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Thursday, March 29, was a day of pain, anguish and frustration for millions of residents of Lagos, Nigeria’s centre of commerce. The trouble was not a consequence of any natural disaster that was above human control but an avoidable officially-inflicted pain.
It was Nigeria’s version of democracy, where public office holders lord it over the people who will always defy the searing sun or downpour rain on Election Day to go vote for their presidents, governors, elected representatives and council officials.
Muhammadu Buhari, president and commander-in-chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, was coming on a two-day visit. He was also billed to attend the 66th birthday celebration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the ‘Lion of Bourdillon’ and national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The birthday colloquium, an annual event to celebrate Tinubu, was holding at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island.
On the sideline, Buhari was also to commission a new bus terminal, Ikeja, built by the Lagos State government, and also perform the groundbreaking of the Lekki Deep Seaport, near the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ). Too many programmes packed in one day!
This would be the first official working visit to Lagos since Buhari won the 2015 presidential election; but this visit turned out a pain on Lagosians who sweated to put their president in power.
Two days to the impending visit, Edgal Imohimi, commissioner of police (CP), Lagos command, at a media briefing announced certain roads would be closed to traffic. Imohimi listed Bank Anthony Way, Ikeja, Agege Motor Road and Ahmadu Bello, in Victoria Island and parts of Ikoyi, among the roads to be shut, but he would not specify time, thus leaving the people in suspense.
Thursday came and Lagos woke up to a near total lockdown of a city despite its commercial nature. The frustration that followed reverberated in different sectors of the economy- road transportation, aviation, factories, private and public offices, small businesses among others.
Aside the declaration of a work-free day by Lagos State and the losses the government stands to incur from shutting its offices for 24 hours, residents and businesses from whom the state earns taxes were hard hit, as some roads were closed from 6:30am.
Caught in the midst of this, residents who left their homes very early in the morning hoping to beat the situation wore forlorn faces, reeling off long catalogue of complaints as they trekked through the streets to their destinations.
In the aviation sector, heavy traffic build-up around 7/8 along the airport road grounded vehicular movements to a halt, with security personnel diverting traffic to nowhere.
Passengers travelling for the Easter holidays were left disappointed and frustrated as gridlocks made it impossible for them to access the Lagos airport and major roads.
Trapped passengers were seen disembarking with their luggage and trekking long distances to access the airport, while others who could not meet up missed their flights.
At the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) and Murtala Muhammed Airport Two (MMA2) airlines kept announcing delays in flights to accommodate passengers who were yet to get to the airport.
A commuter who spoke to BusinessDay said he trekked from Mangoro on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway to the airport despite the fact he left home 5am. According to him, there was no traffic flow on the expressway as movement was halted between Ile-zik and PWD.
At Cement bus stop on the same expressway, an old woman, who identified herself as Josephine broke down in tears when she was informed she had missed her flight.
“This is the first time I am travelling by air. My children pleaded with me to take flight to my village at Owerri for the Easter celebration. I was just informed that my flight just took off. I cannot walk for a long distance; there was no way I could have managed to trek to the airport. I don’t know what to do now or where to go,” she lamented.
Airlines took various initiatives to ensure their passengers travelling do not get a raw deal out of the route blockages around the state
Obi Mbanuzuo, the accountable manager of Dana Air told BDSUNDAY that they had to delay all their flights and messages have been sent to passengers on the developments they were making to ensure passengers are taken care of.
“The management of Dana air has assured guests that they will be re-accommodated on the available flights for free if they miss their flights,” Mbanuzuo added.
Chris Iwarah, corporate communications manager, Air Peace Limited said “The challenge we had was with guests who encountered some difficulty accessing the airport on time. We had to tarry for some time to enable some of them get to the airport as Lagos is our base.
“Although that decision caused disruptions across our network, it was the least we could do in the circumstances to assist our guests. As a customer-centric airline, we had to empathise with and find a way to accommodate them given the number of guests affected.”
In Victoria Island, roads such as Akin-Adesola Street, Adeola Odeku, Sanusi, Ajose Adeogun, Adetokunbo Ademola, Idowu Taylor suffered similar gridlock as motorists diverted to them in their bid to escape the traffic jam on Ahmadu Bello Way.
“This is unfair, the duty of the government is to provide for its people. I have been on this road for about three hours. From Eleganza to the toll plaza takes over two hours,” said a man who identified himself as Onwubiko.
A company driver, Mufu Babalegba, who lives in Ikotun-Egbe, in the outskirts of Lagos and works on Victoria Island, “all through the night I was waking up intermittently to check my watch to ensure that I do not oversleep and get trapped in the hold-up.”
