Students threaten nationwide protest over bad federal roads, demand Umahi’s sack

 

Student unions across Nigerian tertiary institutions have threatened to embark on a nationwide protest on February 4 over what they described as the deplorable state of federal roads, which they say has turned highways into death traps.

The joint leadership of the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS), the National Association of Nigerian Colleges of Education Students (NANCES), and the National Association of University Students (NAUS) said the protest was aimed at drawing attention to years of neglect, poor supervision, and the rising loss of lives on major federal highways.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the unions lamented that federal roads had become “corridors of preventable and avoidable deaths,” claiming the lives of students, workers, traders, families, and transporters on a daily basis.

They stressed that the planned protest was not against the Nigerian state, but against what they called institutional failure and the dangerous normalisation of avoidable deaths on the nation’s highways.

The unions specifically called for the removal of the Minister of Works, David Umahi, accusing him of failing to address the worsening condition of federal roads.

They expressed particular concern over highways passing through or near tertiary institutions, listing roads such as the Abuja–Lokoja–Okene Road (Felele axis) near the Federal University Lokoja and Kogi State Polytechnic; Benin–Okpella–Auchi–Okene Road near Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, and Auchi Polytechnic; and the Ibadan–Oyo–Ogbomosho Road near Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH).

Other roads mentioned include the Enugu–Onitsha Expressway (Awka axis) near Nnamdi Azikiwe University; Onitsha–Owerri Road (Ihiagwa axis) near the Federal University of Technology, Owerri; Jos–Zaria Road near the University of Jos; Aba–Port Harcourt Road near Rivers State University and Abia State University; Ilorin–Jebba Road near the University of Ilorin; Calabar–Itu–Ikot Ekpene Road near the University of Calabar; the East–West Road (Choba/Aluu axis) near the University of Port Harcourt; and the Gboko–Katsina-Ala Road.

According to the unions, the affected routes are characterised by failed road surfaces, unchecked movement of heavy-duty trucks, lack of pedestrian bridges, poor lighting, and repeated loss of young lives.

They called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to take decisive action by relieving the Minister of Works of his duties and appointing a more people-oriented and competent leadership.

The unions warned that the current state of federal highways undermines the Renewed Hope Agenda and contradicts the President’s vision for a safe, functional, and humane Nigeria.

“No reform agenda can succeed where citizens die daily on roads meant to connect opportunity, not coffins,” the statement said.

The statement was jointly signed by Josiah Peter Oche, National President of NAUS; Eshiofune Paul Oghayan, National President of NAPS; and Kur Isaac Ushahemba, National President of NANCES.