The rainy season is generally regarded as a time of blessing, but many residents of Lagos dread this period because of the hardships they suffer daily as a result of the deplorable state of the roads, MAUREEN IHUA-MADUENYI writes
As a coastal city, Lagos is said to be practically under the water and this situation easily manifests with every little drop of the rain.
The situation is made worse by the deplorable state of some roads in the city, some with very large potholes and gullies.
From Lagos Island to the mainland, even satellite towns and other settlements on the outskirts of the state, every drop of rain locks the city up in heavy traffic jam, some lasting all day long.
According to investigations, roads in Alimosho Local Government, which is the largest in the state, are the worst. In areas such as Abule-Egba, Ayobo, Aboru in Ipaja, Ikotun, Egbe, Ejigbo, residents spend hours on the road before getting to their destination.
A resident of Ejigbo, Mr. Ike Chukwuka, described the stretch of road from Cele Express, off the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway to the Ikotun Roundabout as extremely bad.
He said, “It is the worst road you can get in Lagos; that road is an abandoned project from Iyana Ejigbo up to Egbe Bridge. The whole stretch from Cele Express up to Ikotun Roundabout is extremely bad, but Iyana Ejigbo to Egbe Bridge is worse.
“Someone was given the contract to work on the road but he only opened the earth to do the drains and left it there; the worst thing he did was to sell the sand from the excavation; so, the place is just an open earth like a huge grave.”
According to him, the road has gone as deep as 50 metres so that when it rains any car that passes through the area will be submerged.
“Before now, anyone could drive from Cele Express to Ikotun Roundabout in just 40 minutes; but with the bad road, three hours is not enough to cover the distance, even when there is no rain. When there is rain, it can take up to five hours or more,” he added.
The rehabilitation of the road was said to have been awarded by the Lagos State Government to Metropolitan Construction Company. But due to what residents said was lack of funds, the project had been abandoned since 2011 after the demolition of structures along the right of way to pave way for the rehabilitation work.
In 2013, a group known as Civil Society Network Against Corruption, a coalition of over 150 anti-corruption organisations wrote a letter, based on complaints by the residents of the area, to the state government requesting documents relating to the contract, including the total cost, name of the contractor in charge, deadline for completion and other relevant information, but there was no response from the government.
Another resident, Mr. Tunji Adeola, who lives at the Ikotun end of the road, told our correspondent that the residents had resigned to fate, adding that it takes him more than four hours to get to his office in Apapa, a journey which should not take more than an hour on a normal day.
Adeola said his former car was damaged on the road, while the new one he just bought was already draining his pocket due to shock absorber issues.
He said, “I am not alone in this anyway, many people who live along this axis cannot even drive their cars to work. Those who do, spend a fortune fixing one problem or the other every now and then.
“Although it has eased up a little since motorists discovered a road from Ijegun to Jakande Estate gate; majority of the residents now go through that road. Before then, people would connect to Egbeda from their houses, then to Dopemu, Agege Motor Road and Ikeja before connecting to other parts of Lagos they wished to go to.”
It is the same tale of hardship in Ipaja/Ayobo part of the state where residents spend hours on the road before joining the Iyana Ipaja/Egbeda/Idimu road.
According to investigations, the contractor has failed to complete the less than 20-kilometre road several years after the contract was awarded.
“Residents suffer so much on that road, especially around Abesan/Gate area. Whenever it rains, it becomes difficult for people here to move out to town,” a resident of Abesan Estate, Ms. Dayo Jidonu, told our correspondent.
According to Jidonu, the project was expected to be delivered 18 months after it was awarded in 2011 by the administration of former Governor Babatunde Fashola but it was later abandoned.
The road is the only access road to Ayobo and Ipaja, and links several communities and the neighbouring Ogun State. The only other road out of the area is the wooden bridge connecting the area to Igando and Ikotun through the LASU/Igando road.
Almost all the roads in the adjoining towns in Ipaja/Ayobo area are accessed through the deplorable roads.
During the raining season, residents of Ishefun and other communities are usually isolated from the major roads due to heavy flooding of the already bad roads.
Residents blame the state government for neglecting some of roads that are in a state of disrepair.
A resident of Abule-Egba, Mr. Niyi Amosu, stated in an interview with our correspondent that a particular part of the Ekoro road known as Old Ota Road, leading up to parts of Meiran, had been left in a bad shape for over two decades.
He said, “If you look around this area, you will find that only this portion of the road has been left like this for several years. Most of us who run our business around the house are mindful not to be too far away when it becomes cloudy.
“It is impossible to pass through the junction once it rains. People use alternative routes; so, a journey that should have taken you less than 10 minutes can take up to 45 minutes or more because the alternative routes are in-between streets and not better either.”
According to Amosu, the floods sometimes last for several days before drying up and if it rains consecutively for days, the road will be abandoned by the residents.
