For most private and commercial vehicle drivers along the Lagos-Badagry road, Nigeria’s gateway to other West African neighbours, the frustration of navigating through failed portions of the corridor to get to their destinations remains top priority rather than obeying the new traffic laws rolled out by governor Babajide Sanwolu few weeks upon his assumption of office.
For many of the road users who spends not less than four hours from Mile 2 to Badagry for a journey of not more than one hour if the roads are in good condition and on an average speed of 70 kilomterers/hour, it is only when there is good road infrastructure can any traffic laws will apply.
Over the past years, especially because of the total neglect by the past administration of former governor Akinwunmi Ambode, the deplorable state of the Lagos -Badagry Expressway with its attendant difficulties experienced by business owners, particularly bilateral trade between Nigeria and other Western African countries has remained a national embarrasment.
BusinessDay’s transport editor who drives along that Lagos-Badagry corridor can authoritatively report that, glaringly that officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority whose pay package was recently increased by the new state governor using tax payers money some of who uses the decrepit road does not have any other traffic duty to carry out as a result of total collapse and confusion along the corridor.
For instance, a journey from the Agbara end all through to Iyana-Era, Ketu, Iyana-Isashi and terminating at Okokomaiko presents a picture of a vehicular density driving against traffic in an effort to avoid damages to their vehicles as a result of ditches and gullies on the highway due to many years of neglect by both the state and federal governments.
Right in front of the Okokomaiko police station near the DSS and Nigerian Navy staff quarters leading to the collapsed Iyana-Iba road and the Lagos State University entrance gate is a deep hole inward Mile 2 on one hand and a large pool of water which can be likened to a river inward Agbara.
These alternating bottlenecks that have long divided the road into fragments at this spot as a result creating long vehicular traffic and pains to road users coupled also constitute security risks that has resulted to frequent robbery attacks on motorists.
Recounting her ugly travelling experiences along the Lagos-Badagry road, Patience Jakpa-Mike, a business-woman lamented that it has been a tedious movement with its associated harrowing experinces and health implications.
According to her, ‘’travellers to other border countries are really suffering both economic loses and health challenges due to the bad state of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. I used to spend almost one day travelling between Lagos and Accra, but today, I spend nothing less than three days”.
Some of us pay more as transportation fare to haul cargoes, which suffer delay before arriving destination and more to commute as well as to maintain one’s health.
Only recently, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, (FERMA) assured motorists of speedy completion of repairs on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
Nuruddeen Rafindadi, FERMA managing director, who flagged off the work at Igbo-Elerin area, gave the assurance during the start of the general maintenance of the Lagos-Badagry-Seme dual carriageway, Okokomaiko-Agbara sections at Igbo-Elerin on the highway.
The FERMA managing director disclosed that, the federal government awarded the contract in May and was committed to making the portion under contract from Igbo-Elerin to Agbara junction motorable.
The 70-kilometer road repair works would commence from Kilometre 20 up to kilometre 32. The contract was awarded to WIZCHINO Engineering Limited at the cost of N3, 609,968,772.35, with a completion period of 18 months.
MIKE OCHONMA
