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Ijeododo: Lagos communities decry deplorable access

By Paul Adunwoke
25 September 2016   |   4:22 am
Residents of Ijeododo Town, Kudeyibu Estate, Ijegun, Fagbile, Ire Akari Estate, and environs in Igando/Ikotun Local Council of Lagos State ...
Bad spots along Ijeododo road PHOTOS: PAUL ADUNWOKE

Bad spots along Ijeododo road PHOTOS: PAUL ADUNWOKE

Residents of Ijeododo Town, Kudeyibu Estate, Ijegun, Fagbile, Ire Akari Estate, and environs in Igando/Ikotun Local Council of Lagos State, have lamented the deplorable state of Ijedodo Road, which is the access road to these communities.

For them, the pathetic state of the road is a source of pains to pedestrians and motorists, who literally go through hell daily, while making their way to and from their places of work.

Matters are, however, worse during downpours as the road and some others in the neighbourhood become impassable.

A large refuse dumpsite situated on the way out of the community, -towards Jakande Estate, apart from the health hazard it constitutes, also contributes to making that stretch of the road a dreaded spot, especially because of the stench, which constantly oozes out of the sprawling refuse heap.

When The Guardian visited the area, some of the residents who narrated their experiences said they fill the bad portions with sand and gravels regularly, but whenever it rains, flood would remove the materials.

Commercial bus operators, commercial motorcycle operators who ply the area, are full of complaints of how the bad road affects their businesses. Okada riders there say whenever it rains heavily, the entire road would be flooded and passengers cannot afford to patronise commercial motorcyclists at such times. Commercial bus drivers on their part complain that their vehicles are always breakingdown at some deplorable spots.

They pleaded with Lagos State government to urgently fix the road to enable them benefit from dividends of democracy.

Secretary Ifedapo, Ijegun Community Development Association (CDA), Mr. Adebisi Bello, said the road has been in bad condition for more than 10 years.

Bello said: “The road is bad and it affects the movement of vehicles and pedestrians within and outside the community because this is the only road that connects us to other parts of Lagos. But because of its poor condition, commercial motorcyclists charge exorbitant fares. Once the journey commences, the passenger has to pray that the motorcycle would not breakdown inside the usually large pool of water.

“Many people here do not take their private vehicles to their offices anymore because of the bad road. Whenever it rains, people, including students, would trek long distances to board public transport. This is why students in this area are always going late to school, whenever it rains.

He continued, “The bad state of this road is affecting us economically. As a matter of fact, many companies are relocating from this area because they cannot transport their goods to their factories.

“We have complained to several government officials on several occasions, but they keep on promising that they would construct the road. Up till now, we have not seen any body. We pay land use charges, revenue and taxes to the government. Now, we want government to rehabilitate this road to improve the economy of people living in this area.”

Bello said residents always engage in clearing the drainage every Saturdays to ensure that the road is at least passable after the rains.

“We contribute monies during each of our landlords’ association meetings. Some people even donate more money for us to enable us fix our the road.

“There is little we can do unless government comes to our aids. We try our best to mend the road, create gutters and culverts by ourselves. “We have written series of letters to the local council and the state government. As CDA, we always renew our certificates with the government to enable us be up to date,” the CDA chair explained.

He added, “I have been in this community for past 10 years and I met the road in this form, and it is getting worse because of the increasing population. Today, we have almost a million people living here unlike before when the population was nowhere near what it is.

Bello lamented that the other access roads to the community, through Oba Akinremi Road, is also in a very bad shape, and leads directly into into Kudeyibu Estate, Fagbile and Ire Akari communities.

A commercial motorcyclist operator in the area Oshike Gabriel, lamented that the bad road simply means hardship for him and his colleagues, and by extension their families.

Gabriel said: “Our business is suffering because the roads around here are bad and whenever it rains, passengers would not come out. It is affecting our business especially this rainy season. We find it difficult to feed our families and pay school fees for our children. Things are so difficult, and we have made a lot of efforts to inform the state government of our plight arising from this bad road, we have even invited the media to come and take our message to the government. They did, but nothing has since happened.”

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