In what may be termed an endless suffering, commuters along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway currently under reconstruction in Lagos are crying out for a reprieve. Gboyega Alaka, who went on a fact-finding mission on the route, reports.
Saturday October 31 may well go into Blessing Adamu’s diary as one to remember in a long time, albeit for a very bad reason. It was her favourite cousin’s wedding day and she had looked forward to the occasion, especially after the fanfare that was the traditional engagement two days earlier in Iba Estate, off Badagry Expressway. The wedding was billed for Underwater Events arena, Navy Town, Alakija, also along Lagos Badagry Expressway.
She left her Egbeda home at 10am – which she considered quite early, having informed the groom that she wouldn’t be able to attend the church wedding. She negotiated her way through Igando to Iyana-Iba in less than thirty minutes, but soon got stuck in an Okokomaiko-Alakija mini-bus that seemed to be taking forever to get to her bus stop. She boarded the mini-bus a few minutes to 11am, but by 2.pm, she was still battling visible frustration in her corner and perspiring all over. To make matters worse, it was one of those tightly packed buses.
In no time, she unconsciously began voicing her frustration and pain, to nobody in particular. “What kind of road is this? How can one spend three hours getting to ordinary Alakija here? A distance that ordinarily shouldn’t take more than ten minutes. What manner of road are they even constructing that is taking forever and causing one so much pain. And my husband warned me about coming through this route o. In fact, I should have listened to him and come in through Mile 2….”
She went on and on and on.
At this juncture, this reporter who was on a fact-finding mission on the road and seated next to her, started calming her down. Somehow, the driver got affected by her complaints and soon took a detour opposite the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex. The narrow road leads to Old Ojo Road, which also leads directly to Alakija bus stop; but rather than be palliative, it proved to be a worse option, with the drivers driving against traffic and creating a spectacle that can best be described as a cacophony.
Interestingly, even the celebrator, who lives off Navy Town, had tacitly warned her on the Engagement Day, when he lamented after the ceremony that “Only God knows when we’ll get home today.”
After another long odd hour at about 3pm, Blessing finally alighted at her bus stop, but anyone could tell that her mood had indeed been fouled. As she strutted along to catch a bike, this reporter imagined that it would probably take an overdose of mirth to get her lively again.
Blessing’s case is just one of millions other road users suffering along this route. As a matter of fact, hers is even better, as her experience is only a one-off. But it put the predicament of permanent residents in that axis of Lagos, who have to ply that route at least twice every work day in bold perspective.
The contract for the reconstruction of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway up to Okokomaiko was awarded in January 2012 by the Gov. Babatunde Raji Fashola administration. The plan was to rescue the very important road, often described by commuters as ECOWAS gateway, which had literally collapsed and become an eye-sore. It was to be reconstructed into a more adequate 10-lane international highway, to also include a light railway line, more commonly referred to as the Blue Line and provide a faster and more efficient mass transit to ease the perennial travelling pains of commuters in the area. Chinese company, Messrs China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, CCECC was the beneficiary and it fixed a 36-month time lag, to terminate in January 2015, as completion date.
A long way to go
Going on a year after that final date, the road does not look anywhere near completion, thereby compounding road-users’ frustration. Only the first phase or Lot 1 starting from Babs Animashaun in Surulere to Mile2 had been fully completed as at the end of Gov Fashola’s exit from office. Phase 2A, which is between Mazamaza and Agboju had reached 90% completion, while phases 2B and 2C were at 45% and 10% completion respectively.
Former commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Kadri Hamzat made this declaration earlier in the year while fending off a claim by the federal government that the state could not lay claim to any infrastructural success outside those put in place by the federal government. He also attributed the slow pace of work by the contractors to factors such as challenge of relocation of PHCN pylons and NNPC pipelines, as well as the request for an expanded Right of Way (RoW). Amidst fears of abandonment, former Gov. Fashola also assured APC faithful and Lagos State citizens in general in days leading to the election that the project will not be abandoned by subsequent government, as his administration has put in place structures to ensure its completion.
But it seems works has literally stagnated since then, raising more anxiety and grumble. As if to soothe frayed verves, incumbent governor, Akinwunmi Ambode earlier in the month renewed the government’s commitment to the project. He said the light rail project will be completed in twelve months. He reiterated that such project can never be abandoned, as it holds the key to more socio-economic development in the state.
