The Broken Streets That Make Big Roads Useless

By Abidemi Adebamiwa

“When feeder roads and drains fail, highways lose their purpose and citizens pay the price”

Anyone who has driven through a Nigerian city knows the frustration. A government may boast of a freshly tarred highway, but the little streets leading to it are filled with potholes deep enough to swallow a car. Rain turns those same streets into muddy rivers, and by the time a driver reaches the big road the vehicle is already battered. What is the essence of the major road if the feeder streets that connect people to it are left in ruins?

These are the roads people use every day. They take children to school, connect markets to farms, and lead patients to hospitals. Yet in many communities the only smooth road is the one repaired by a private school or a church that could no longer wait for the government. This reality exposes a deeper problem than poor engineering. It points to misplaced priorities and a government culture that values showpiece projects over the small, routine repairs that touch ordinary lives.

It should never be the case that citizens must know someone who knows the governor before a blocked drainage system is considered for repair. Yet this is the reality in many towns. Communities lobby through political contacts, only to discover that the work still does not happen, especially if the area is seen as an opposition stronghold or a place that “did not vote well” for the ruling party. This is not governance. It is punishment politics, where basic services are turned into favors to be distributed.

Contrast this with the United States. In most cities there are public works departments with permanent staff whose daily task is simple maintenance. They patch potholes, clear drains, and repaint markings before small issues grow into disasters. It is not glamorous, but it keeps neighborhoods connected. Roads and drains are treated as public goods, not political rewards.

Nigeria does the opposite. Local governments outsource nearly everything to contractors. Contractors may be useful for highways and bridges, but relying on them for every small fix guarantees delays, inflated costs, and poor supervision. While officials wait to award contracts, families suffer, vehicles break down, and businesses are cut off because the side streets remain in shambles.

A smooth expressway will never mean progress if the people who are supposed to use it cannot even reach it. If citizens’ cars are destroyed by feeder roads before they get to the highway, then the highway itself has failed its purpose. Real development is measured by the state of the small streets and the drains that people rely on every single day, not by the size of the ribbon cut at a commissioning ceremony.

Abidemi Adebamiwa is a political analyst and the Managing Editor @ Newspot Nigeria.