Exactly 10 months after The Guardian report published on Sunday, April 8, 2023, on the agony of road users on the Lagos section of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, titled: “Lagos-Abeokuta Road: Residents Seek Sanwo-Olu’s Urgent Intervention To Save Lives,” the section has gone from bad to worse.
Motorists, pedestrians, traders and other road users along the axis are worried that the state Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, may have completely forgotten that section of the state despite his pre-election promises.
From the U-turn bus stop, through Ahmadiyyah, Ijaiye, Iyana-Meiran, Salolo, Adura, Kola, Alakuko, Amje, Ajegunle to the Old tollgate – the boundary between Lagos and Ogun states, the road users are crying in silence on daily basis.
To say the whole section has become a death trap is to say the least, as countless accidents happen on regular basis owing to activities of reckless drivers, who usually leave the casualties to their fate.
One of the recent accidents recorded was the one that happened on December 2, 2023, when a tanker laden with 45,000 litres of fuel fell on two commercial buses at the Kola Bus Stop, inward Sango tollgate, killing at least one person, while others sustained various degrees of injuries.
It was learnt that accident occurred when the tanker was manoeuvring the bad portion of the road and fell on the two buses.Before this period, on March 6, 2022, four siblings and some passersby were reportedly crushed by a motorist driving against traffic (one way) at Amje Bus stop, via Ajegunle along the Old tollgate road. While two of the children were confirmed dead, the two other siblings were said to be in a critical condition.
Despite the growing number of accidents on the road, the state government is yet to show seriousness in its rehabilitation, just as the level of degeneration of the road has become a shame to the state.
Though it is a Federal Government road, while Ogun State fixed its own side from Sango, towards Ifo, which had begun to degenerate, the Lagos section has been left by the state government for too long at the detriment of residents and all road users, who are counting their losses daily.
A trip from Iyana-Ipaja area or Oshodi to Sango, which usually take about 25 minutes and 40 minutes, respectively, now take over two hours, as the road has become an eyesore.
During a tour of the section on Wednesday, it was observed that while driving through the Oshodi to Ile-Epo market stretch is smooth, motorable and pleasurable, the section from the General/Beckley Estate Junction, through Ahmadiyyah, Obadeyi to the tollgate have been left to deteriorate, especially with the early rain few days ago.
Though a section of the stretch inward Lagos has been rehabilitated by the contractor – Julius Berger before leaving the site about two years ago, the other section inward Sango has become an eyesore and shame to the state. The areas are dotted with potholes, craters and ditches of different shapes and sizes.
While commuter buses and private car owners have abandoned the route, the few who risk navigating through the axis has had tales of woe to tell, as precious hours are wasted on the stretch, on daily basis. Sadly, this has added to transport fare as commuter bus drivers have taken the advantage to jerk up the fares.
Some motorists who could not dare take the risk of driving against traffic to avoid the bad sections are now taking the Captain/Osi Ota road to link Sango, while commuters now take Oju-Ore route through Abule-Egba, to avoid the agony of driving through the stretch.
A private car owner, Mr. Olusegun Ajasa, who resides in Joju area of Sango, lamented that the untoward situation had cost him huge sum of money on regular repair of his car owing to the sorry state of the road.
“We had thought the Lagos State government will put up palliative measure on the section, but we discovered that the road degenerate daily. Private car owners are the most affected, we spend money on repair on weekly basis. With the current state of the country’s economy, we can no longer cope with the unnecessary spending.
“If we are paying for light, paying for water, paying for night guards, which ought to be the responsibility of government, the only thing we should be enjoying – good road is what is sending many to their early graves.
“Though this is a Federal Government road, but the state government shouldn’t put its eyes wide opened and allow the road to degenerate to this level. The governor has no excuse for not providing palliative measure to alleviate the suffering of people on this section.”
A student, Olamide Martins who is schooling in Abeokuta, regretted that herself and colleagues have abandoned the route for Berger axis owing to the incessant accidents caused by the bad section.
She noted that though traveling from the Berger route to Abeokuta doubles the amount paid compared to traveling from Iyana-Ipaja or Oshodi, she said they still prefer the route as the state has already abandoned the road.
When The Guardian contacted the Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, he said: “The road belongs to the Federal Government. When Mr. Babatunde Fashola was Minister of Works, he visited and spoke of plans to fix it with Sukuk funds. Now, we hear Ogun State Government has got the Federal Government nod to fix it.” He promised to find how the state’s plan on the road with an assurance to revert, but as at the time of filing this report, no response yet from him.
