From Gateway to Graveyard: The Collapse of the Fourah Bay College Road
By JKM
The road leading to Fourah Bay College (FBC), once a symbolic gateway to one of Africa’s oldest universities, has deteriorated into what many now describe as a graveyard of neglect, broken vehicles, and abandoned promises.
For decades, the FBC road served as a vital academic and residential corridor. Today, it stands riddled with deep potholes, eroded shoulders, and failing drainage systems that worsen with every rainy season. Daily commuters—students, lecturers, and nearby residents—navigate the road at great personal and financial cost, while the University itself has been forced to carry out temporary repairs ahead of ceremonial events, underscoring a troubling abdication of state responsibility.
During the 2026 budget hearing at the Ministry of Finance, the Director General of the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA), Eng. Alfred Jalil Momodu, described the FBC road as a “priority” and classified it as “economically maintainable.” However, the current condition of the road fundamentally contradicts this assessment.
Large sections of the road have deteriorated beyond routine maintenance. Collapsed pavements, exposed sub-base layers, and persistent water damage point to structural failure rather than surface-level wear. To describe such a road as merely “maintainable” raises serious questions about the criteria guiding national infrastructure planning.
More concerning is the absence of a clear funding allocation or implementation timeline for the road in the 2026 budget submission, despite repeated acknowledgments of its importance. Priority, it appears, remains rhetorical rather than practical.
The decline of the FBC road is compounded by the long-stalled Leicester Road Project, originally designed to provide an alternative route to the university. Successive governments have referenced the project without delivering tangible results, leaving commuters trapped between two failing access points.
Meanwhile, major urban corridors elsewhere in Freetown continue to benefit from modern construction standards and sustained investment, reinforcing perceptions of uneven and visibility-driven development
The condition of the Fourah Bay College road is more than an infrastructure failure—it is a national embarrassment. That a historic institution of higher learning must be accessed through a road unfit for safe travel reflects poorly on governance priorities and budgetary credibility.
As Parliament debates the 2026 national budget, the FBC road remains a stark reminder that glossy submissions and reassuring language mean little when asphalt realities tell a harsher story. Until decisive reconstruction replaces stopgap measures, the road to Fourah Bay College will remain a collapsed gateway—leading not to progress, but to neglected
