This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001083 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS DOT FOR SAMPLE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELTN ECON NI
SUBJECT: A BUMPY RIDE: ON THE ROAD FROM ABUJA TO LAGOS 
 
¶1. Summary.  Embassy officers drove on February 1 from Abuja 
to Lagos on a combination of good, bad, and dangerous roads. 
They averaged barely 45 m.p.h. despite two-lane highways' 
comprising nearly 35% of the distance traveled, and 
encountered or observed at least 42 checkpoints and 
roadblocks -- official or otherwise.  The overall lack of 
two-lane highways created dangerous conditions for passing. 
Stretches of road surface were missing, extending down to 
bare dirt, and only one instance of road repairs was under 
way.  Inefficiencies, poor conditions and shakedowns do not 
bode well for road transportation's role in developing 
southwestern Nigeria's economy, or for the safety of the 
region's motorists.  End summary. 
 
¶2. Economic officer and consular officer traveled by road in 
a four-door sedan from Abuja to Lagos on February 1.  This 
trip, which covered about 540 km (335 miles), took seven and 
one-half hours to the outskirts of Lagos from outer Abuja -- 
an average speed of barely 45 m.p.h., despite two-lane 
highways' comprising nearly 35% of the distance traveled. 
 
¶3. Officers departed from outer Abuja at 8:45 a.m.  There 
were two lanes leading from Abuja only to the turnoff to the 
Abuja international airport, then a single lane in each 
direction until reaching Ilesa, in Osun State.  There was 
one Motorized Police (Mopol) roadblock 5 km beyond the 
airport-road turnoff, and four more Mopol roadblocks on the 
way to Lokoja, about 200 km (125 miles) from Abuja, as well 
as a Federal Road Safety Commission (FSRC) stop and one 
indeterminate, quasi-government checkpoint.  Mopol 
checkpoints, generally manned by two to six policemen, 
either were "rolling" or complete stops.  One unspecified 
"customs" stop -- either state or federal -- was set up at 
the northern edge of Lokoja, and another checkpoint 2 km 
south of Lokoja was operated by an unidentified government 
agency.  Wrecked cars were common.  Traveling toward Lokoja, 
six crashed cars and two wrecked trucks littered the 
roadside in a 9.5 km (6 mile) stretch.  Though some vehicle 
wrecks in Nigeria are left in place, these vehicle carcasses 
appeared to be relatively recent, with two completely gutted 
by fire. 
 
¶4. There were 14 Mopol checkpoints from Lokoja to Akpata, 
and 13 more, often with large logs blocking the road, from 
Akpata to Ilesa -- a combined distance of roughly 240 km 
(150 miles).  At the edge of one town, two men dressed in 
civilian clothing operated their own checkpoint to stop 
trucks.  They blocked the road with a large, flat board from 
which long nails protruded, and the men appeared to be 
"shaking down" commercial drivers. 
 
¶5. Some truck drivers at times traveled no faster than 30 
k.p.h. (about 20 m.p.h.) because of the heavy congestion in 
towns, poor road conditions, and poor traffic control, with 
vehicles parked haphazardly at the roadside.  In one place, 
a 40-foot by 20-foot stretch of road was missing, down to 
bare earth.  Potholes reached down to the dirt.  Multiple 
120-foot stretches of the road surface were missing entirely 
in some places.  The road quality sometimes improved for 
stretches and then deteriorated again, with portions of the 
road missing part of its top layer.  A double-lane highway 
began at Ilesa and continued to Lagos, but was not always 
marked with painted lane lines. 
 
¶6. Potholes were common, including at 100 km (62 miles) west 
of Ibadan.  There were FRSC stops north and west of Ibadan, 
and three other FRSC stops in the vicinity of Ibadan. 
Although the road quality improved southwest of Ilesa, with 
two lanes in each direction, serious accidents appeared 
increasingly common.  There was one several-days-old body at 
the roadside 75 km east of Ibadan.  Another officer observed 
east of Ibadan two bodies lying at the roadside, as well as 
the wreckage of two single-car crashes with their dead 
drivers still at the wheel, on the same route on February 1. 
 
¶7. Gasoline was sold consistently at the state-controlled 
price of 65 naira per liter (about USD .51 per liter).  Gas 
stations were plentiful, but many appeared never to have 
opened for business.  Anecdotal reports say many stations' 
owners instead sell their gasoline for high prices on the 
black market.  Owners of gas stations also frequently tamper 
with their pumps so as to dispense less gasoline than the 
gas pumps indicate.  The officers arrived in outer Lagos at 
4:00 p.m.  Despite the very poor roads on much of this 
route, road repairs were being carried out at only one place 
along the way. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. This drive, on what is by default Nigeria's southwestern 
interstate highway connecting the country's capital and 
commercial center (Lagos), was hard on vehicles and drivers. 
With limited double-lane highways between Abuja and Lagos, 
passing was frustrating and dangerous.  Much of the route 
passed through congested towns, rather than bypassing them. 
Road signs and directional markers were often lacking. 
There were almost no minimum or maximum speed limits posted 
along most of the route.  Poor road conditions, 
inefficiencies and officials' opportunities for shakedowns 
do not bode well for road transportation's role in 
developing southwestern Nigeria's economy, or for the safety 
of the region's motorists. 
CAMPBELL