(Reinforcing the need for a maintenance culture)
Driving back from church today, the sight of the drains along the Dangote-financed Apapa–Oshodi Expressway broke my heart. This multi-billion-naira Outer Ring Road already looks tired. The drains are overgrown with weeds, and the foot of the median is clogged with silt and rubbish. The rains are here, and we all know what that means—flooding, damage, and another cycle of costly repairs. Thankfully, the expansion joints between Oworonshoki and the Ogudu flyover are currently being fixed before they become death traps.
It’s the same story on the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway. After 16 years of torture and great inconvenience during construction, this vital link is already undulating, while the median drains have become mini forests and dump sites.
The 10-lane Lagos–Badagry Expressway, built with huge sums and even tax-credit funding, is underutilized and deteriorating fast. Children yet unborn will pay for these loans, yet the value is disappearing before their eyes.
And this isn’t just about roads. Remember the CCTV cameras installed in Lagos and Abuja under a $470 million loan? The project never worked because critical components were missing. The equipment was vandalized, but the debt is still being paid today. No inquiries. No consequences. Just silence.
Meanwhile, new mega-projects keep rolling out: the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Road, funded with a $747 million syndicated loan; the Sokoto–Badagry Highway, tied to $2.5 billion in financing; and another $652 million from China Exim Bank for a strategic corridor linking Lekki Port to the Dangote Refinery. Impressive on paper—but will they go the way of past projects? That’s the question haunting me.
Our problem is not that we cannot build; it is that we cannot maintain. Every government wants new projects for ribbon-cutting ceremonies. None wants the “boring” duty of upkeep. And so, we build, neglect, and then rebuild at three times the cost. Should we continue like this? Certainly not!
Every government loves ribbon-cutting, but true leadership is measured in maintenance, not monuments
Part of the problem lies in how infrastructure has become politicized. Most projects today are tied to constituency allocations, controlled by senators, representatives, and council chairmen—many of whom lack the technical expertise for such responsibilities. These projects are often driven by visibility, not viability. Maintenance hardly features because it carries no glamour, no plaques, and no photo opportunities.
Yet maintenance is where true leadership shows. It sustains development and protects taxpayers’ money. Nigeria once had a model that worked—a tiny levy on every litre of petrol went into a dedicated road fund. It worked, until it was scrapped along with toll gates in 2003. The hardship didn’t disappear; only the roads did.
If we can ring-fence billions for education through TETFund, fund basic schools through SUBEB, and finance students through NELFUND, why can’t we do the same for roads—the backbone of our economy? The problem isn’t capacity; it’s political will.
“If TETFund works for education, why can’t we have a dedicated fund for roads—the backbone of our economy?”
What is the way forward? We need a Maintenance Act that makes upkeep a legal obligation, not an afterthought. Every major project should have a 10-year maintenance plan built into the contract. We need to revive a transparent, ring-fenced Road Infrastructure Maintenance Fund, digitally tracked and independently audited. We should explore PPP and tolling models where private operators manage upkeep under strict agreements. And we must make maintenance politically rewarding by publishing scorecards: let citizens see which leaders keep infrastructure alive. This should cascade to local governments. Sustainability and maintenance culture must start at the grassroots.
“We build, neglect, and then rebuild at three times the cost. That is not progress; it is economic suicide.”
If Nigeria can build it, Nigeria must learn to maintain it. Otherwise, we are simply mortgaging our future for monuments that collapse in a few years. We don’t need more abandoned dreams. We need a maintenance revolution—and we need it now!
Gbenga ONABANJO
GO-FORTE FOUNDATION.
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