Road travel in Nigeria can be
educative, interesting and fun.
This is despite the frustrating
state of roads abandoned by
successive governments which
make the journey by road very
stressful.
There are common things road
travelers won’t miss on the
highways. These things have
become a major feature for
anyone conversant with road
travels in Nigeria.
1. Bad roads
Bad roads in Nigeria’s highways
are a common sight across the
country. The failure of
successive governments to fix
the roads has caused hardship
to Nigerians who ply the various
routes to their various
destinations. Productive man
hours are wasted, journeys are
prolonged and armed robbers
also take advantage of these
bad portions to rob travelers
while their vehicles maneuver
their way in these bad spots.
2. Women riding “okada”
This is common in mostly South
east states. Travelers from
other parts of the country who
drive through the Igbo region
are usually surprised to find
women driving motorcycles
popularly called “okada” on the
highways. This is not the case in
other parts of the country,
which is why people express
surprise seeing the women in
the driving seat.
3. Long trucks involved in an
accident
This is a common sight on
Nigeria’s highways. Long articles
and other articulated vehicles
usually referred to as “trailer”
or “tanker” are notorious for
being involved in accidents
because of the states of the
roads, the badly maintained
trucks and the carelessness of
the truck drivers.
4. Stranded passengers
Nigeria’s highways are always
lined up with stranded
passengers who are either
victims of a bad vehicle, a
robbery attack or over zealous
security agents. It is a common
sight on Nigeria’s highways to
see these passengers making
attempts to stop other vehicles
to continue their journey to
their respective destinations.
5. Security and paramilitary
agencies
Various Nigerian security and
paramilitary personnel are
always stationed in strategic
parts of the highways in order
to ensure the security of road
travelers, adherence to traffic
rules and rid the highways of
criminal gangs and unwanted
elements posing danger to
commuters.
6. Villagers and their
enterprise
Villagers who live close to the
highways use the road side as a
place to dry some of their farm
produce. It is common sight
especially in the North central
region to see villagers spreading
some of their farm produce by
the road side in order for the
sun to help dry them. Drivers
along these routes always try to
avoid driving on the farm
produce so as not to destroy
what is obviously one of the
villagers source of livelihood.
7. Fulani herdsmen and their
cows
It is impossible to embark on an
inter-state journey in Nigeria
without seeing Fulani herdsmen
and their cows on the highway.
The herdsmen have taken over
virtually all the major highways
in the country with their cows
constantly looking for areas to
feed. The herdsmen sometimes
obstruct traffic flow when they
are crossing the highway with
their cows, with no regard to
traffic rules.
8. Parked trailers on the
highway
Every road traveler in Nigeria
knows that at some point in
their journey, they will come
across a section of the road
where long vehicles are parked
at the road side and
constituting nuisance on the
road. Drivers of these trucks
are so lawless and have no
regards for other road users.
They park indiscriminately and
sometimes shut down the road
with their vehicles causing
other road users to take
alternative routes.
9. Road side stalls
Road side stalls are a common
sight on Nigeria’s highways.
Travelers also take advantage
of these stalls and patronise
them because their
commodities are usually cheap.
The sellers are villagers who
most times get the produce
from their farms and can
afford to sell them cheaper
than the regular price. Most
times, travelers with their
private cars, park near the
stalls and stock their cars with
the commodities.
10. Cemeteries
In some parts of the country,
cemeteries are built along
major highways by state
governments. Although most of
them are old, they have been
there for decades and have
become a major feature on
highways.
