The bad state of Niger roads

During my first visit to Niger State in 2008, I came back surprised, complaining, and asking questions. I was bitterly complaining about the dilapidated road leading up to the state capital Minna from Abuja. The road was the worst I’ve every travelled on. I was also asking questions because of the caliber of former leaders the state prides itself with and wondering what we’re their contributions to the development of the state’s roads.
My next visit to the State was in 2013. I decided to have a taste of the Kaduna-Sarkin Pawa route leading to the state capital. The state of the road was actually worse than the Abuja-Minna road that I have plied. It was deserted, filled with countless pot-holes and a hotspot for criminals. After finishing my tour of the state, I decided to leaves through the Bida-Lambata axis. The whole journey out of the State via that route was something else. There, I saw pot -holes big enough to bury a big tree trunk. In reality, every next road I travel on was worse than the previous.
The most recent experience I had on Niger state roads was on the 14th of December 2017. Four years after my 2013 visit, I was expecting substantial improvement of the state of the roads. But my journey through the state capital via the Lambata-Bida road was hell. At some point in time, we were just traveling through thick clouds of dust. We the passengers, and our bags were covered in dust. The plantations and roofs by the road side have all being coated with brown dust. I was wondering if the leaves of the plants get a chance to trap sunlight for photosynthesis. And when the commercial driver decided to wind up all the glasses, with his car lacking a functional air conditioning system, we were all sweating. It reached to a point where I was struggling for air to breath and was already feeling lethargic.
If Minna can pride itself with such beautiful roads all over it, one wonder what have been withholding previous and present governments of the state from repairing and upgrading all roads leading to the state and linking all other parts of the state to ease the stress motorists have to go through.

Yahya Idris,
Minna

 

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