He told BDSUNDAY at Bonny Camp, Victoria Island, that he had been on the road since4.30 a.m. when he left home, hoping to get to his office before the road becomes impassable. “This is 8.45am yet I have no idea when I will get to my office. This is unfair, must we all suffer because the president is coming to Lagos, why not on Saturday if he must visit?”
Muyiwa Akintunde, a public relations guru, was so frustrated that he scripted on his facebook wall: “Driving this morning from the mainland to Lekki-Epe highway, I listened to Lagos Traffic Radio all the way. The reports of agony by motorists on the Ikeja axis as a consequence of the road closure ache my nerves. This is a low for Akinwunmi Ambode.
“Having raised the bar these past three years from where Babatunde Raji Fashola left it and the foundation Bola Ahmed Tinubu laid, I least expected Governor Ambode to lapse into encouraging idleness and sycophant in the manner of the likes of Rochas Okorocha, Yahaya Bello and other governors who seemed to love President Muhammadu Buhari more than he loves himself. Lagos is not known for what we call “eye-service.”
“What’s the holiday for (even for the state public workers) when there’s a statutory two-working-day break following it for Easter? I hope we’re not relapsing into having a Ministry of Happiness and whatever in Alausa sooner than later!
“The President is due to arrive Lagos by 11:30am but as early as 5am, the Ikeja/Agege axis had been locked down. Those going to work and other places can’t have access. Those who arrived the Lagos airports early are experiencing flight cancellation and prolonged rescheduling. All because the President, who might not have even woken up, is coming to Lagos!
In 1993, following the hijack of a Nigerian Airways flight to Niamey by the Movement for the Advancement of Democracy (MAD), I travelled as a Newswatch reporter to cover the rescue operation in the capital of Niger Republic. Returning to Illela, the Nigerian border, after the assignment, we ran into the then President of Niger Republic, Mahamane Ousmane, on an official visit to a district along our route. There was no blockade. The President had a convoy of five or so vehicles. We virtually trailed his team until they turned off to be received by school children who had lined up the way to the host community. We were not shooed off the road. The security was not visible.
“Do we ever count the cost of shutting down a hyperbusy city like Lagos for a whole day? This is not the Lagos we know, Governor Ambode!”
Daniel Adedeji, a cab driver, said: “Though it would be expected that as a taxi driver I should be use to traffic jam. It has been long I saw something like this. Must the poor always suffer for the rich?” he asked
“It is not good at all; thousands of Lagosians have resorted to trekking because the roads are blocked. Our driver took all alternative routes but met all blocked, we had to disembark from the vehicle despite paying N300 against the normal N150, which I boarded at Surulere and took to trekking to my office in Lagos Island, which you know is a good distance,” Chinedu Imobi told BDSUNDAY.
Tunde Ajao a resident in Akowonjo, said he had to trek for close to two hours before he could get a bus to his office in Yaba. “Wednesday night was terrible for me going home, and this morning was worst, I spent over an hour trying to get a bus, and the few buses available hiked their fares by over 100 percent.”
However as at 1.13pm, Chike Oti, spokesperson for the Lagos Police command announced that all routes are now open for vehicular movement.
Chike Oti, spokesperson for the Lagos police command said the decision to block major roads was part of security measures taken for the president’s visit to the nation’s commercial capital.
A man who work in the Apapa area of Lagos, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “I left my residence as early as 8 am to go pick my son from school at Ijegun in Alimosho Local Government Area. I had a smooth ride until I got close to Jakande Estate in Isolo where I met an unusually heavy traffic situation. This was because those who normally would have passed through Iyana Ipaja – Oshodi to link up with places like Ojuelegba and Ikorodu road were diverted to pass through Isolo to either link up with Mile 2 and other places. So to turn into Jakande Estate – Isheri roads was a nightmare. The stretch of that road was chaotic as traffic warders and LASTMA men that are regular sight were nowhere to be found. The yellow buses took over the road as the drivers tried to outdo one another, while other road uses were at their mercy. It took me two hours to negotiate the road that leads to Jakande Estate through which I would go to Ijegun.”
According to him, “Coming back was even worse as more motorists have diverted to the road in order to find an alternative route to their destinations. Getting out of Jakande Estate to link Oshodi took me another two hours. Besides, there were several people on the roads trekking to where they could get vehicles.
“After dropping my son at home, I decided to link up with the Third Mainland Bridge to get to my office in Apapa only for me to run into another horrific traffic caused by road block by security agents at Oworonshoki. It was intended clear the road for Mr. President. The blockage took another one hour before the road was opened to traffic. I got to my office four hours behind the time I planned to be there, tired and fagged out.”
JOSHUA BASSEY, IFEOMA OKEKE & DAVID IBEMERE
Additional report by Olusola Bello
