• ‘Sagamu-Lagos section, case study in poor project management’
• Construction firm assures of meeting deadline

It was yet another tale of woe on Sunday as seven people lost their lives, following a fatal crash at the World Oil/OPIC area, on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

The incident, which happened at about 10:45 a.m., involved a white Mazda bus with registration number: BDG993YG.
Twenty-two persons were involved, comprising seven male adults, eight female adults, four male children, and three female children.

Of the figure, 14 were injured (four male adults, five female adults, two male children and three female children), while seven were killed, comprising two male adults, three female adults, and two male children.

The crash came barely a week after two people were killed at Kara, near the scene of the tragedy. The lives of the deceased might, however, have been saved, had the road project been better managed or completed.

Following commencement of reconstruction at Section One of the highway, about four months ago, ensuing gridlock has defied measures thrown at it by concerned authorities.

Motorists and residents of border communities between Ogun and Lagos also blamed other untimely deaths in the area on everyday stress encountered in traffic.

Many house owners in neighbourhoods, like Mowe, Pakuro, Aseese, Ibafo, Magboro and Arepo, who could not bear the stress, abandoned their homes and rented smaller apartments at the city centre.

Besides persistent traffic and auto crashes, many in the area have fallen victim to kidnappers or lost belongings to robbers.

A landlord, who identified himself as John, told The Guardian that he abandoned his house at Ijere in Pakuro, after enduring agonising traffic, especially at Long Bridge. He always had to leave home at about 4:00 a.m. to get to his office at Lagos Island. John said he was advised by his doctor to relocate because he spent an average of four hours in traffic every working day.

For the past 24 years, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway project has offered little hope to motorists and commuters, who had been waiting for its completion. Two sections of the expressway await reconstruction. They are: Section I (Lagos to Sagamu Interchange) and Section II (Sagamu Interchange to Ibadan).

The contract was awarded to Julius Berger Nigeria and Reynolds Construction Company Limited (RCC) at a cost of N167 billion, equivalent to $838,986,290.

As a vital artery on Nigeria’s road network, the expressway faces heavy volume of vehicle traffic, including those with high axle loads.

The scope of work to be executed between the Old Lagos Toll Gate and Sagamu Interchange, totaling 43.6 km and handled by Julius Berger, includes reconstruction of the existing two-lane carriageway in each direction and the addition of a third lane, making three lanes on either side.

In 2018, construction cost for Section I rose to N134 billion. This has been varied several times within the 30 months job duration.

Amid controversy surrounding its completion, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, last week, gave a flicker of hope that the project would be completed by the end of April.

But many residents and motorists plying the route daily, and following trends, said there is nothing to prove that the date is feasible, given the scope of work needing attention.

Beyond the scope, ensuring a sustainable solution, reflective of the general environmental and specific traffic-related needs of the dual carriageway, has remained a challenge.

Speaking on this, Chairman, Executive Committee, Journalists Estate (Phase One, Arepo), Jide Oke, said rehabilitation of the Lagos/Ibadan expressway, particularly the Sagamu-Lagos part, handled by Julius Berger, is a case study in poor project management.

According to him, it is an irony of fate because the expectation of residents had been dashed, in view of the past record of the construction giant.

Oke, a former chairman of the Lagos State branch of Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), noted, however, that the Sagamu/Ibadan part has been well managed.

He said: “For a road project well trafficked and considered the busiest highway in Nigeria, leading to various parts of the country, one would expect the contractor to put in place a well thought out and holistic project, with proper consideration for environmental impact assessment, particularly, traffic management, which is well paid for in road engineering works. Julius Berger has been deficient in matters of traffic management on the Lagos/Ibadan expressway project.

“They have inflicted a lot of misery and unimaginable pain on road users, leading to great health hazard and even death in some cases. They have scant regard for stakeholders, which is least expected for a project of that magnitude.

“Considering the scope, the importance, and the volume of traffic on that project, one would expect that such projects are executed at night for maximum traction. So many times, they have promised to do this but they failed. So, the project and users continue to suffer.”

Expressing his frustration, a resident of Ogun State and security expert, Endurance Ahiwe, lamented that the construction work has not followed international best practices.

According to him, daily experience has shown that the construction firm is inflicting pains intentionally on commuters.

He said: “At 1600 hours, April 20, 2023, I left my office at CMS, Lagos, and began driving to my house in Pakuro, Ogun State. Even though the trip should only take 45 minutes, I arrived home at 00:12 the following morning. It took me almost eight hours to get home.

“Between 7up and Opic, where Julius Berger works, there was a delay. The reconstruction has aggravated traffic congestion, and Julius Berger Nigeria Limited, the corporation in charge of the project, appears apathetic about the difficulties road users are experiencing.

“The way Julius Berger does its portion of the road construction is quite slow. Despite controlling the shorter portion of the road, one would anticipate it would be faster. But it is not.

“The one-way situation is not being helped by our security agency either. To combat the one-way irritation and criminal attacks on vehicles/motorists, the police and road safety agency should have their personnel strategically stationed along the expressway.

“The absurdity of the situation is that we are still discussing the same project in 2023, despite Jonathan Goodluck, Nigeria’s former president, having flagged it off in 2013. The fact is that Julius Berger is not among the top five construction companies in Germany. They are overhyped here. And the bad part is that Nigerians suffer as a result. If it were in a developed nation, Julius Berger would have amassed enough lawsuits to put them out of business.

“Now, criminals are taking advantage of the traffic bottleneck to rob victims and steal their valuables.

“Compared with Reynold Construction Company (RCC), which handled the Ibadan-Sagamu Interchange, Julius Berger, as an institution, is not assisting in alleviating challenges along the busiest road in the federation.”

Also, a commuter, Oyeyemi Adeosun, said there is no part of the world where such construction goes on without alternative routes.

He said rather than fixing failed portions or grading the existing earth road beside the Long Bridge to ease movement, the contractor is closing alternative routes.

Adeosun also expressed concern, saying instead of the supervising ministry to monitor activities of the contractor, it appears to be supporting Julius Berger by always telling motorists there is no gain without pain, which is a tacit support of the contractor’s insensitivity to road users’ plight.

“Should we all die in the name of waiting for the gain? Who will use the road if the motorists do not live for tomorrow?” he asked.

Meanwhile, Julius Berger has called for the cooperation of all stakeholders. A senior official of the firm, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the firm has demonstrated ability in meeting deadlines in the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport runway project and others.

According to the official, “there should be no cause for worries as the company has always delivered on its contracts with the state government with excellent results.”
ALSO, Lagos State Government has reiterated its commitment to continued consultation with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing on traffic management along the construction corridor, even as work is being ramped up towards completion.

To improve traffic, particularly, around construction zones on the Opic, Kara, and Berger axis, Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, who visited the area, assured the motoring public that he would continue to hold strategic meetings with the Federal Ministry of Works and its project engineers, to review the mode of work and proffer solutions that could ease the strain of traffic.

Assuring road users that the Federal Government is expediting action to complete the project in record time, as announced by Fashola, the Commissioner said the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), and its Ogun State counterpart, Traffic Compliance and Enforcement (TRACE), are working in collaboration with the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to ease gridlock on the corridor.

The Commissioner appealed for calm, saying construction will soon come to an end.

Disclosing updates, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Umar Bakare, explained that the three existing lanes had to be restricted to two at each construction section, thereby, resulting in traffic buildup.

He said FRSC, LASTMA, and TRACE are usually on site to control traffic.

Bakare explained that the contractor has increased the number of working gangs to four, to increase the pace of work towards the April deadline.