The story is not different on the island, where motorists are forced to spend several hours in parts of Ikoyi and Victoria Island during or after the rains, because they cannot tell which sections of the flooded roads harbour potholes that can damage their cars.
The industrial areas of Ikeja are also not left out as residents experience slow movement in and around Oba Akran and the inner part of Acme Road, where major multinational companies such as FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc and Guinness Nigeria Plc, among others are located.
Findings by our correspondent indicated that residents who lived at the boundary communities between Lagos and Ogun states, suffer more from bad roads caused largely by absence of drainage channels; reinforcing the need for collaboration between both state governments.
Residents of border towns such as Ojodu Berger, Alagbole, Obawole, Alakuko, Amje and Ajegunle have had nasty experiences of heavy flooding during the rainy season.
Tosin Adebayo, a resident of Alagbole, said the slightest rainfall usually signals trouble for the residents.
He explained, “It was not this bad until the Ogun State Government attempted to repair the road last year, but after putting up pillars for a bridge and excavating the road, the contractors left. This has greatly compounded the pains of the residents and road users.
“Apart from the flooding, which happens at the slightest drizzle, accidents are very common on the road.”
Residents of Isheri, Magboro, Ibafo and Mowe, border towns between Lagos and Ogun states along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, also have to contend with several hours of gridlock, especially between the Long Bridge and Arepo as the rains have dug huge potholes on the road, especially between Warewa and Arepo.
According to the General Manager, Lagos State Public Works Corporation, Mr. Ayotunde Shodeinde, maintenance and rehabilitation of roads across the state has commenced as a way of preparing for the raining season.
He said in a statement that over 90 roads had been earmarked for maintenance including, Dopemu, Agege, Ojo, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, old Abeokuta Road, Agege/Iyana Ipaja/Egbeda, Alimosho, Shasha, old Ojo Road, Kuye, Amuwo-Odofin, Mowo-Ikoga, Badagry, Osho roads and Olubote Street in Epe.
Others are the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway (Abule-Toll gate axis); Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja and Oyemekun Road in Ifako-Ijaye.
Also listed for maintenance are Ipaja, AP-Alagba, Kikrikiri, Olodi Apapa, Ikotun-Igando, Ikotun-Egbe, Liverpool, Badagry, Ketu-Ejinrin, Epe, Ogunnusi, Ojodu-Ogba, Ikeja/Alausa, Allen Avenue/Opebi roads, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway (Cement-Ile Zik axis) and Owolegbon Street in Atunrase Estate, Gbagada Phase 1.
“The maintenance activities will be carried out using either asphalt premix or paving stones and other palliative measures, all in an attempt to improve the motoring experience of Lagos residents,” he said.
Shodeinde added that roads in and around Aradagun-Ajido-Iworo, Ajah-Ado-Badore, Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island; Ojo-Igbede, Agege Motor Road, Mushin, Herbert Macaulay Way, Bush/Ajike Faromobi/Thomas, Laniyan/Anthony Village, Itire-Mushin, Surulere/Tokunbo Street, Lagos Island/Apapa and Ladipo-Cappa would also be rehabilitated.
The Public Relations Officer, LSPWC, Mr. Samuel Ayetutu, told our correspondent that about 70 out of the 90 roads marked for rehabilitation had been completed.
He noted that almost all the 117 federal roads, 328 state roads and 6,415 local government roads in the Lagos experienced flooding at one point or the other but that there were efforts towards containing the situation.
Federal Government roads in Lagos State are not left out as many of them have developed craters, thereby preventing free flow of vehicular traffic, while some of the bad spots have turned into operating arenas for hoodlums.
Many sections of the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway are particularly bad, especially Ibalex to Ilasa and First Gate.
However, the Public Relations Officer, Federal Road Maintenance Agency, Mrs. Maryam Sanusi, told our correspondent through a text message that the bad portions around the first gate of Tin Can and the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway were because the roads had been given out to contractors by the Federal Ministry of works, while Airport Road from Ajao Estate was on the agency’s to-do list.
“On the Airport Road, some palliative work will be carried out by FERMA. We have aprogramme for the road,” she said.
Some residents are of the opinion that the state government is concentrating only on roads in the metropolis, leaving those who use the inner roads to go through hard times.
“Since I moved to this area, I have seen and heard the government work on several roads, including Ile-epo Oja and Abule-Egba/Command road, which are always worked on and constantly maintained, but this particular road has been in this deplorable state for long. It is only one politician in this area that grades the road, usually in December,” Amosu told our correspondent.
He also blamed the state and local governments for not putting in place functional drainage channels in the area and other parts of the state.
The Permanent Secretary, Office of Drainage Services, Ministry of the Environment, Lagos State, Mr. Ayodeji Adenekan, however, said the state government had commenced the maintenance and dredging of primary water channels to bring respite to the residents.
Source: punch
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