News Report:
Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Chaos Exposes Leadership Failure as Ogun Government Faces Backlash
News360 Nigeria — The harrowing events of Wednesday on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway have once again laid bare the glaring failure of leadership at both federal and state levels, with the Ogun State Government coming under intense fire for its shocking absence during a crisis that brought Nigeria’s busiest highway to a standstill.
A petrol tanker crash and explosion near the NASFAT Camp, close to Mowe, triggered a wave of confusion and suffering that echoed far beyond the initial blast. Yet, 24 hours after the incident, the wreckage remained uncleared, emergency responders were nowhere in sight, and thousands of stranded commuters were forced to spend the night on the road—abandoned.
While the federal government has long drawn criticism for the prolonged neglect of the expressway, much of the outrage has been directed at Governor Dapo Abiodun’s administration for its inaction. The crash occurred squarely within Ogun State’s jurisdiction, but there was no meaningful state-led intervention to manage the disaster or provide relief.
“It is indefensible that state officials allowed thousands to sleep on the highway,” one commuter told News360. “Where was the governor? Where were the emergency teams? This was pure abandonment.”
Since its commissioning in 1978, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has come to symbolize the chronic dysfunction of Nigeria’s governance. Stretching across the tenures of Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari, and now Tinubu, the road remains incomplete and frequently dangerous.
But this most recent episode, critics argue, underscores a different kind of failure—one of duty and humanity.
“The Ogun State Government’s absence on a highway that serves as its economic and social lifeline is an unforgivable betrayal of its people,” an analyst stated.
The call for accountability has grown louder, with demands that Governor Abiodun explain why a state-level emergency response wasn’t activated immediately. As chief security officer of the state, critics say, the governor had both the mandate and the machinery to act—but did not.
“This tragedy should be a wake-up call,” the report continues. “Nigerians cannot continue to die or suffer while their leaders cruise past in convoys, shielded from the very roads the people are left to sleep on.”
As anger boils over, the message is clear: the time for finger-pointing is over. The expressway must be completed, emergency response systems must be rebuilt, and Ogun State must take responsibility for its role in this national embarrassment.
