If you can’t move, you can’t grow.
Nigeria has about 195,000 km of roads, the 2nd largest network in Africa, but only about 25-30% are paved and in good condition. The rest? Potholes, mud, and stories. That’s why moving tomatoes from Jos to Lagos costs more than the tomatoes themselves. That’s why bus fare doubled. Our study shows 60% of our food rots because farm roads are not passable.
For 60 years we relied on only road. One accident on Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the whole economy stops. One bridge closure, food rots in the North while prices rise in the South.
But see hope, work in progress:
Lagos Blue Line Rail is now working. Not yet at full capacity, but working and growing. It moved 3.5 million Lagosians in 2025, doing 90 trips daily with about 15,000 passengers, up from 57 trips. Its design capacity is 150,000 per day, and as Phase II (Mile 2 to Okokomaiko) completes, it will get there. Abuja-Kaduna rail showed Nigerians love trains when they work.
Proof that Nigeria CAN build world-class, when we focus.
What if every region had this?
What Better Nigeria looks like:
- Road + Rail + Water, Not just roads: Revive rail freight, move cement, rice, fuel by train, cheaper and safer. Dredge rivers, use waterways. Road carries 90% of goods today, no economy grows like that.
- Build to last: Road built after 6 months gets spoilt after just one rainy season. Better Nigeria builds with concrete, with proper drainage, and maintains it. FERMA must work.
- Connect villages to markets: Fix 1,000km of rural roads per state yearly, farm-to-market roads. If we do that, food price will crash by 40%. No farmer should lose harvest because road no dey.
When Nigeria is connected, the entire Nation is united.
Your action today: Take a picture of one bad road or failed bridge in your LGA and post with #FixOurRoadsNG. Tag your LGA Chairman. Infrastructure is not Federal only, it is everybody’s business. Ask: How many rural roads did we grade this year?
No roads, no rail, no growth.
