Over 1.6 million vehicles jot across Lagos State roads daily. Among these, 226 cars run on the roads per km compared to the national average of 16 cars per km.

The huge gap compared to what happens in other parts of the country reveals the sheer volume of pressure that roads in the nation’s commercial capital are exposed to.

The data also, very importantly, stress the overwhelming importance of strengthening other forms of transportation if the health of roads in the state must be preserved.

While confirming the massive volume of vehicular traffic that ply the state’s roads, the immediate past Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, who spoke at a Nigerian Bar Association General Conference in Lagos in the past explained that 75, 000 commercial buses popularly known as “Danfo” cater for about 10,000 public-passenger trips daily, while an average of 12,000 public transport trips are generated daily.

Oladeinde added that the high-volume traffic situation could be addressed through a combination of strategies including economic, social, and environmental strategies.

According to him, some strategies that will be adopted to reduce traffic congestion include the implementation of the Lagos Traffic Law, improvement of 60 noted key junctions through effective deployment of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) officers, as well as the continuous fixing of the potholes on roads, amongst others.

Last May, the state government revealed that the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led administration completed 970 roads in the last four years, just as it promised to better its performance and meet the yearnings of taxpayers, who want their efforts reciprocated by the provision of motorable roads across the state.

The immediate past Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, during a press briefing to announce activities lined up for the inauguration of Sanwo-Olu’s second, said that 34 of the roads were executed in Kosofe, Somolu, Victoria Island and Ikoyi along with 15 bridges, adding that in Ojokoro, 31 roads were completed by the government in the last four years.

Irrespective of what the state government is saying, taxpayers are increasingly pissed off with the proliferation of dilapidated roads across the length and breadth of the state, especially as the rainy season progresses.

Some residents who spoke to The Guardian lamented that despite the huge amount that the state government claims to spend on road construction, repairs, and maintenance, the deficit remains astounding with its attendant economic and security implications, including accidents and deaths.

Adepoju Olorewaju, a public servant who is bothered at the rate of deterioration of roads in the state is of the view that the government is paying the price for failing to enforce strict monitoring of road construction by contractors and it agencies that carry out repair works.

“It is appalling how deplorable roads are getting in the state shortly after being constructed. The condition of perpetual trauma and vulnerability to dangers, which these poorly-constructed roads have left many Lagos residents deserves to be spoken against in strong terms. The attitude of some residents of the state towards infrastructure provided by the government is also very reprehensible. How do you explain the conversion of roads to mechanic workshops, which is happening in most parts of the state?”

He continued: In some other parts of the state, operators of makeshift food canteens convert sidewalks, pedestrians walkways, and even parts of motorways to kitchen units, and their activities damage street coatings.”

From Agege to Alimosho, to Okoko, Agboju, Oshodi, Mushin, Orile, and Ijesha just to mention a few locations, the rains have exposed the awful state of many Lagos roads. No wonder the popular saying among residents that rains often help to expose the underbelly of Lagos.

This is because the crater-like potholes dotting many roads across the state become water pools, which ultimately make commuting across the state an agonising experience, with motorists moving at snail speed thereby wasting man-hours, and incurring damage to their vehicles.

Interestingly, many of these roads that have been in a poor state for months and sometimes years, get more deteriorated during rainy seasons, especially as the drainage network get clogged requiring urgent de-silting or channelling rainwater to the nearby canals.

Residents are therefore calling on the government to alleviate the sufferings that they undergo daily because of bad roads within their communities, especially as local government chairmen often feel unperturbed by their plight.

In the Mafoloku area of Oshodi-Isolo Local Council, Mr. Johnson Adebayo, a commercial bus driver, who plies the Oshodi to Airport Road junction route, was quick to say that the government is not doing enough to make the roads motorable.

He said that his vehicle has made several visits to the mechanic workshop due to the bad state of the roads.

While mentioning several terrible spots on Mafoluku Road, Adebayo said: “The potholes have made life difficult for people, especially those of us who ply the road regularly. Every time one is thinking of how to maneuver his way while driving just to avoid those dangerous spots littered everywhere on Mafoluku Road.”

