outer Lagos at
4:00 p.m. Despite the very poor roads on much of this
route, road repairs were being carried out at only one place
along the way.

Comment
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8. This drive, on what is by default Nigeria's southwestern
interstate highway connecting the country's capital and
commercial center (Lagos),was hard on vehicles and drivers.
With limited double-lane highways between Abuja and Lagos,
passing was frustrating and dangerous. Much of the route
passed through congested towns, rather than bypassing them.
Road signs and directional markers were often lacking.
There were almost no minimum or maximum speed limits posted
along most of the route. Poor road conditions,
inefficiencies and officials' opportunities for shakedowns
do not bode well for road transportation's role in
developing southwestern Nigeria's economy, or for the safety
of the region's motorists.
CAMPBELL