Timi Adeoye, 26, travelled frequently on the Shagamu-Benin road until he graduated from the University of Benin (UNIBEN) two years ago and it was “a nightmare” for him.
“I still remember spending 12 long hours on a trip from Lagos to Benin regularly when I got admission eight years ago.
“The memory of those trips still leaves a distaste in my mouth. But I had to continue because I had to go to school,” he recalled.
Being the major road between the West and South, it was appalling that it was in that state of decay. From 2006 to 2012, anyone who plied it testified to its horrific state.
Besides the deplorable condition, there were daredevil armed robbers who were lords of the night along the road. It was inevitable that travellers prayed to avert terrible traffic jam lasting hours and loss of lives and property. It was “hell on earth,” Adeoye recounted.
Newspaper columnist, Sonala Olumhense, once said, “If you are a Nigerian, chances are you know someone who has spent an entire day, at least once, traveling the 140-mile Shagamu-Benin City road, or been killed trying to do so.”
Some time ago, a former minister of works reportedly cried while inspecting the road, calling it a guzzler of lives.
Nigerians resorted to pleading with successive governments on television and through other media to repair the road.
Abuja did not fulfil its promises to fix the road, despite the hue and cry from travellers, as well as criticism from traditional monarchs, especially the oba of Benin whose domain was a major victim.
Shagamu-Benin is part of the Lagos-Mombasa and Algiers-Lagos sections of the Trans-Africa Highway.
First constructed in the 1970s, it was originally a three-hour route. Since it began to deteriorate, contracts have been awarded every other year by different governments.
Nothing concrete was done until the federal government tapped into the Subsidy Re-investment Programme (SURE-P) funds to mend the road.
In September 2014, President Goodluck Jonathan commissioned the first phase of the repair spanning 75 kilometres.
Works Minister, Mike Onolememen, explained that the second phase had only been completed 60 per cent because of technical challenges.
Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, said the reconstruction is “the most outstanding intervention the road has witnessed over the years.”
A road that was once a death trap began to wear a new face, and is in its present state, as good as brand new. A journey of 12 hours has been reduced to four hours or less.
“God sent us his son in the form of Goodluck Jonathan!” said Veronica Omoregie who travels every week from Lagos to Asaba to buy goods for her trade that has sustained her and her three children since her husband died in an auto crash on the same road in 1999.
A recent survey conducted by the NOI-Gallup Polls showed that 60 per cent of travellers during the yuletide season acknowledged that roads had been improved on.
As a result of the improved condition of the Shagamu-Benin Road and others in general, ABC Transport slashed its fares.
Adeoye said on his way to visit UNIBEN last week, he slept for most of the journey in the 18-seater bus he boarded from Lagos.