…Tinubu Calls For Geo-Referenced Road Failure Database
…FRSC Records 10,446 Crashes Nationwide In 2025
…FG Pushes Preventive Maintenance Strategy
Daud Olatunji
President Bola Tinubu has ordered a comprehensive audit of Nigeria’s federal roads and the creation of a robust, geo-referenced national database to drive predictive maintenance, improve safety outcomes and end the culture of emergency repairs, against the backdrop of 10,446 road crashes and 5,289 deaths recorded nationwide in 2025.
The President, represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, at the opening of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) 2026 Road Summit in Abuja on Wednesday, said sustainable infrastructure management begins with “knowing the true condition of assets.”
“More importantly, the development of a comprehensive, geo-referenced national database of failed and failing federal roads is imperative,” Tinubu said.
“Such a database should clearly document the causes of failure—whether due to design limitations, construction quality, axle overloading, drainage challenges, climate impacts or maintenance lapses. With accurate and up-to-date data, Nigeria can move decisively from emergency repairs to predictive and preventive maintenance planning.”
He directed FERMA to strengthen routine road condition audits, safety audits and post-failure assessments across the federal network, adding that a credible road asset database would “enhance budgeting accuracy, prioritisation of interventions, contractor accountability and research collaboration” with institutions such as the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI).
The President stressed institutional clarity in road governance, noting that the Federal Ministry of Works remains the lead agency for policy, standards, design and construction, while FERMA’s statutory mandate is “the maintenance, preservation and protection of completed federal road assets.”
“These mandates are complementary, not competitive,” he said. “Sustainable road governance thrives where roles are clearly defined and respected.”
The renewed push for data-driven maintenance comes as the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) disclosed that Nigeria recorded 10,446 road traffic crashes and 5,289 deaths in 2025, a 2.4 per cent decline in fatalities compared to 2024, but a 9.2 per cent increase in total crashes.
At a press briefing in Abuja, FRSC Corps Marshal, Malam Shehu Mohammed, said while post-crash response interventions were working, the outcome fell short of the corps’ strategic target of a 10 per cent reduction in fatalities.
“Although fatalities declined from 5,421 to 5,289—meaning 132 lives were saved—the challenge before us is no longer response alone, but prevention, compliance and deterrence,” Mohammed said.
He added that fatal crashes rose from 2,532 to 2,608 (3.0 per cent); serious crashes increased by 10.5 per cent; minor crashes by 17.5 per cent; and injuries climbed from 31,154 to 33,400 (7.2 per cent). “The number of people involved in crashes rose by 8.0 per cent,” he noted.
According to him, the data reflects higher exposure driven by mobility growth: “Passenger traffic increased from 45.16 million in 2024 to 47.47 million in 2025 (2.54 per cent), vehicles travelled rose from 3.65 million to 3.74 million (1.25 per cent), luxury bus operations expanded by 5.51 per cent, and total kilometres covered jumped by 9.05 per cent to 4.88 billion kilometres.”
“Despite this increased exposure, fatalities declined by 2.4 per cent. Enforcement and emergency response interventions are working, but they must now be intensified,” he said, thanking President Tinubu and SGF Akume for “strategic guidance and policy backing” that strengthened the corps’ capacity and professionalism.
At the FERMA summit, the Minister of State for Works, Bello Muhammad Goronyo, lamented what he described as the abuse of Nigerian roads, warning that overloading, reckless driving and unauthorised road use were shortening asset lifespans and draining public resources.
“Practices such as overloading and reckless driving shorten the lifespan of our investments,” Goronyo said. “The consequence is repeated repairs instead of allowing us to expand and modernise our network. Tackling road abuse is essential to protecting public funds and ensuring lasting value for Nigerians.”
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FERMA, Dr Emeka Agbasi, said roads remain the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, enabling farm produce to reach markets, industrial goods to ports and citizens to education and healthcare.
“However, despite their importance, roads face persistent challenges—deteriorating assets, maintenance backlogs, climate-induced damage, funding constraints and road safety concerns,” Agbasi said.
“These impose significant economic costs: higher vehicle operating expenses, longer travel times, reduced competitiveness due to higher transport costs and, most importantly, risk to human lives.”
He said the agency was aligning with the President’s directive to build a data-driven maintenance ecosystem that would “shift Nigeria from reactive fixes to lifecycle asset management anchored on performance indicators and resilience standards.”
Stakeholders at the summit linked the FRSC crash data to the urgent need for safer road designs, stricter axle-load enforcement, improved drainage and better maintenance scheduling powered by accurate, geo-referenced data.
They argued that predictive maintenance—rather than emergency patchwork—would reduce crashes, save lives and free resources for network expansion.
“We measure success not only by targets but by lives preserved,” the FRSC chief said. “The media remains a critical ally in reinforcing safe road use, promoting accountability and keeping public attention firmly focused on saving lives on our highways.”
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