Nigeria, Jan. 3 -- The bus driver huffed and puffed for the umpteenth time, frustrated by the huge craters on every section of the road. It was in the first week of October and the rains had just stopped. The Iyana Church-Olodo Road that connects passengers and residents to Lalupon, Ejioku and other communities on the outskirts of Ibadan, Oyo State, was in a state of disrepair. Passengers, motorcycle riders, and commercial bus drivers were united in their expressions of anger and frustration over the poor state of the road.

"This road has been like this for a very long while, frustrating passengers and everybody and destroying our vehicles," the driver, Baba Ajadi, lamented, wiping off beads of sweat running across his tired face.

"We h...