FalseProphet1:
Why can't they observe the construction work in front of their gate from akoka to Bariga down to new garage, that road is an eyesore.

But their lecturers took them all they way to badagry so they can loot money from them under the guise of field trip.

This I have seen.

LivingSage:
Eko for show, Lagos for action..

LASU please not UNILAG

psychologist:
That’s Oyin Damola

Did her IT with our firm

Meanwhile, I remember when in my final year, when we have to do traffic count 7am -7pm (Only civil/transportation engineers can relate )

blamingthedevil:
Sanwo-Olu is constructing more than 20 fly overs, underpass, rail lines, rail stations, widest road in Africa but no noise like idiotic tax collector party

Dikaveli:
Yorubas must hype everything

DispatcherLagos:
I can bet my balls that 80% of the students doesn't even understand what was going on there

naptu2:
Here's a short background of this project.


1) The Lagos-Badagry Expressway was built between 1969 and 1973 and it is a federal expressway. It was originally planned to be a single carriage road, but Governor Mobolaji Johnson suggested that it should be made a dual carriageway.


The road is owned by the Federal Government, but in 2008 the Lagos State Government applied for and got a concession to reconstruct and upgrade the section of the road from Orile to Okokomaiko. The road was in a really terrible state at that time and Lagos State planned to expand it to a ten lane expressway, including a BRT lane, rail line and several bridges and overpasses.

The project suffered a lot of challenges, for example, the former minister of works, Hassan Lawal, once announced that the Federal Government was going to take back the road. However, President Yar'Adua intervened and ensured that there wasn't any trouble. Yar'Adua said that the reconstruction of the road was in the interest of the citizens of Nigeria and therefore, party differences should not hinder the project and he gave his full blessing to Lagos State to reconstruct the road.


The first section of the project (from Orile to Mile 2) was a difficult stage because there were a lot of cables, pipelines and other utility infrastructure buried underneath the road and therefore the Lagos State Government gave the project to Julius Berger, which originally constructed the road in the 1970s. The Chinese Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) was responsible for laying the railway tracks and reconstructing the road beyond the Mile 2 bridge.

However, a massive problem hit the project after the first section was completed. The project was being funded with a loan from the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Lagos State Government required a Federal Government guarantee before it could access the funds. The government got the first tranche of the loan with which it completed the first phase, but the Federal Government refused to guarantee the second tranche of the loan. Governor Fashola flew to Abuja to complain to Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (who was the minister of finance at the time) and the National Assembly, but the government still did not guarantee the loan.

The Federal Government said that Nigeria's debt burden was too high and that it would not guarantee the loan. The Lagos State Government argued that there was no danger as it had the means to repay the loan and it would not default. Some critics claimed that politics was interfering in the project. However the problem continued. The Federal Government did not guarantee the second tranche of the loan until the exact date that Governor Fashola had given for the completion of the project.

From this point onwards the project suffered massive funding challenges. The Lagos State Government tried to fund the project from its own budget, but the cost of the project had risen and there were massive delays because there was not enough funds to complete the project.

However, the Central Bank of Nigeria has now stepped in to provide funds for the Blue Line Rail Project (which will run in the middle of the Badagry Expressway) and this has enabled the Lagos State Government to resume work at full pace.



2) The section of the road from Okokomaiko to Badagry is also in a very bad state and there has been a lot of complaints about it. The Federal Government has promised to reconstruct the road from Okokomaiko to Seme Border and this has led to a little war between the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government (even though both governments are controlled by the same party).

The Lagos State Government raised an alarm earlier this year that the Federal Government promised to reconstruct the section from Okokomaiko to Seme, yet no work had been done on the place. The minister of works, Babatunde Raji Fashola apologised for the delay, but he said that the Federal Government was owing the contractors and the problem was caused by lack of funds. He promised that the government was going to see if the project could be listed among projects that would benefit from funds from the sukkuk bonds.

However, in December, the NNPC announced that it was taking over construction of that section in exchange for tax credits from the government.

FalseProphet1:
Why can't they observe the construction work in front of their gate from akoka to Bariga down to new garage, that road is an eyesore.

But their lecturers took them all they way to badagry so they can loot money from them under the guise of field trip.

This I have seen.

babaolofin:


The first paragraph is not entirely correct. It is good you posted this essay late in the night by 10 p.m to avoid political discussion on the project. What you intend to achieve is the ownership of the road and that of the project this has been settled long time ago.

That road is an International Road captured in Dakar - Lagos Highway project and Lagos - Abidjan Corridor Highway project. The benefits of that road to ECOWAS and AU are spelt out in various framework document. Lagos can singlehandedly build that road through International Financing and IGR if it is not part of Nigeria. This is one of the reasons some people are clamouring for separation and restructuring.

The purpose of your long essay is not to give situation report on the project but to bring back the memory of the project ownership tussle.

