Motorists, pedestrians and residents of Sango in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Council of Ogun State have condemned the neglect of construction works under and around the Sango Bridge roads.

According to them, the situation has not only disrupted traffic flow within the axis but has also added to the hardship of motorists already grappling with an array of bad roads in the area.

When The Guardian visited the area on Tuesday, it observed that the long-overdue construction work from the Joju end towards the bridge, inward Sango from Ifo, which commenced a few months ago, had been abandoned and rendered impassable.

While traders have practically taken over the abandoned road, commercial tricycle operators and motorcyclists, popularly known as okada riders, have turned the area where the barricade was positioned into a mini park.

In addition, a section of the road under the bridge linking motorists travelling from the Ijoko Road axis to the Idiroko Expressway was also blocked, compounding traffic problems in the area, as motorists were forced to drive against traffic.

The development, as observed during the visit, has already worsened traffic congestion across the axis. This has been aggravated by the ongoing construction work at the Sango Bus Stop, opposite the popular Sango Market, which residents said has also been abandoned for about six weeks.

The Guardian learnt that traffic flow along the corridor came to a standstill at the weekend after floodwaters from Joju Bus Stop submerged the road following incessant rainfall over the past few days.

While the Sango underpass should have served as an alternative route linking motorists to either Idiroko Road or the Sango Motor Park towards Lagos, the abandoned project left many road users stranded for several hours.

A disgruntled motorist, Olalekan Joseph, described the development as sad.

“Sango is gradually becoming a no-go area and the shame of a state. Despite sharing borders with Lagos State, it is a sharp contrast in everything. It is only in Ogun State that the government or contractors will block a major road on the excuse of construction and block alternative routes.

“When I saw the traffic gridlock at the Joju Bus Stop due to the level of the water last Sunday, I asked if the under bridge route could bail me out, but I was alarmed that it was blocked. The best option at that moment was to divert through the Joju road to link up with the Idiroko expressway, but the road was also blocked. I ended up passing through the Geepee-Allover Polytechnic route, which was a very long route.

“Though we escaped the ‘mini river’ and traffic gridlock that had built up for hours, it took us longer than we expected, burning fuel for a problem that is amendable. Governor Dapo Abiodun should use his remaining few months in office to make an impact by focusing on these roads, enough of politicking.”

On his part, the Convener of Make Ogun State Great Again (MOGA), Kayode Olawoye, condemned the state of the road, describing it as a worrisome development.

He said: “Every development in any community depends on the road. When roads have problems, everything in the community goes down. There is a Chinese proverb, which says to put people out of poverty, give them good roads. When roads are not in good shape, when roads become death traps, and when the section of a busy axis like the Sango under bridge is blocked, you are bringing a lot of havoc to people’s lives.

“This axis is a very busy part of the metropolitan city, which connects Lagos and Ogun states, it even has another connection to Idiroko, bordering Benin Republic, which is not the type of road the government should be constructing at a very slow pace. In those days when we were growing up, contractors working on roads usually worked overnight, to avoid the project causing unnecessary traffic.

“But today, we have a kind of government that doesn’t care about what people feel. I have been there several times and I know what people are passing through there – long queues, pedestrians having difficulty moving, the area is very unkempt and the rate of work there is at a very slow rate. The question is, is the finance not there? Is the workforce not there? All these things are there, but this shows one thing – lack of will power on the part of our political leaders, taking the people for granted, they care less about the electorate. The entire route is currently destabilised because of that blockage; this has been worsened by the incessant rainfall.”

Continuing, Olawoye said: “At times you’ll ask the question if the people leading us care about us at all, the answer is that they don’t care about us. So, that part of the under bridge is a terrible mess.”

He appealed to the Ogun State Government, Governor Dapo Abiodun, relevant authorities and the contractors to speed up the work “to stop tormenting innocent citizens in the area.”

When contacted, the Commissioner for Works, Ade Akinsanya, directed The Guardian to the Special Adviser to the Governor on Information and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade.

In a terse text message, he said: “Also, I would suggest you visit the construction site to understand the type of work going on.”