Busiest Road/Highway in Nigeria 2024: Top 10

Busiest Road/Highway in Nigeria 2024: It is recorded that Nigeria “The Giant of Africa” has the largest road/highway Network in Africa.

The Republic of Nigeria has so many good road structures scattered around the 36 states and F.C.T (Federal Capital Territory) in the country.

These roads in Nigeria are divided into three different structures, which are the “Trunk Road A”, “Trunk Road B”, and “Trunk Road C”.

a). The Trunk Road A: These Roads cuts across different states in Nigeria.

They are mostly constructed and maintained by the federal government of Nigeria through the Ministry of Works and Housing.

b). The Trunk Road B: These Roads connect different local government areas within a state in Nigeria.

They are constructed and maintained by the state government.

c). The Trunk Road C: These are roads within a local government and are been constructed and maintained by the local government.

According to The Nigerian Government Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) as of September 2017, there are 195,000 Km Road networks in Nigeria, of which a proportion of 32,000 Km are federal roads while 31,000 km are state roads.

Some of these roads are constructed as two-lane highways, dual carriageways, and expressways.

In this article, I will be discussing the top 10 busiest roads/highways in Nigeria, the road structures they belong, and where they are located.

See Also: Advantages And Disadvantages Of Fuel Subsidy Removal in Nigeria

Top 10 Busiest Roads/Highways in Nigeria 2024

1. Lagos – Ibadan Expressway

The Lagos – Ibadan expressway is the busiest road/highway in Nigeria.

It is a 127.6 km long expressway connecting three different southwestern states in Nigeria. Namely; Lagos state, Ogun State, and Oyo state.

The Lagos – Ibadan Expressway was commissioned in 1978 by Lieutenant-General Olusegun Obasanjo

during his military administration in Nigeria.

The Lagos – Ibadan Expressway is the busiest road/highway because it accommodates a lot of Christian denominational campgrounds.

Some Iconic campgrounds you can find on the expressway include the Redeem Christian church of God (RCCG) campground, Four Square Campground, Gilgal Camp Ground, Mountain Of Fire Camp Ground, Baptist International Conference Centre (BICC), New Testament Assembly Campground, and so on.

The Lagos – Ibadan Expressway is usually at its busiest on days these denominations have their convention meetings or camp programs.

Additionally, The Lagos – Ibadan Expressway can also be used as a route to the northern and eastern parts of Nigeria.

You can also find this expressway at its busiest during festive periods in Nigeria like the Easter Celebration, Christmas Celebration, and New Year celebration.

2. Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos State

The Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos State is the second busiest road or highway in Nigeria.

Not Just that, The Third Mainland Bridge is also one of the longest bridges in Africa.

The 11.8km long Bridge serves as one of the connecting bridges between Lagos Mainland and Lagos Island. However, it is the longest bridge in Lagos state.

According to Wikipedia, the daily vehicular traffic level of Third Mainland Bridge is very high.

The traffic level is usually at its peak during the opening work hours of a lot of companies in Lagos Island and their closing hours.

In some cases, traffic on the third mainland bridge can affect several other roads in Lagos state.

Thankfully, there have been intentional efforts by the Lagos state government to control the vehicular traffic level on the third mainland bridge which have yielded a positive impact.

The third mainland bridge recently went through a maintenance and repair process by the current Minister of Works and Housing, Sen Umahi David as at April 2024.

3. Benin – Ore – Sagamu Expressway

The Benin – Ore – Sagamu Expressway is a dual-lane expressway that connects three states in Nigeria.

Namely; Edo state (Benin) to Ondo State (Ore) then down to Ogun State (Sagamu).

The expressway also serves as a link to other southeastern, western, and northern parts of Nigeria.

According to Wikipedia, The Benin – Ore – Sagamu Expressway is 492 kilometers long and is classified as “Trunk Road A” which means it is been overviewed and maintained by the federal government of Nigeria through the Works and Housing Ministry.

This expressway is at its busiest days during festive periods in Nigeria like the Easter Celebration, Christmas Celebration, and New Year celebration.

It is a result of the high travel rate of Nigerians going from Lagos State to other Southeastern or northern parts of Nigeria like Delta State, Anambra State, Imo State, Enugu State, and so on.

Northern travelers go through the Benin – Achi Road to other northern states.

4. Enugu – Onitsha Expressway (Ninth Mile)

The Enugu – Onitsha Expressway is located in the Southeastern part of Nigeria and serves as a link between these southeastern states most especially Enugu State and Anambra State.

The vehicular traffic rate on this highway is usually very high as most southeastern traders pass through this route when distributing their goods and services to other parts of Nigeria.

Record states that thousands of vehicles of all types (ranging from Luxurious cars, Trucks, commercial buses, and smaller vehicles) pass through this road daily.

5. Abuja – Kaduna Expressway

After the relocation of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) from Lagos state to Abuja, The Abuja – Kaduna Expressway became one the busiest highways in Nigeria.

The Abuja – Kaduna Expressway connects the Federal Capital City (Abuja) and Kaduna State.

From Kaduna state, the highway serves as a connection to other northern states of Nigeria that are highly populated. States like Kano, Katsina, and so on.

However, Activities in the Abuja – Kaduna Expressway have reduced drastically as a result of the insecurities and kidnapping issues frequently occurring in that axis.

6. Lagos – Badagry Expressway

The Lagos – Badagry Expressway is one of the most used highways that connects Lagos state and other southwestern parts of Nigeria.

As a result of the busy nature of the Highway, there are ongoing plans to increase the four-lane highway to a ten-lane highway.

7. Benin – Asaba Expressway

The Benin – Asaba Expressway connects Edo State (Benin) and also Delta State (Asaba).

The Highway also serves as an access route for Nigerians traveling to southeastern states in Nigeria like Anambra State, Imo State, Enugu State, Abia State, Ebonyi State, and so on.

As of January 2024, According to Punch Newspaper, The Edo state government secured a #228 Billion agreement with the federal government of Nigeria for the reconstruction of the Benin – Asaba expressway to curb high traffic rates and also accident rates.

8. Abuja -Okene – Lokoja Expressway

Just like the Abuja – Kaduna Expressway, the Abuja – Okene – Lokoja Expressway became so busy after the capital city of Nigeria was moved from Lagos state to Abuja.

The highway connects Kogi state (Lokoja) and Abuja and happens to be one of the most used routes for Nigerians living in that zone of Abuja heading to Abuja for business or other significant reasons.

The vehicular traffic on this road is rated very high, especially during late hours of the day.

9. Enugu – Port Harcourt Expressway

The Enugu – port Harcourt Expressway majorly connects the coal city (Enugu State) and Port Harcourt, the capital city of Rivers State.

However, some other connecting regions of the 41.4-kilometer highway include Abia state, Imo state, Anambra state, and other eastern parts of Nigeria.

10. Ibadan – Ilorin Expressway

The Ibadan–Ilorin Expressway is located in Oyo state and happens to be one of the busiest roads in Nigeria.

Southwestern traders ply the road to go to a different part of the southwestern part of Nigeria to engage in their trading activities.

Conclusion

The majority of these roads/highways are Trunk Road A and as such are been supervised by the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.

These Trunk Road A were constructed and designed to facilitate easy movement to different states in the country and as such, foster economic development, easy movement of people and goods and services, exploration of different cultures, public-private partnership, Tourism, and leisure, enhance commerce and trading activities, and most importantly peace and unity within the people.