Abuja-Lokoja Highway Project: 19 Years of Abandoned Promises, Obasanjo, Goodluck, Buhari blamed as commuters call it scam
TEC News
An investigative report by TEC News has uncovered the shocking truth behind the Abuja-Lokoja highway project, which has been plagued by delays and abandonment for 19 years.
The 200km road, which connects the Federal Capital City of Nigeria, Abuja, to Kogi State through Lokoja, has been a death trap for motorists and commuters, with rampant criminal activities, including robbery and kidnapping.
Despite repeated promises by successive administrations, the project remains incomplete, leaving travelers vulnerable to attacks and death.
In 2014, the then Minister of State for Works, Bashir Yuguda, promised that the Abuja-Lokoja highway would be completed in the first quarter of 2014. However, 11 years later, the project remains uncompleted.
In 2021, the then Director of Highway, Construction and Rehabilitation, Ministry of Works and Housing, Engr. Funso Adebiyi, assured that the project would be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2021. However, this deadline was also missed.
Travelers and road users have expressed frustration and anger over the government’s failure to complete the project.
“I don’t know what this administration is doing concerning this road,” said a traveler who wished to remain anonymous. “Obasanjo, Jonathan, and Buhari all failed to complete it. Now, Tinubu is also doing nothing. Is the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja highway project a scam?”
Another road user, Timothy, questioned the sincerity of the government, asking, “Why won’t the leaders be sincere and have their citizens at heart? Is this road another oil-like income for certain big wigs?”
The Abuja-Lokoja highway is a critical transportation artery that connects the South to the North, facilitating economic growth and development. However, the project’s abandonment has severe economic and safety implications.
In the past, Zuba , Abuja to Lokoja takes less than 1 and half hours to arrive destination but now , it takes 2 and half to 3 hours . Okene Lokoja Road trip that was less than 40minutes to complete now takes above 1 and half hour.
The implications of this include that business trips are delayed , movement of goods delayed and then the rate of wich vehicles get damaged leads vehicle owners into economic loss.
One of the reasons the project claimed to be delayed is insecurity of the expertarates handling the projects which security personnels we’re deployed to secure the workers in site.
Report has it that the contractor handling section one, Lokoja-Benin road dualisation project, CGC Nigeria Limited, said its Chinese expatriates had fled the site following incidences of kidnapping.
Yaba Abubakar, the project manager, Section one, Lokoja-Benin road dualisation project, said this on Friday in Okene during media tour of some Federal Government’s projects in the state.
Mr Abubakar said that four of the company’s expatriates had been kidnapped in the past and the company was forced to pay ransom before they were released.
According to him, the fear of insecurity and further attack had made the expatriates to abandon the site.
“Four of our Chinese expatriates have been Kidnapped and released after payment of ransom and because of fear of further attack, the expatriates had left the site.
“We have reported the case to the relevant security authorities and as you can see, we are presently being secured at the present site by the police.
“But still, the security agents at the site cannot guarantee enough security for the Chinese to return to the site,” he said.
Mr Abubakar then said the absence of the expatriates at the site had not affected the execution of the project significantly.
The project manager pledged that with adequate funding, phase one of the section awarded to his company would be completed in December as scheduled
One of the road users, Benjamin spoke to TEC News correspondent simply calls on the Federal Government to take immediate action to complete the Abuja-Lokoja highway project.
“We demand transparency and accountability in the project’s execution and urge the government to prioritize the safety and well-being of Nigerian citizens” says the Benjamin.