Social media has been buzzing over heavy rains that worsened the long-neglected Benin-Agbor-Asaba road, linking Edo and Delta states, leaving vehicles trapped and journeys stretching into multiple days.
Al Jazeera’s report captured commuters’ frustrations amid impassable conditions, prompting reactions that labeled the situation an international disgrace and questioned leadership priorities.
Officials, including Minister David Umahi, blamed the private concessionaire, apologized, and ordered emergency fixes plus full reconstruction after President Tinubu’s directive, highlighting ongoing infrastructure struggles for commerce and travel.
Click the link to watch the video.
Here are some of the reactions:
It will be like: @AJEnglish only picked a bad spot where there is erosions because of the recent heavy rain 🌧️ and posted. @AJEnglish has become a political demarketing tool for opposition. We are disappointed that @AJEnglish will descend too low to allow those whose job is demarketing Nigeria and have not seen anything good from the present administration to use them to discredit our efforts. They didn’t see all the infrastructure we have built but are quick to pick a Small bad spot caused by erosions as a result of recent heavy rain. We know it’s coming from those who are desperate to take power by every means necessary. We’ll not forgive Peter Obi for using @AJEnglish to demarket and sabotage our efforts
Harry Da Diegot (@trigottista): Maybe now, Tinubu will pay attention because when Obi talked about it, they sent their lowlife, lizard-eating dogs to bark online, while the reality persists offline.
NEFERTITI (@firstladyship): He removed electricity & fuel subsidies & borrowed wetin no good. He went ahead & increased your taxes & devalued the Naira 100%. But look at the state of your roads. What did he do with your savings & borrowed funds?
G(✿♥) (@PaulFirstOfHis): This is a calculated attempt by Al Jazeera to discredit the good work of our grand daddy in Abuja. We will not stand by and allow our country to be demarketed. This is AI and we request a retraction in 3 national dailies immediately.
Esoteric_fx (@Esoteric_fx): As I write this, there’s a new born baby stuck on the Benin – Delta and Benin -Ore Road for the past 1 week. there’s an Ambulance conveying a corpse on the same road, there is a patient with kidney failure going for treatment, there’s a pensioner who is already retiring to his village, there’s a student who has a flight to catch for international masters, there are workers who took a quick leave to visit home and their jobs on the line, there’s a student who has missed his final year exams, there’s a farmer whose goods got spoilt and still stuck on the road, 95% of the people on that road till this moment haven’t had their bath in a week and the list goes on.
There’s no one that’d survive such a week and his mental health and sense of reasoning would not have been severely damaged to an extent where it becomes extremely difficult to reason well like a normal human should. After surviving such horrific life experience they still have to deal with no adequate food, no electricity, no water running , expensive groceries, fake drugs, contaminated food preserved with pesticides, police extortion poor internet connection and you begin to wonder why the life expectancy of an average Nigerian is just 55 years in 2026 According to world health.
For some reasons I hear that they kicked off campaigns…What’s the campaign for exactly? Why’s @FBI @CIADirector @CIA @UofC hiding the criminal records of President
Kalu Aja (@FinPlanKaluAja1): This “expressway” did not deteriorate in a month or even three months. It was neglected and overlooked; you only heard about this road because social media exposed it. Before this, what you saw were “zonal tours” of roads and trillions allocated to roads, plus a minister more interested in politics that doing his job. So ask yourself, what other road is this bad that social media has not brought to your attention? This is beyond disgraceful.
Dino Ugo (@dino_ugo): Later APC will say we shouldn’t embarrass the country globally but they are the ones doing so themselves..
See International disgrace on Nigerians because of the wickedness and stupidity of APC, Umahi and Tinubu. Repair existing roads, Una say NO..
Santos (@Yod100Hashem): Just for the records, the current president who is also a drug lord by the way, (check out his drug case in US) , have raised the country’s national debt by 600% , poverty rate by 300%, inflation to 50% etc.
He plans to rig 2027 election by all possible means.
Saint Addison (@AdisonHarco…): How on earth do people expect a drug trafficker, heroine baron to be a president & still develop a country by building infrastructures, economy? Corrupt Bola Tinubu is only busy looting Nig commonwealth & paying US FBI, CIA, DOJ & DEA to not release his drug records in US.
Ïturu Gabriel Økiemute✨… (@…): The Benin-Agbor-Asaba road has been like this for almost a decade if not more. When I began my course program at the University of Benin back in 2019 I meet this bypass in this deteriorating condition and even after I have left for over a year I am not surprised to see this on a global news channel. The Edo State Government has failed in its capacity to provide adequate infrastructure
Mary Arinze (@Minafirenze): The Government blames the contractor for the poor state of the road – Pathetic! If this wasn’t so serious I would laugh at that statement. Maybe a process of naming and shaming Government ministers might help with improving accountability and reducing incompetence, at least as a first step!
Dubem Martin (@DubemMartin): Tinubu supporters can see reasons majority of Nigerians want Tinubu government to end 2027. . Because of all this bad bad things and bad news about Tinubu and Nigeria under Tinubu. It is a crime to support Tinubu.
MickyE (@Mikegodwit): @NTANewsNow this is what you ought to have done. But you wouldn’t as you are a puppet to your government. Government says its the contractors fault. But same government gave it to same incompetent contractor. Fashoala used our roads to loot trillions, now its Umahi’s turn. Shame.
Abriks (@Oko_Iyawomi): The shame of a nation. APC took over power in Nigeria and drove the once-flourishing economy back to the 17th century.
Dauda (@yabomasama): But he awarded the highest construction contract to his friend who was once convicted in Switzerland over money laundering! Chagoury laundered money stolen by Abacha!!
Nigeria is in ICU, MBA (@Paul…): Tinubu has destroyed Nigeria and please don’t forget that he’s a known drug lord who has been filing cases to stop the release of his drug crimes. Tinubu is also a certified certificate forger. Tinubu has failed in all ramifications. He should be in jail not in power…
Steve (@efoavugah): What do some Nigerian journalists gain by taking such videos like this to international platforms? Can’t you address your own issues locally without washing your dirty clothes outside to disgrace your whole country????
Chris (@krisabah): There is a man call David Umahi. He is Nigeria minister of works and it is his job to fix the road but he rather chose to construct an
MELCHIZEDEK (@dejesus404): Al Jazeera you didn’t know our govt is constructing a coastal highway to hell-ven !!
This Benin-Agbor Asaba road is not relevant.
Coastal highway to nowhere is more important.
Fixing our bad roads is useless to this government. We are only interested in elephant project.
Abiola (@Abiola06473143): Lolz the news of the performance of inept clowns parading as leaders in this shit hole has reached y’all too lolz 🤣. That’s democracy inside the crazy contraption falsely labeled as “giant of Africa”.
CJ MADIBA (@mitcalvinmad…): Where is the clown calling himself professor of Road Engineering Dave Umahi, you have gone global. Clap for yourself.
BigMo PhD 🌍 (@LordTyrion4): I agree with Peter Obi. The coastal roads is better deployed to fix existing and dilapidated critical road corridors like these.