‘Lagos govt has abandoned us’ – Amuwo residents lament as road turns death trap

Residents of Alakoso Avenue, Mile 2, in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State are going through hell, with the road that runs from Ijesha Express on Oshodi-Apapa Expressway up to Festac Link Road turning into a deathtrap.

According to DAILY POST investigation, the road was constructed in the early 1980s by the former Governor of Lagos State, late Lateef Jakande, as a layout to complement the Festac and Amuwo Odofin residential estates, with a link to Okota, during the second republic.

It was also gathered that for over 10 years now, the road has remained a nightmare to residents and commuters who pass through it. It has completely failed, with gullies dotting the entire stretch of the road. It becomes impassable each time it rains.

According to a business owner along the road, who preferred anonymity, there have been no major repairs on the road since it was constructed in 1982 or thereabout.

“The only time anything happened on it was during Babatunde Raji Fashola’s administration, when he constructed a link road that joined the Alakoso Avenue to Ijesha by Oshodi-Apapa Express Road. The road was not originally linked that way; it was Fashola that did it.

“So, after the link up, it became an alternative route to Mile 2 and Festac, especially during the hectic days when fuel tankers used to block the entire Oshodi-Apapa Road. The trucks that moved to Apapa in their hundreds to load fuel at that time made Mile 2 to be perennially locked down, pushing truck users to resort to the road for easy exit. And that largely contributed to the total collapse of the road,” he stated.

He lamented that even as an exit and alternative to Mile 2 gridlock at that time, the government did not care to maintain it. Now that the gridlock has disappeared since the completion of Oshodi-Apapa Road, it would have been the fastest route for most people who live in the Prayer Estate and other estates before the Ago Bridge, but cars find it very difficult to navigate the road; only articulated vehicles manage to ply through it in its current state.

He added that several appeals had been made to successive governments in the past but none has yielded any positive result.

He said: “We have always cried out to the local government authorities but each time, they told us that it is a state government’s road. The local government has always made it clear that it lacks the capacity to fix it.

“However, we know that if the local government had taken proactive measures earlier when we raised the alarm, the situation could have been better. It could have been managed but nobody listened and this is the result. The road is almost impassable now.”

The source said that efforts to sustain the continued usage of the road have been made by individuals, churches, companies and residents in the area. “They have been providing palliatives but those palliatives are not working out because the major drainages are blocked,” he said.

A businessman in the area, who identified himself as Kunle, blamed the local government for failure to regularly clear the drainage along the road; a situation he said contributed to the deplorable condition of the road.

“By all intent and purposes, it is the responsibility of the local government to clear drainages. So, if the drainages had been cleared as and when due, the road would not have been in this bad shape today. The damage would have been minimal,” he said.

When DAILY POST visited the place, workers were seen trying to stone-fill the gullies on the road to make it passable. They were also seen clearing the drainages along the road, all in a bid to salvage the bad situation.

According to Kunle, “What you see here is a kind of palliative being provided by good-spirited individuals around here. We are appealing to both the local and state governments to come to our rescue and fix the road.

“Failure to assist us in record time will paralyse, not only the residents, but also business activities around this place,” he submitted.

Findings revealed that about four business concerns in the area are currently providing the palliatives, which includes stone-filling the gullies and clearing of the drainages.

Checks by DAILY POST revealed that the situation is greatly affecting businesses in the area as some companies that operate there have already folded due to the impassable nature of the road.

“A lot of tank farms and iron companies operate in this area and they use heavy-duty trucks. No doubt, the activities of the trucks have contributed more to the damage because of the heavy loads they carry, but naturally, a road that was constructed more than 40 years ago requires maintenance,” another source volunteered.

An Okada rider, Johnson Adeyinka, lamented that his business was no longer as lucrative as it used to be due to the nature of the road.

“Before the road became this bad, I used to make a lot of money per day but as it is now, I struggle to get by. That is because passengers no longer make use of the road. Sometimes, a trailer would fall and block the entire road, making it impossible for us to commute.

“You can see that we even make use of the track road meant for pedestrians because the road has completely failed. Most of the warehouses here are no longer in use because of the bad road,” he stated.

A private security guard in one of the companies along the road said their pains worsen whenever it rains.

“Since five years that I have been here, people have been suffering like this. One man just came up one day and tried to mobilize others to see what can be done to salvage the road and that is how the stone-filling and sand-filling plus the clearing of the drainage came about.

“We have been doing it but we can only ask the government to join hands with us and ensure that the road is made accessible for people to use,” he said.

A business woman, Alhaja Taiwo Ogungbo, lamented that the situation affected her business so much that her expectations had been dashed.

She said: “It affects all the businesses around here. When I came here, I thought I would make high sales because the shop is along the road but it turned out to be a mirage. We make very low sales; the profit margin is zero.

“It is frustrating. I am not getting what I thought I would get. No customers come here because of the road.

“We want the government to assist us as soon as possible. In fact, the government should fix the road once and for all.”

A tricycle operator, Babatunde James, said he spent a large chunk of his daily earnings at a mechanic workshop due to the nature of the road.

He said: “We don’t have a rest of mind. We are always at the mechanic workshop to fix our tricycle because of the damages caused by the bad road.

“Even the little money we make here all goes into maintenance of the tricycle. So, it is really terrible and we call on the authorities concerned to assist us fix the road before it is completely closed.”

Efforts to speak to the Amuwo Odofin Local Government chairman failed as he was not on seat when DAILY POST visited his office.

However, a source at the local government headquarters informed our reporter that the new local government chairman had made a passionate appeal to the state governor who has promised to fix the road.

“I can authoritatively inform you that work will commence on the road as soon as this season’s rains are over.

“In fact, reconstruction works had already started around the adjoining roads in that area. For instance, construction of drainages on the road that links the Alakoso Road with the Ago-Palace Road has been on. The exercise only stopped

temporarily due to the heavy rains now.

“But I am sure that as soon as the dry season sets in, they will continue and hopefully, it will extend to the Alakoso Road,” the source stated.