Habeeb Olokooba

It was a breezy June morning. The previous day’s downpour refreshed the air. Abdulwasiu Dada, a bike man in his late forties, pedaled through the refreshing breeze as his sole source of income, reliant on his trusty Bajaj bike.

Once a small-scale farmer, Dada reminisced about his past life. He recalled the fateful day that changed everything: like many farmers eager to sell their harvest, he had loaded his precious yams onto a tray, securely fastened them to the back of this Bajaj bike, and set off for the ‘Owode market.

Approaching the bustling marking, tragedy struck — a car collided with him, shattering his dream and forcing him to drive to a new livelihood.

“Little did I know that a different fate awaited me. I was driving on the Olofa express road when I saw a hectic go slow. I had to wait for the line to move. We were in the hold-up when this car hit my bike and knocked me down,” recalled Dada.

“I sustained a minor injury to my arm, and my machine became faulty. The most painful part was that all the yams I carried broke into pieces, making them lose their value. I had to sell them at an unfavourable price.

Abdulwasiu while driving his bike — PC: Habeeb Olokooba

‘‘This discouraged me, and I have faced this transportation business since then. Planting is not the business, travelling that road to the market is usually the problem. That Olofa way is usually busy, especially on market days,” he lamented.

Agriculture, which contributed majorly to Nigeria’s GDP, kicking in over 23% and employing over 34% of Nigeria’s workforce, depends highly on available road networks.

The lack of access to good roads affects farmers in rural areas, resulting in the inability of most farmers to transport their goods to markets, leading to the loss of perishable farm produce.

The absence of essential structures, such as good roads and inadequate systems, has been a major stumbling block in the agriculture business in Nigeria.

Abdulwasiu Dada is an example of many Nigerian farmers who endure a challenging ordeal while transporting their harvest to the market.

Similar to Abdulwasiu’s plight, Suleiman Abdulmalik is a living witness of how busy Olofa Expressway used to be, especially during working days. Now a student at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, while he was still in secondary school, he faced difficulty while heading to his school every morning.

“I was known as a habitual latecomer because the traffic jam I encountered on that road would surely make you late,” Abdulmalik said.

There are rural roads that could ease the jam on this way, however, these roads are full of portholes, so road users do not use them like the express,” he further explained.

Olofa Expressway Offa — PC: Habeeb Olokooba

Glimmer of Hope

Situated on Esuwoye Street, Offa, Obatiwajoye rural road is targeted at easing the possible traffic jam at the Olofa expressway. Despite serving a fair compromise, the road remains untarred with many portholes.

To ease the pains road users encounter on this road, a project under the Federal Government Consolidated Projects was facilitated in 2023 by Senator Oyelola Yisa Ashiru, Senator representing Kwara South.

The project titled: Construction and Rehabilitation of Obatiwajoye Road Offa, was awarded to Messers Choice Project Consultant NIG. LTD, as stipulated by the signpost of the project, and a sum of 150 million was budgeted for it.

Project Signage of Obatiwajoye Road — PC: Habeeb Olokooba

However, a visit to the location of this project revealed that some work had been done, which included filling the road with sand and grading, as well as the construction of a gutter.

In June, during the reporter’s visit to the project location, it was observed that the road construction had come to a complete halt. The road was filled with a remnant of sand, which was left behind, making it challenging for vehicles to navigate.

Sand Remnant Left at the Project Site — PC: Habeeb Olokooba 

According to residents, work stopped over a month ago, and the contractor has yet to return to the site.

‘‘If not you said there is a project awarded for the construction of this road, I don’t even know. Because the road is usually graded every year and when I saw them filling it, I thought it was a normal yearly routine,” Abdulmalik pointed out.

Contractor Details Not Available

When this reporter checked for the availability of Messers Choice Project Consultant Nigeria Limited on the Corporate Affairs Commission’s Portal, the details returned void.

Further search on NG Check revealed there was a company with the name Choice Project Consultant (Nig.) Ltd registered in 2010 and the activities unspecified. However, it is doubtful whether Messers Choice is the same as Choice. However, even the latter company’s status was said to be unknown on NG Check.

Attempts to Reach Law Maker

Several calls were put across to Senator Oyelola, who facilitated the project, which he neither for once picked up nor called back. A text message and email were equally sent to him. As of the time of filing this story, he has yet to respond to the mail and text message.

Road transport plays an Important role in agricultural development — Expert

In an interview with Mr Femi Babatunde, a renowned farmer, highlights the importance of road transport in the development of agriculture.

“Road transport plays an important role in agricultural development. This is because it is the major means of transporting agricultural produce from the farms to the markets as well as to various urban communities.” Mr Babatunde said.

He furthered that, It served as the only means by which food produced at the farm site is moved to different homes as well as markets.

Transport creates a market for agricultural produce, enhances interaction among geographical and economic regions and opens up new areas to economic focus that are complex relationships that vary both spatially and over time between transport and development.

However, for any development to take place, transport plays a crucial role.

“So, In a country like Nigeria, an inadequate transportation network remains a challenge to the agricultural sector.

“This continually leads to great loss and damage of harvested farm produce at the passing of every year.

“Food and transport markets largely depend on exchange rates and global oil market dynamics.

It is well known that a properly developed transport sector is an antidote to inefficient distribution of agricultural produce.

“Similarly, an efficient transport system enhances productivity and food distribution across the country,” He furthered.

“A good road network is a key factor in providing market linkages for rural farmers.

“Poor road infrastructure in rural communities affects not only the production and distribution of food. It also negatively affects the development of rural areas.

“For instance, the poor road conditions affect not only communities but make it difficult for farmers in those communities to have access to interventions and amenities such as financial assistance, training and education, clean and affordable drinking water, health services, electricity, schools, financial and other forms of support for the rural dwellers. As a result, rural farmers are further impoverished.

“Fixing the appalling road conditions in rural areas will directly affect the productivity of farmers. Because of the ease of transporting farm materials and quicker access of experts and extension workers to farms, outputs could be greatly increased.

“For example, access to information and agricultural innovations can help farmers prevent or control disease outbreaks.

“They will also have quick access to improve crop varieties. Farmers who have access to high-yielding crops that are resistant to pests and diseases tend to produce more and avoid losses.

“Indeed, when farmers do not have to consider the production trouble and cost of leaving their farms to get improved crop-accessed varieties and extension office producers don’t have to consider the same to get to farmers, the output will increase and more nutrient-rich crops will be grown.

“More farmers can access and grow varieties such as vitamin A-rich cassava, and beans containing high-iron and zinc, among others, for better nutrition.

“That way, the level of malnutrition in developing and low-income countries will be significantly reduced.

“Farmers who can easily access large markets, due to better road infrastructure,are more likely to expand their farms and increase their outputs than those who have to struggle and spend more to move products out of their farms.

“Poor rural-urban connectivity is often why poor farmers are completely at the mercy of middlemen.

“These are traders who get products from the farms or markets in rural areas at very low rates and resell to city dwellers and processing industries at higher rates.

“In that process, the middlemen make a lot of profit that should have been made by rural farmers.

“Apart from improving the income of farmers, investment in infrastructure, including good roads,in rural areas can help bridge the gap between rural dwellers – who are mostly farmers – and city dwellers. With good road networks industries, especially agriculture-based industries, could be encouraged to have branches or main plants in rural locations.

“More financial institutions and recreational centres would also be established, thereby brightening up the rural environments,” he concluded.

This story was produced with support from the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development Inclusivity and Accountability Project (CMEDIA) funded by the MacArthur Foundation.