By Akhigbe Dominic M.
4 JULY 2016-The last Friday and the First Saturday of every month are ordinarily dreaded on that road. These are the days observed by the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry for their monthly programs of Holy Ghost Convention and Power Must Change Hands respectively. However, the dwellers of that axis have devised very successful strategies to mitigate the scotching effect of these two days by running out of their various endeavors early enough on every last Friday waiting till about 3pm every last Saturday before leaving for their various engagements every last Saturday. As inconveniencing as this is; the measures looked efficacious till the very horrible portions of the Assesse-Ibafo and Wawa-Long Bridge of the long stretch have now become very nightmarish and theatres of dastardly carnages and accidents.
For anyone that lives on the RCCG, Mowe, and Ibafo axis of Ogun State; the temporary reprieve brought by the Senator Amosu administration a few months down the line is fading out fast. The nightmare of spending needless hours on that road is becoming another tell tale. This avoidable situation that now takes a chunk of the citizens’ productive hours was temporarily arrested sometimes in the early days of this year when Governor Amosu of Ogun state carried out some palliative activities by covering up some of the very frightening gullies that were grinding traffic on the Expressway. This measure brought some prompt relief and the people breathed a sign of relief again. Like wax, this reprieve is gradually snowballing into an unprecedented nightmare.
In May this year; close to the Deeper Life Bible Church Camp, a tanker conveying Diesel skidded off the expressway and tumbled. The content was spilling off the tanker with unabated speed. This attracted the attention of some jobless youths who regularly mill around the various portions of the bad roads waiting to be engaged in one ‘rescues mission’ or the other rushed to the scene and started helping themselves with the content that was gushing out of the tanker which was now lying on its side. When this was clearly getting out of hands as the jostling was becoming a power game of wits and muscle; security agencies moved in to put the situation under control. The Federal Fire Service was promptly called in to be on standby while other Agencies such as the Federal Road safety Corps, the Police and the Ogun State Traffic Corps were battling to arrest the situation. Just when it appeared that some level of sanity had returned as the scoopers were successfully warded off; from the blues, a Volkswagen passenger bus, popularly called Danfo broke through the wall of restraint mounted by the security Agencies, ram into the Tanker and exploded. The entire place was engulfed in an inferno. By the time the smoke abated, the whole place was littered with cheered bodies of persons burnt beyond recognition. Scenes similar to this have now become regular occurrences on this road. A few weeks ago, some semblance of the Contractor’s activities was noticed on the long bridge. Citizens were hopeful that work has resumed, this again vanished and the long stretch bridge has been left worse with the huge concrete slabs that have been abandoned on it by the contractor.
The fallout of this very appalling situation is that, those who reside on that axis and have the means have started picking up alternative accommodations within Lagos suburbs such as Ogba, Abule-egba, Berger and the likes and have resulted to vacating their homes. This action is fast debasing the value of property within this axis of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway which was already becoming a one-stop shop for affordable Housing Units and beehive of activities for Property Developers who were doing everything possible to outdo one another in the market place.
There is need for urgent intervention and a permanent solution to this very ugly trend. Valuable manpower is lost on carnages daily. Productive time is wasted on avoidable traffic gridlock. The economy is ultimately worse for it. If the people must feel the presence of governance; strategic facilities like the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway should not be allowed to degenerate to the sorry state it is now. Government must be proactive. The Government should not wait for a redeemable situation to become an emergency before swinging into action with emergency palliative measures or permanent solutions. The best approach to governance is pro-activeness.
Akhigbe is a consultant in Real Estate & an investment portfolio manager and a seasoned Nigerian Micro, Small & Medium Scale Business Coach. Contact:08034846284
