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The Anambra State government warned residents and communities Saturday against erecting unauthorized speed bumps on public roads, directing that all installations and their locations must now receive state approval before construction.
Commissioner for Information Dr. Law Mefor issued the directive in a press statement, saying the government acted after residents and communities across the state had been installing speed bumps indiscriminately, defacing roads and creating adverse effects on infrastructure and safety.
“The government of Anambra State hereby informs the Ndị Anambra and the general public, that individuals and communities are no longer permitted to construct speed bumps on public roads without prior approval,” the statement read.
Under the new directive, a uniform design for speed bumps must now be sought from the state’s Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, replacing the varied, informally constructed bumps that communities have previously installed on their own. Speed bumps will be restricted to critical locations such as markets, churches, schools, and other sites the government designates, rather than placed at will along any public road.
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Mefor said constructing a speed bump without authorization, or outside an approved location, will now constitute an offense, and called for strict compliance with the directive. He warned that stiffer sanctions await residents and communities that violate the new rules, though the statement did not specify the penalties involved. The government directed residents seeking clarification to contact the Office of the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure.
Unregulated speed bumps, often built from mounded asphalt, concrete, or improvised materials by residents seeking to slow traffic near their homes, are a recurring source of complaint across Nigerian states, where inconsistent height, spacing, and lack of markings have been linked to vehicle damage and road accidents when drivers fail to see them in time, particularly at night or in poor weather. State works ministries in several parts of the country have periodically issued similar directives asserting exclusive authority over traffic-calming structures on public roads, arguing that community-built bumps installed without engineering oversight can undermine road durability and create hazards rather than improve safety.
The restriction to markets, churches, schools, and other government-designated locations mirrors a standard traffic engineering rationale: concentrating speed-reduction measures at high pedestrian-traffic points, rather than distributing them along a road’s full length, is intended to slow vehicles precisely where the risk to pedestrians is highest while preserving smoother traffic flow elsewhere.
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Mefor’s statement did not disclose whether existing unauthorized speed bumps already in place across Anambra would be removed or reviewed for compliance with the new uniform design standard, nor did it specify a timeline for communities to apply for approval or submit existing installations for evaluation. It also did not detail what the “stiffer sanctions” for violations would entail, whether fines, prosecution, or another enforcement mechanism.
No figure was given for how many unauthorized speed bumps currently exist across the state’s roads, and the statement did not indicate whether the directive followed a specific incident, such as an accident linked to an improperly built speed bump, or was issued as a general policy measure.
