If Revenue Is the Excuse, Lagos Should Have Finished All Its Roads By Now
A comparative look at Oyo and Lagos shows that road development should not be judged by kilometres alone, but by what each state has achieved relative to its financial capacity and infrastructure burden.
There is a legitimate debate about the quality, spread and sustainability of road infrastructure across Nigeria. Oyo State is no exception. The state still has a substantial road infrastructure deficit, particularly across its rural communities and secondary urban corridors.
But when the record of the last seven years is examined objectively—and especially when road delivery is considered alongside the resources available to the respective governments—Oyo State has a credible case for saying that it has made significant progress within its means.
Lagos has the money. Oyo has had far less.
The most revealing point in any comparison between Oyo and Lagos is the enormous difference in internally generated revenue.
According to the latest 2025 NBS data, Lagos generated approximately ₦1.77 trillion in IGR, compared with ₦103.25 billion for Oyo State. Lagos therefore generated roughly 17 times Oyo's internally generated revenue in 2025 alone.
Lagos' financial advantage is not merely theoretical. The Lagos State Government reported total revenue of approximately ₦2.6 trillion in 2025, with IGR of about ₦1.87 trillion.
This enormous revenue-generating capacity gives Lagos a substantially larger fiscal platform from which to finance infrastructure.
Oyo, by contrast, is operating from a much smaller internally generated revenue base.
Therefore, asking only “Which state constructed more kilometres?” without asking “How much money did each state have available?” produces an incomplete comparison.
What has Oyo actually delivered?
The Oyo State Government's current project inventory reports that the Makinde administration has undertaken more than 900 kilometres of road rehabilitation, reconstruction and construction between May 2019 and August 2026.
That figure includes major economic corridors such as:
- 76.7 km Iseyin–Fapote–Ogbomoso Road
- 65 km Moniya–Ijaiye–Iseyin Road
- 48 km Ido–Eruwa Road
- 45.3 km Saki–Ogbooro–Igboho Road
- 37.41 km Beere–Olorunsogo–Amuloko–Akanran–Dagbolu corridor
- 21 km Airport–Ajia–New Ife Express Road
- 16.96 km Kolapo Ishola GRA road network
- 12.5 km Challenge–Odo Ona–Elewe–Elebu–Apata Road
- and numerous other urban and rural road projects.
The State's own Highways Department also says that 79 road projects have been awarded by the present administration, with 66 fully completed, although this project count should not be confused with kilometres of completed road.
Oyo has also invested in rural connectivity through RAAMP. One 2025 government report identified 87.53 km of rural road projects across several Local Government Areas, including farm-settlement and agricultural access roads.
And what has Lagos delivered?
Lagos is unquestionably doing substantial road work.
As of June 2026, the Lagos State Government reported that it had completed 362 roads covering approximately 347.17 kilometres since 2019. It also reported thousands of road maintenance interventions by the Lagos State Public Works Corporation.
There is no question that Lagos faces a far more intense urban transportation challenge. Its population density, traffic volumes, economic activity and metropolitan expansion create enormous infrastructure requirements.
But this is precisely why the comparison should be made carefully.
Lagos has a vastly greater revenue base, yet its publicly reported completed-road mileage since 2019 is about 347 km.
Oyo's published project inventory, using the broader construction/reconstruction/rehabilitation measure, exceeds 900 km.
That does not mean Oyo has definitively “built three times more roads than Lagos.” That would be an unfair comparison because the two figures are not perfectly equivalent: Oyo's 900+ km includes rehabilitation and ongoing projects, and includes at least one identified Federal-road intervention. Lagos' 347.17 km is specifically reported as completed roads.
But the figures nevertheless demonstrate why fiscal capacity must be part of the conversation.
The real infrastructure deficit
The strongest argument for Oyo is not that the state has solved its road problem. It clearly has not.
Oyo's own government has acknowledged that there is still considerable work to be done on the state's roads and has continued to identify rural connectivity, economic corridors and urban roads as priorities. Its infrastructure programme includes a target of developing 1,000 km of rural access roads through RAAMP.
Lagos also faces a substantial infrastructure deficit despite its much larger revenue base.
The fundamental difference is therefore not whether either state has a road deficit. Both do.
The question is how much of that deficit each administration has been able to close with the resources available to it.
A more meaningful way to judge performance
Consider the revenue disparity.
In 2025:
Lagos IGR: ~₦1.77 trillion
Oyo IGR: ~₦103.25 billion
Difference: ~₦1.67 trillion
Lagos' IGR: approximately 17 times Oyo's.
Yet Oyo has reported more than 900 km of construction, reconstruction and rehabilitation activity since 2019, while Lagos has reported 347.17 km of completed roads during the same broad period.
That is why it is reasonable to argue that Oyo's road-building effort deserves recognition when measured against its much smaller fiscal capacity.
But there is an even more important lesson.
Oyo should not become complacent
Giving Oyo credit for its progress does not mean pretending that the state's road infrastructure deficit has disappeared.
The remaining challenge is enormous.
Many rural roads remain inadequate. Several important urban corridors require reconstruction or expansion. Some projects remain ongoing. And maintenance must keep pace with construction if today's investments are to remain useful tomorrow.
The same principle applies to Lagos.
Lagos may have far greater financial resources, but it also has a far larger metropolitan infrastructure burden. Its roads carry enormous daily traffic and serve a much denser population and economic ecosystem.
Therefore, the fairest conclusion is not that Lagos has failed or that Oyo has solved its roads problem.
It is this:
«Oyo State has made a substantial road-infrastructure effort within a considerably smaller revenue envelope, while Lagos has undertaken significant infrastructure investment with a vastly larger fiscal capacity. The meaningful measure of performance is therefore not kilometres alone, but kilometres delivered, quality, maintenance, population served and infrastructure investment relative to available resources.»
On that basis, Oyo's performance deserves to be acknowledged as reasonably strong—not because the road deficit has been eliminated, but because the state has demonstrated that considerable infrastructure delivery is possible even with a much smaller revenue base.
And the remaining deficit is precisely why the next phase of Oyo's development must focus not only on constructing more roads, but on finishing ongoing corridors, expanding rural access, maintaining existing roads and prioritising roads that unlock agriculture, industry, tourism and inter-LGA commerce.
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