Plenty Plenty Pain On Lagos-Abeokuta Road!

THESE are extremely sad times for motorists and other road users on the Sango and Ifo axis of the Lagos/Abeokuta expressway, Ogun State.

Passing through the deplorable road has become a source of great distress, as the government organ responsible for its maintenance, the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), has completely neglected its duty.   The popular Conoil Junction, close to Asbestos Bus Stop, is worse hit.

The stretch, about 90 metres, is in a serious state of disrepair, precipitating gridlocks. The area is ridden with potholes and ditches that have gnawed at significant chunks of the road.

At the moment, only commercial buses, trucks, tippers and other bigger vehicles dare brave the road made intolerable by rainfall.   Daily, precious man-hours are wasted on the axis.

A ride from the popular Joju Junction to Sona Breweries used to be done in less than two minutes. Now, hapless motorists may crawl for an hour or more, depending on the time of the day.

The experience of motorists last Wednesday was particularly agonising. Vehicular movement came to a standstill, as the gridlock extended to the Old Tollgate area, some two kilometers away.

Some market-bound women, after spending four hours glued to the same spot, gave up hope on the day’s sales and returned home with their goods.

One motorist, Sidick Olusegun, condemned what he described as irresponsibility by both the federal and state governments.

He called on the Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State to rescue the people, adding that urgent matters affecting the commercial city of Sango, from where the state generates income should not be left entirely in the hands of the federal government.

Contacted, weeks ago, FERMA boss in the state, Alexander Mazoya, had promised that his men would do the needful, as they were “on top of the situation.”

But if feelers from the Federal Ministry of Works are true, there might be no respite in sight for road users, as no provision is said to have been made for FERMA in the 2015 budget.