Commuters and motorists plying the Abuja-Kaduna highway were stranded for several hours on Saturday as a massive gridlock caused by potholes paralysed traffic along the Katari-Gidan Busa section of the highway. The development caused significant delays for motorists, with hundreds of vehicles reportedly stuck on the affected section of the busy highway.
A commuter, Ismaila Yakubu, said some motorists had been trapped on the road for several hours. “Some cars have been here since 2am due to the gridlock. Even though officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps are there, they could not control it,” he said. According to him, one of the FRSC officers said the cause was a pothole close to a bridge that was causing accidents and affecting the movement of cars. The officer said they had raised the issue of carrying out palliative work on the section with the contractor, Infiouest Nigeria Limited, but they had failed to do anything about it.
The Abuja-Kaduna highway has been under construction for the past eight years, with motorists and commuters frequently experiencing difficulties along some sections of the road. The Abuja-Kaduna section, despite its importance as a major link between the Federal Capital Territory and the North-West, has seen comparatively little work when compared with the Kaduna, Zaria and Kano sections. The heavy volume of traffic on the highway, especially during Sallah festivals, has also led to frequent gridlocks, with commuters during the last celebration reportedly spending days on the road before reaching their destinations.
The government promised to complete the road by November this year. That promise rings hollow for the commuters who have been stranded for hours. The road has been under construction for eight years, and the government’s latest deadline is unlikely to be met. The potholes are a symptom of a larger failure: the inability to maintain critical infrastructure.
The winners: none. The losers: the commuters and motorists who were stranded; and the Nigerian government, which has failed to deliver on its promises.
Bottom Line: Commuters were stranded for hours on the Abuja-Kaduna highway. The government promised to fix it by November. The promise is wearing thin.