…And the suffering continues
In the meantime, the citizens continue to groan, hoping as it were, that the promise this time will not fail.
John Onwaeze a regular bus commuter on the route said the situation, to say the least, has been hectic. He said the road has always been a difficult one, but that the situation became aggravated since the reconstruction works commenced. “Okokomaiko here to Alakija is a distance that shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes, but now it takes an hour and about during the peak of traffic hours. There is a big diversion at Alakija that takes motorists to Festac through to Mile 2. The hold-up there usually builds up right to Okokomaiko, creating kilometres-long traffic and giving drivers and commuters hell. There is also the case of unruly commuter bus drivers plying Igando and Iyana-Ipaja, who make u-turn right on the expressway at Iyana-Iba, facing vehicles coming from the Mile 2 axis, and creating a deadlock in the process.
Onwaeze continued, “Also at-Abule Ado, there is usually a nagging hold-up, that I really can’t figure its cause. In the past, it was the tankers, but that has been resolved since they were relocated, but the traffic gridlock persists. There is also a diversion in that area though, maybe that is the reason. I think the main people causing the hold-up are the people working on the road. Sometimes, you just happen on a diversion without any visible warning. Ordinarily, if one is aware that there is a diversion, one would have taken an alternative route. In fact it got so bad one day that I had to get down from my bus and confront one of the Chinese men at work. I asked him ‘Is this how you people construct roads in your country? Is this how you cripple movement and literally halt all economic activities?’
“I also asked him how it is that they are always quick to demolish houses but slow to constructing the roads. What I have observed is that even when they know that they may not get to an area in three months, they often hasten to demolish the houses and throw the inhabitants unto the streets.”
Onwaeze said the Chinese guy was so embarrassed and could hardly offer any explanation. He however deduced from his attitude and the much is smattering English could avail him, that the delay may not be unconnected with unavailability of funds. “Obviously, there is little the company can do if the government does not fulfil its part of the contract.”
On what he thinks of the recent governor’s declaration that the first phase of the road will be completed by 2016, Onwaeze said “That is the way it’s supposed to be, so that people will suffer less. But as it is now, I’m not sure that timeline is feasible. I don’t even know how many companies they’ve given the contract to, because a major road like this one that leads to ECOWAS countries, should have been awarded to at least three different companies, so that the work can be divided into parts and they can work simultaneously and deliver on time.
Youthful Ehis says it is a mixed grill. Before the reconstruction even commenced, Ehis said traffic was always horrible on the road, which made people in the area heave a sigh of relief when the government announced plans to reconstruct and expand it. He said the people however didn’t bargain for what they’re presently going through, as the reconstruction seems to be taking forever. “Naturally there are times when the road gets freer and times when it is like a no-go area. 7 to 8am has always been hectic, and the pattern has only heightened with the commencement of works on the road. So we only hope they complete the work soon.”
On what he thinks of the government’s new completion date of 2016, Ehis said “Obviously that is impossible. Don’t forget we are at the end of 2015 already; so going by the pace at which they’ve been working, I can tell you that’s a fairy tales.”
Baba Kolo Muhammed said the situation on the road was hectic until recently when the U-turn around Volkswagen bus stop was blocked. He said it’s a lot better now, even though there is still room for great improvement. “The problem on the road now is around Alakija bus stop. That is where we have the bottleneck now and on a bad day, it can be really chaotic. Once they clear that that part, things are likely to get a lot better. Now I get to Mile 2 within one hour, but that’s still not good enough. The government and the construction firm should speed up work on the road.”
Nyma Akashat-Zibiri, one of the co-host of popular talk show on TVC, YourView also laments the terrible situation on the road and her tedious commuting experience every day. On one occasion penultimate week, she complained during the banter section of the programme that ‘The tankers are everywhere and on both sides of the road, down to Volks bus stop. So it’s like hell, moving out in the morning.’
On another occasion last week, she outrightly said the little respite commuters on the axis seem to have enjoyed since the government filled some pot-holes on the road are back, as the rains in the last few weeks have swept away the government’s palliative effort. For that reason, she barely made to the show in time.
