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Ikotun-Ejigbo-Isolo: The Road Ambode Swore He’d Repair

By Femi Alabi Onikeku
19 July 2015   |   11:42 am
GOVERNOR Akinwunmi Ambode is a very good man. Suddenly, I am wishing my parents also named me ‘Ambode’. The man, who holds the remote control at Alausa, last week, pressed the button piam! And the lights turned on the worst road in Lagos State. “I have come personally to see for myself the state of…

Ejigbo2GOVERNOR Akinwunmi Ambode is a very good man. Suddenly, I am wishing my parents also named me ‘Ambode’. The man, who holds the remote control at Alausa, last week, pressed the button piam! And the lights turned on the worst road in Lagos State.

“I have come personally to see for myself the state of Ejigbo road and it is very clear that this is totally unacceptable and there is no other remedy but let our officials come to site within the next one week. And the people of this neighbourhood should be GUARANTEED THAT WORK WILL START ON THE IKOTUN-EJIGBO ISOLO AXIS ‎WITHIN THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS,” Ambode said.

After years of pretence by the Lagos State government that the key road does not exist or that it is the burden of the Federal Government, with Ambode’s firm pronouncement, the gomina has already endeared himself to thousands of the road’s users…even before the commencement of rehabilitation! So, the road will indeed be fixed? So, vehicles will actually move from Isolo to Ikotun with ease, as if on the Lekki-Ajah expressway! Na wa O! Simply unbelievable!Ejigbo1

This piece, however, is not intended to intimidate the man who in one of his campaign posters was pictured as rolling his sleeves, supposedly anxious to deliver service to Lagosians. Instead, it is meant to awaken him to the reality of the huge task he has chosen to do, remind him, perhaps, that fixing the road would require not just sleeve-rolling but much much more.

Pardon the superstitiousness, but it is advised the well-meaning governor first performs some ritual where several roads meet at Iyana Ejigbo. (Yes, where that market is.) Preferably, this should be done at about 2am, when the last gridlocked vehicle might have snailed home.

Should he worry about being caught in his birthday suit, with a calabash on his head at the dead of night, he could instruct the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works or the General Manager of the Lagos State Public Works Corporation (LSPWC) to do the critical assignment. (I actually met someone who suggested one past chairman of Ejigbo LCDA be tipped for the job.)

Reason for the appeasement is obvious: the notorious road has a reputation for defying the intervention of the Lagos State government, a situation that has made it take a turn for the worst over the years.

But now that Ambode has vowed to walk where others have failed, it is rumoured that the deities in charge of the road could become upset and do everything to frustrate the project. Oti o!Ejigbo 3

Sometime ago, one Lagos State governor spoke similar words as Ambode. The man visited the area and promised: “I feel your pain as regards your bad road network. I must confess, I received all your text messages, and I feel your pain. Presently, we are working on 254 roads in the state. All our contractors are engaged and the weather is not in our favour. As soon as there is climate satisfaction, we will move to improve road network in Ejigbo.”

As soon as the man spoke, it is on record that the weather simply went gaga. Rain began to fall everyday at Ejigbo, making it practically impossible for the man to deliver on his promise! (And besides, hope for a successful completion of the Ejigbo-Idimu and Jakande-Ijegun roads is fading, as contractors have stopped work.)

But Ambode is a very good man.

Isn’t he?

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