It was a bad rainy day last Friday for Lagosians. A large number of people could not make it to their various homes. Many who did paid through their noses and wouldn't reach home till midnight. Thank God there was GSM that enabled communication between them and their relations! Those who had cars were stuck and those who didn't couldn't get a bus. The few available buses charged 300% of the normal fare. The amazing thing was that virtualy ALL roads within the city were blocked. Needless to say that people TREKKED!

What was the cause? Flood caused by the rain that started at 6-something in the evening, about the time  most workers close for the day, coupled with the rush by many to travel for the weekend, sallah and independence holidays.

This is another Friday, it has already started raining where  I am and it's very dark up there. Am so scared and I'm praying history does not repeat itself. 

Now tell me, did you find it hard getting home or did you know anyone who did? Let's share experiences.

The day was ethic, glory be to GOD, that day i take a wise decision, i park my car in the office and take okada to my house despite the fact that it was raining evilly. If not I would have stock in Leeki traffic.

The day is getting bright now i dont think is going to rain so evilly like that, today.

gbola h:

The day is getting bright now i don't think is going to rain so evilly like that, today.

Yes, it's actuall very bright already here in Ikeja and it's almost certain the rain factor will not be there at least.

Close as my office is to my house (25 minutes drive on a good day), it took me over 4 hours to get home (if I'd known how bad I'd have trekked oh), 2 of my neighbours trekked from Ikeja and Mushin to Egbeda respectively. My husband packed his car in front of an unknown house at Fadeyi and trekked to Maryland to pass the night at a friends. That was 12.14 The first few hours of yesterday at work was spent comparing notes on this topic

Be prepared for another SEPCIAL Friday. It has just finished raining heavily few minutes ago. With the state of our roads, anybody not yet at home or nearer to home should be prepared to witness a very tough weekend

men that rain is serious last friday from 7pm -12:05am to get to mushin from opebi
is very painfrul cos i din't eat and transport fare is N200 instead of N80

abdurrazaq:

Be prepared for another SEPCIAL Friday. It has just finished raining heavily few minutes ago. With the state of our roads, anybody not yet at home or nearer to home should be prepared to witness a very tough weekend

Rain or no rain, I don't foresee today being like last Friday. Occasionally in Lagos, a day like that just comes and leaves people helpless. I refer to such days as days when demons are on the prowl.

oluwawunmi:

men that rain is serious last friday from 7pm -12:05am to get to mushin from opebi
is very painfrul because i din't eat and transport fare is N200 instead of N80

Eeyah, sorry. At least you had 5 days of rest to recover from the sufferhead. Honestly, the holiday was the consolation we all had.

The traffic congestion of 26th September, 2008 was horrific !!!!

I left the office at Ikoyi by 5:30pm and did not get to Festac Town until 10:30pm.

I thanked God that I did not go to work on that day with my car as I had to get down from the BRT bus I was in at Suru-Alaba and trek all the way to the Pedestrian bridge at Mile 2, where surprisingly the road was free, to get an Okada to Festac Town.

The traffic congestion can be blamed on three main factors:

1. Indiscipline, indiscriminate parking of commercial buses at the bus-stops e.g Mile 2 bus-stop.

2. Flooding of the roads, which brings vehicular movement to almost a standstill whenever it rains.

3. Inadequate road networks- The Lagos Badagry Express way was built over 30 years ago when it was just Festac Town, Satelliate Town etc that where among the major estates on that route; today there are countless towns and estates on that route and yet its still only the Lagos-Badagry Expressway that motorists going to those estates from Lagos Island, and most part of the mainland, can take.