FESTAC roads in ruin as residents, businesses suffer from government’s neglect

Across FESTAC Town, a housing estate of the Federal Government, the roads are in horrible state, causing harrowing experiences that leave bitter taste not just in the mouth of residents, motorists but also businesses that are daily made to bear extra cost or suffer some loss from the deplorable roads.

From 4th Avenue by 5th Avenue Junction to 4th Avenue Opposite 400 Road; 4th Avenue by 3rd Avenue Junction; 4th Avenue toward 1st Avenue Junction; 1st Avenue Opposite Holy Family Catholic Church; 1st Avenue by Heavens Hostel; the whole of 2nd Avenue is a write off; 7th Avenue by Total Fuel station towards Alakija; 7th Avenue by 73 Road near Mountain of Fire Ministry; 7th Avenue by 71 junction; 7th Avenue by 72 Junction; to 71 Road by 24 Road Junction near Temple Hl Mall are either complete write off or almost.

Like many national assets, FESTAC Town in Amuwo Odofin Council of Lagos State is rotting away with government paying little or no attention to maintain its facilities including its roads.

However, rather than the federal, state and local governments paying attention to its roads, majority of the roads have been left unattended to by the three governments: federal, state and local governments with multiple sizes of potholes dotting Festac roads.

The most hit among the roads include First Avenue Road, 2nd Avenue Road, 6th Avenue Road, 7th Avenue Road, 23 Road, and 52 Road. A section of 2nd Avenue Road towards Alakija has been abandoned by motorists as a route to connect the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. There are different sizes of craters within the less than 200 metres section of 2nd Avenue Road that majority of vehicle owners and motorists who use to ply the road now fear driving through principally because the craters are covered with stagnant water and vehicles often get stuck in the road.

While saying he has never seen FESTAC roads this dilapidated, a resident, John Okafor, stated that the roads are horrible. He further said that driving on FESTAC roads is like a punishment for many residents and visitors.

“There is no road in FESTAC where you can select all your gear while driving without breaking. Before you select gear three, you will return to the first gear. It is not funny. I live at 7th Avenue, but it takes me over 20 minutes to drive to my Church on 1st Avenue. This is within the FESTAC not outside.

“In one of the occasions, I needed to get to the church at a particular time. While I was on the road, my pastor who lives on Old Ojo Road, Oriade Local Council Development Area that drove through Mile 2 got to the church before me, yet I live in Festac. That tells you how bad our roads have become and the trouble driving the roads of FESTAC.

“There are roads that I avoid now because of their deplorable state. 2nd Avenue is a no go area for me when driving. In the past two years, these roads have been so deplorable like never before. None of the government, whether the local government, state or Federal Government look towards this direction. Sometimes, the local government will do palliative filling of the dilapidated sections of the roads which after one week, get damaged and it goes bad again.

“We are suffering from bad roads and its impact on our vehicle. You have to change your shock absorbers on a regular basis majorly due to the state of our roads in Festac. We call on the government to come to our aid.”

The Youth Leader for Community 3, FESTAC Town, Saheed Shodipo, also lamented the poor state of the roads, saying that they are not just bad, they are dangerously bad.

He added that efforts to use alternative routes that a little better often lead to travelling long travelling almost two kilometer for a journey that should have been completed in 300 to 400 metres.

He said that when it rains commuting within festac becomes more harrowing for not just motorists but also commuters. Shodipo, however, said the local council chairman has been trying his best to fix some of the roads, including carrying out some palliative efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the residents.

He further said the representatives of FESTAC Town at the federal and state assembly have abandoned the residents, if not, how would the roads become so deplorable?

The Managing Director of Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Oyetola Ojo, visited FESTAC recently to flag off reconstruction of some of the roads. The Guardian, however, observed that just a section of FESTAC’s Firstgate road around First Avenue that had been partially done almost two months after the flagoff.