‘It’s a lot better, but…,’ say drivers
Interestingly, most of the drivers spoken to seem to agree that the situation is a lot better.
One of the drivers on the route who gave his name simply as Wasiu said “It’s a lot better now. As I speak with you now, the road is free. I think it’s largely because the rain has stopped. Now we use between 30 minutes and under one hour. In the past months, while it was raining, it was really hectic navigating the road, and we usually spend up to two and half, three hours to get to Mile-2 from Okokomaiko here. So one could say the gridlocks were due to the potholes created by the heavy rain. You know of course that once there are potholes and poodles, vehicles will move at a slower pace and a backlog of traffic will build up. If the road is smooth, even if it’s raining, vehicles will move freely.
As if to corroborate the first driver’s position, Abayomi Taiwo, a Coaster bus driver on the route said ‘It’s not as if the holdup is perpetual. It has time. Now that a good number of people have gone to work (around 10am), you’ll discover that the hold-up is a bit better. What usually causes it, are commuters crossing. This is a heavily populated area and once humans are crossing, one is duty-bound to stop. Amongst those crossing are also elderly people and young people. In the cause this, the traffic gradually begins to build until it becomes a nagging one. If the government really wants to be of help, I think they should build over head bridges and mandate commuters to use them.’
Taiwo would therefore not place the blame of traffic gridlock on the road on the road construction, because, as he put it, ‘the construction has not yet got to Okokomaiko, yet there is traffic there.’
To underline his claim that the situation is a lot better, Taiwo said it would take him around thirty minutes to get to Mile 2. He warned though that that same trip could take up to three hours during rush hour or on a really bad day.
Overall, he said the construction is a good thing, except that the government never told them it would take this long.
Another driver, Fatai Ojewunmi said ‘Now the hold-up has minimised. As at this time (10.30am), spend can get to Mile 2 under one hour. But at the height of traffic in the morning or evening, the same stretch takes between 2n to 3 hours. He ascribed the major cause of the traffic while going to Mile 2 to a spot around Mile 2 Oke. He said “Usually, we get into the traffic from Pako/Agboju Bus stop and follow it through to Mile 2 Bus stop, spending up to 30 minutes in the process. For this reason, most passengers alight out of frustration up to two kilometres ahead and take to trekking or motorcycle option to meet up with their appointment.”
He also says it is a more difficult situation, coming from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko, saying some of the drivers make u-turns at wrong spots on the road, creating a nagging bottleneck for other road users. Good enough, he said the u-turn spots have been recently blocked, paving way for sanity on the road.
‘We’re committed to quick delivery’ – CCECC site manager
An attempt to get an official response from the CCECC saw this reporter visiting their Alakija camp site. The Site Manager, a young Chinese man, who pleaded not to be named, said the company is doing its best to ensure that the works go smoothly and the people suffer less inconvenience.
He said, “Usually, when there is going to be a diversion or blockade, we normally put signs a couple of metres or kilometres away to notify motorists, but the problem is that most of the time, a lot of them don’t read the signs and jus keep driving down. And when they eventually get to the point of the diversion, they discover they can no longer go further and start blaming the contractor.”
He also stressed that the company need the cooperation of the federal government. “For example, there are some spots where we have NNPC pipelines, which automatically halt our movement. It is a major problem and we need the appropriate agencies of the federal government to come to our aid and help relocate the pipelines. And don’t forget, there are also the problems of electric poles and pillars that have to be relocated.
Pressed further to respond to allegations of deliberate delay outside places where there are pipelines and electric pillars, the manager said “The rain is a problem sometimes. Sometimes we fix the road for quick passage of vehicles and the rain comes and sweeps away our effort and a bad spot that has been fixed becomes bad again and people blame us. Also, from here to Okoko, there are many trailer parks and when we do quick fixes to the roads, the trailers destroy them, and traffic becomes slow again.”
To buttress the company’s commitment to quick delivery, he said “You will realise that works from here (Alakija) to Mile 2 and further down, is almost complete. You’ll also realise that the work has been faster in recent time.”
On the 2016 timeline, he said “At the end of this year, we should be through with the works from Mile 2 to Alakija, and all things being equal, we can finish by next year.” He finished off in his smattering English.
