The Maiduguri-Dikwa-Mafa-Gamboru Ngala highway is one of the busiest roads in northeastern Nigeria – but the rainy season is messing up traffic and, as a result, the prices of commodities keep rising.
The 137km highway, which links Nigeria with Chad and Cameroon, was reopened in February this year after its closure for three years because of attacks by insurgents.
Baba Konto, a driver who does regular trips from Maiduguri to Gamboru Ngala, told RNI reporter Zainab Alhaji Ali that the road was not in good shape. And now, with the heavy downpours, it was slippery, there were large muddy pools of water and the already wide and deep potholes were filled with water, making it impossible to know exactly where they were.
“Sometimes we have to wait a day or two before we can use the road because there are pools of water all over the road. There are also gaping potholes, which fill with water, so the driver does not realise they are there and cars get stuck and damaged when the wheels fall into the holes.”
He said sometimes the heavy downpours delayed driving on the road for two to three days. “Once the rain eases, we gather together, jump in our cars and go. At least then, if a car does get stuck in the potholes, there are other drivers who can help him.”
Konto said if drivers did not have a security escort, they were often stopped by the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’way Wa’l-Jihād (JAS), better known as Boko Haram, who steal phones, money and anything of worth.
“The government needs to repair the road for us. If the road was in a better condition, we could travel every day without worrying, even in the rain. Sometimes more than 100 cars and trucks use the road. Some are headed for Gamboru Ngala, others are passing through to get to Chad. You can use that road to get to Sudan. It’s a very busy road and it is important to keep businesses flowing.”
Babagana Manga, a resident of Gamboru Ngala, said: “Because the road is so bad, it holds up the traffic, especially in the rainy season. Everything is expensive in the town. The longer it takes vehicles to get here, the higher the prices go. Something you would normally pay ₦100 for suddenly costs ₦200. The price of food has become very expensive. But then, everything is expensive now.”
Manga said transport costs had almost doubled. The cost of bringing goods to the town before the rainy season was ₦40,000 but now it costs ₦70,000 to ₦80,000. He said the government had to do something to stop the exorbitant rise in the cost of goods because “people just don’t have that kind of money”.
Zainab Alhaji Ali