Corroborating Adebayo, Agbo Stephen, a resident, said that potholes in the Mafoluku area have been like that for a while. He added that despite the road being a major one, and connecting different streets within Oshodi, the government has paid little or no attention to the road. He said: “All of us in this area are complaining bitterly and there is nobody to help us fix these potholes in Mafoluku, Oshodi. The government has abandoned us for long.”

He noted that construction work on Omilade Street has been abandoned, saying that the government started work on the road before the election, but abandoned it immediately after the election.

Another resident in Mafoluku, Mr. Abiodun Adegboyega told The Guardian that Olowora/Sobogun streets around the Aviation Gate area are also in a terrible state. According to him: “The streets are full of potholes and the only way that the government can help is to repair them. Vehicles have knocked down children on these streets because their drivers were trying to avoid potholes.

Taiwo Onifade whose shop is situated between Olowora and Sobogun streets decried many years of government neglect. Onifade pleaded with the government to come to the residents’ aid.

For Ayo Ade, who sells provisions at Raji Street, residents have resigned to fate accepting the unpleasant condition of the streets, hoping that the area would one day get better.

A commercial bus driver, Mr. Akinsegun Sunday, who plies the Mafoluku-Oshodi route in the last 18 years, said that the road is totally bad, damaging his vehicles routinely. As a result, he said that he usually calls on either his auto-mechanic or auto-electrician regularly to repair his vehicle.

He said: “If one buys a new bus, it will get damaged within because of the bad roads. The government should repair the roads. For many years, the government has just been patching some of the roads instead of complete reconstruction. If that is done, it will go a long way in improving the lives of people doing business in this area.

A tricycle operator, Mr. Olajide Ige, said that though some council officials often ply many of the deplorable roads, which become obvious during the rainy season, they often feel less concerned.

“This road needs urgent government intervention to reduce the hardship people pass through plying this road.” Residents of Amuwo-Odofin Local Council are also feeling the pains of bad roads across the areas within the council. For many residents, it is a pain riding on roads within their locations. This is because, from 32 Road, 41 Road, to 51 Road in Festac and roads in Abule-Ado, they are different grades of potholes dotting them, and commuting becomes very unpleasant to the residents.

From Abule Eko Street to Ado Soba, Century Street, and Shoba Street, all in Abule-Ado, the roads are populated with varied sizes of marshy pools of dirty water.

A resident of Festac, Tajudeen Agbabiaka, said that on many occasions especially on 32 Road, motorists wait for vehicles in opposite directions to pass because of the craterlike potholes on the road. “Yet, this is a two-way road with ample space for vehicles to move in opposite directions without friction, but the potholes have changed that,” he said.

A resident of Ijesha, Surulere Local Council, Muyiwa Abiodun, stated that many of the roads within the Ijesha corridor are also dilapidated, the reason he prefers public transport to commuting in his car due to constant damage that his car has suffered.

According to him, he was once forced to hire a towing van to pull out his car, when it got stuck in one of the deplorable roads spending N20,000 afterward to fix the car.

Also, a petty trader, Mrs. Tayo Olajide expressed dismay at the impact the bad road has had on her business. A pedestrian, Happiness Umeh, narrated a recent incident in the area, where a tri-cyclist and his passengers sustained injuries when the tricycle fell into a ditch. She called the state government to repair the roads to relieve residents of pain.

Residents of Agege are also not left out. A section of Shiaba Street is a no-go area whenever it rains because the deep potholes become water collectors.

A welder, whose workshop is on the street, but pleaded anonymity, the non-completion of the canal started by one-time Chairman of Agege Local Council, Enock Ajiboso, is responsible for the flood.

He said the rainwater flowing from the different ends up at Shiaba Street but is not properly channeled to the canal because of a blockage caused by blocks of shops built on the pathway.

One of the residents, simply called Adenekan said that whenever it rains heavily, people who are not ready to wade through the flood usually go through the alternative road.

The General Manager, of Lagos State Public Works Corporation, Lateef Ayodele Somide, an engineer, when contacted on the phone, said that his agency is committed to providing good access roads for Lagos residents, but the corporation is limited because it has little funds to carry out the desired repair works it could on roads.

He stressed that the major challenge that the organisation is grappling with is the inadequate fund to live up to its responsibilities, adding that the task of patching potholes is huge, but Mafoluku Road and some other roads need more than just patching, but complete reconstruction of the roads because of the wear and tear they have suffered over the years.