‘Our women in labour are sometimes trapped on the bad road’

Ijegun-Ijagemo residents cry for help

They live in Lagos State, Nigeria’s Centre of Excellence but for many residents of Ijegun Ijagemo in Iba local council, they only see the excellence of Lagos on television or whenever they ‘travel’ out of their community.

Traveling’ out has been a pain in recent years, owing to bad roads. Whenever the rainy season beckons, it’s a dreadful plight for residents as the only access route to the outside world, Ijegun-Ijagemo Road, is always almost impassable.

Speaking with The Guardian, the Baale of Ijagemo, Chief Ajakaiye Mojeed Adio, said: “We feel abandoned by the Lagos State government. I am disappointed because so many administrations had made several promises before any election when to come to campaign for votes, but till date, we haven’t seen any positive impact.

The Baale, who has ruled for the past four years in the community, added that so many lives have been lost due to the bad road, as the closest health centers are miles away.

“Our women in labour are sometimes trapped as a result of the bad road. As a result we rely heavily on Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in this modern age. Cars develop faults on the road at will and many don’t even venture to bring their cars home. They park them outside the community at Asipa-Ojuodo and walk across the wooden bridge, which is also shaking and weakened now because it is usually covered with water.

“Series of letters have been written by the Community Development Associations (CDAs), but we haven’t gotten any response. We were earlier placed on the budget list for this year but we recently learnt that we have been removed from the list. We beg the government to assist us even if they can’t fix the whole road at once, they should at least do it in stages by starting with the drainage system.”

According to Olaleye Kehinde, chairman of Kolanut Estate CDA, residents are living in the stone age due to the deplorable state of the road and lack of basic infrastructure, including electricity in Ijagemo. Olaleye, who also doubles as chairman of Ijagemo Federated Landlords Association, traced the problem of the Ijegun-Ijagemo road to lack of drainage to channel the flood.

“Having lived in Ijagemo for over 20 years, residents have repeatedly pleaded for the construction of both drainage channel and the road. The road during raining season is always impassable and residents are forced to park their vehicles at Oju Odo bus stop and trek about three kilometers to their respective homes. The following morning, when they return to pick their vehicles, some of them would have been vandalised or fuel siphoned from the cars.”