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Motorists groan over deplorable roads in Ejigbo community

By Benjamin Alade
17 September 2021   |   4:01 am
Residents and motorists are reeling in pain over the deplorable state of roads within the Ile-Iwe Ejigbo axis, as thoroughfares within the community have become dilapidated.

Nurudeen Obe Street

Residents and motorists are reeling in pain over the deplorable state of roads within the Ile-Iwe Ejigbo axis, as thoroughfares within the community have become dilapidated.

Ejigbo, a suburb of Lagos, has one of the highest numbers of ravaged roads, under the Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LCDA).

As motorists drive daily through some of the major roads in the community, including Moshalashi Street, Nurudeen Obe Street, Ifoshi Road, Ailegun Road and Pipeline Road, they contend with potholes and craters that dot the supposedly affluent neighbourhood, where one of the depots of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is situated.

The traffic snarl experienced daily on the axis snakes across the nooks and crannies without regard for state or communal roads. Vehicles crawl endlessly, especially at peak hours in the morning and evenings.

Motorists lament that the state of the road had caused huge wear and tear on their vehicles, particularly with the big potholes and craters on Nurudeen Obe Street and Moshalashi Street inward Ile-Iwe Ejigbo.

Despite traffic challenges caused by bad roads, commercial drivers and tricycle operators still maintain their fares as some bike riders inflate theirs when it rains or at peak periods in the morning.

The poor state of the link roads to Ile-Iwe, Ejigbo, is putting serious pressure on Lafenwa Street, Dauda Illo Street and Jubril Olabisi Street roads that connect motorists to Idimu, Isheri, Egbeda, Ipaja, Ayobo, Aboru, Igando, Akeasan, Obadore, Iba, LASU, Okokomaiko and other communities along the Badagry Expressway corridor through the Ejigbo–Idimu Road.

According to them, a journey that should not last more than five minutes from the Coker Junction through Lafenwa and Dauda Illo to Ejigbo – Idimu Road now takes about an hour due to heavy traffic.

The repair works ongoing at the Jubril Olabisi street has also compounded traffic as motorists crawl through inner streets like Ilufunmi, Agbede and Amuda streets respectively, which are also in bad shape. Also the Ejigbo and military zone junctions recently patched by the Lagos State Public Works Corporation (LSPWC) are already becoming craters.

A shop owner on Moshalashi Street, Mrs. Agnes Ezeoha, said: “The roads (Moshalashi, Nurudeen Obe and even Ile-Iwe) are long overdue for rehabilitation. The APC government in power promised us change in 2015, and in 2019 they changed it to the next level. A question we can ask is: are these bad roads the next level?”

Another resident of the community, Murphy, who lives along the Oludegun Ailegun (Ronik) road that connects to Bucknor/Ijegun road, told The Guardian that more commitment is required from council administration towards developing Ejigbo.

He said: “As far back as the 1990s, Ejigbo has been known to have bad roads. It got worse during the tenure of the last two chairmen of the council. Ejigbo connects you to Ijegun, Idimu, Isheri Olofin, Ikotun, Isheri Oshun, Egbe and Igando, onward to other areas. This is the reason for the pressure on the NNPC road, Coker Street, Dauda Illo Street and Jubril Olabisi Streets. It has resulted in heavy traffic. When it rains, the roads become terrible with even SUVs struggling to find a way out, let alone saloon cars.”

Another resident who identified himself as Bayo, said: “Please we beg the Lagos state government and the Oshodi-Isolo LG and Ejigbo LCDA to help us in Ejigbo with our roads. The Lagos State Government owns Ifoshi road down to Idimu road and Coker road, these roads were last tarred under Gen. Marwa. The state of the roads in Ejigbo is very terrible. Please do not neglect us, we use God to beg you all,” he said.

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