Good roads. Terrible journey

 From Jos to Port Aba, what once took 12 hours now takes up to 24 — not because of bad roads, but because of too many checkpoints and endless 'tips'. A painful reality we can no longer ignore.

Between 1997 and 2003, it used to take about twelve hours to travel from Jos to Port Harcourt. Now, it takes about nineteen hours—almost twenty-four hours—due to changing dynamics. What makes it even more disheartening is the fact that the roads have improved. The roads, especially from Akwanga in Nasarawa State down to the Southeast, have been rehabilitated: they are wide, dual carriageways, and smooth, with the exception of a few uncompleted sections that shouldn’t significantly affect the journey.

So, what has changed? It is the security issue, especially within Benue State. This has necessitated the erection of numerous roadblocks, where drivers must stop and be inspected. As a result, the journey is no longer steady.

Checkpoints should be spaced reasonably—intervals of two kilometers would be ideal. Along this road, however, this is not the case. As a matter of fact, the checkpoint density is so high that one can say they are clustered. At almost every point, drivers have to stop, be inspected, and answer questions. If a driver carries only passengers, he usually answers questions and moves on, except in a few cases where money is demanded. If the driver carries goods, however, money is expected at every checkpoint. At customs checkpoints, the driver may pay as much as 2,000 naira, sometimes more. At checkpoints manned by soldiers or police, the amount is far less, usually falling between 200 and 400 naira.

We have a culture of abusing every situation that is meant to bring some form of relief. The habit of abusing every good intention only works to complicate matters. In this case, the abuse is the insistence that money must be paid to security officials at the checkpoints. This is the very reason why the number of checkpoints has grown astronomically, leading to the added hours it now takes to complete the journey. One often observes a situation where a soldier sits by the roadside while a hoodlum mans the checkpoint, collecting “royalties.” The use of hoodlums is one way to understand that the checkpoint is personal, belonging to the soldier sitting by the roadside. Another indication that the checkpoint is illegal is the exorbitant fees such hoodlums sometimes demand. Some insist that the driver pay 1,000 naira instead of the usual 200 naira. The hoodlum usually concedes only after his boss has mediated; he doesn’t want the issue to escalate, knowing the inspection point is illegal.

If the checkpoints are meant to improve the security situation, the inability of authorities to supervise them often creates new problems. The biggest problem is the long hours it takes to travel. Imagine someone traveling to Maiduguri along these roads. On my last journey to Jos, while returning from the National Mining and Geoscience Society conference in Uyo in the last week of March 2026, I ended up with swollen legs—a health challenge that took me two days to recover from. I never counted the number of checkpoints, but between Enugu and Benue States, one can confidently say there were as many as two checkpoints per kilometer, sometimes more. The driver kept giving “tips” to the point where I felt pity for him—our bus carried bales of garments and jerry cans of red oil. Even if there were a modest eighty checkpoints at an average of 300 naira each, the driver would have paid ₦24,000. He also had to grapple with fuel costs, which varied between ₦1,280 and ₦1,350 per litre at the time of my journey. All these factors translate into higher costs of living for ordinary people.

There is always a need for authorities to monitor the enforcement of policies to ensure they remain effective and continue to serve the purpose for which they were enacted.