NGpatriot:




I really don't see the connection.

babaolofin:


It has connection. People from Africa countries that pass through that road know that it is a political road. Mobolaji Johnson constructed 60.7 kilometres of that road. Is that a suggestion?

babaolofin:


The first paragraph is not entirely correct. It is good you posted this essay late in the night by 10 p.m to avoid political discussion on the project. What you intend to achieve is the ownership of the road and that of the project this has been settled long time ago.

That road is an International Road captured in Dakar - Lagos Highway project and Lagos - Abidjan Corridor Highway project. The benefits of that road to ECOWAS and AU are spelt out in various framework document. Lagos can singlehandedly build that road through International Financing and IGR if it is not part of Nigeria. This is one of the reasons some people are clamouring for separation and restructuring.

The purpose of your long essay is not to give situation report on the project but to bring back the memory of the project ownership tussle. You started the first paragraph by saying it is a Federal road but Mobolaji Johnson SUGGESTED it should be made a dual carriageway. What suggestion? Can you call 60.7 kilometres of road built by Mobolaji Johnson a suggestion when Mobolaji Johnson and Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu were alive?

NGpatriot:




I really don't see the connection.

naptu2:
Lagos State has always been blessed with very good governors. In my view, the best are:

Mobolaji Johnson (Itoikin Bridge, planning the Ring Road system [including Eko and 3rd Mainland bridges], Badagry Expressway, etc)

Lateef Jakande (LTV, Lekki Expressway, Lasu, Low Cost Housing Estates, etc)

Raji Rasaki (Adiyan Waterworks, completion of 3rd Mainland Bridge [Babangida ordered his secretary not to allow Rasaki into his office again, because Rasaki was always disturbing him about the 3rd Mainland Bridge], Lagos Horizon Newspaper, Opebi-Oregun Link Bridge, etc)

Mohammed Buba Marwa - Eko FM, LASUTH, Direct Labour Agency [which patched the roads that were left in a state of disrepair by Mr. No Bitumen ], Marwa Gardens, Eko FM, Operation Sweep


Bola Tinubu (Lasambus, BRT, Kai, Office of The Public Defender, Lagos Emergency Points, Millenium Schools, Lasuth, LASTMA, reconstruction of roads that were left in a state of disrepair by Mr. No Bitumen and patched by Governor Marwa, etc).

Raji Fashola (Okota-Itire Link Bridge, Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge, Lasu-Iba Road, Lasmi Cabs, Traffic Radio, LRT, Lagos HOMS, expension and modernisation of the Lekki Expressway, Lagos State Security Trust Fund, etc)


Governors Otedola, Akhigbe (Ikeja flyovers), Mudashiru (rehabilitation of Jakande schools), Kanu, Lawal and Ukiwe also did well. I won't rate them as the best, but I'll say they did very well.

The lone exception is Colonel Olagunsoye Oyinlola (Mr. No Bitumen) who did absolutely nothing. He sat and watched as Lagos roads became filled with ginormous craters, hills and valleys. Awolowo Road was an eyesore at this time.

However, if you tell some people that Governor Johnson did a lot, they will direct your attention to Eko Court and the armed robbery edict. If you tell them that Governor Rasaki was an action governor, they will remind you of Maroko and Ilado. If you tell them that Marwa was very popular, they will tell you that he served Abacha, that Operation Sweep killed many innocent people and they will ask you where he got the money with which he started his airline (some will even tell you that he was one of the people that delivered the parcel bomb to Dele Giwa's house and they will also remind you about Bagauda Kaltho's death). If you tell them that Tinubu transformed Lagos from the huge refuse dumps and bad roads of the 1990s to a clean place with smooth roads, they will tell you that Tinubu owns the whole of Lagos. If you tell them that Fashola brought back sanity to Oshodi and continued the progress started by Tinubu, they will tell you that Fashola is elitist.

But the argument that I find most fascinating and which was revived upper Sunday, is the debate about the tenure of Lateef Kayode Jakande (LKJ).

I believe that Baba Kekere is one of the best governors that Lagos has ever had (you'll see why in a minute), but I also acknowledge his flaws. However, it's very difficult for most people to assess him objectively. They either love him dearly or hate him passionately.


LKJ implemented the progressive/welfarist manifesto of the UPN to the letter. The LSTC was still running at the time that Jakande was governor and he converted some of the LSTC buses (including some of the air conditioned buses) into Scholars Bus, buses that were specifically designated to convey primary and secondary school children to and from school for free.

He utilised the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) to build low cost houses/flats, which low and medium income people could buy via a mortgage scheme (they paid back in instalments over a 10-25 year period).

Jakande endeared himself to the people by using his private car, a Toyota Crown (or was it a Cressida?) as his official car, rather than one of the long wheel base mercedes limousines that were common at the time. (He used that same car as his official car when he became Minister of Works in the Abacha Government, but his motorcade looked funny to me because the official Peugoet 505 Evolution that was meant to be his official car was often driven behind the Toyota).

Governor Jakande revived the Lagos Metroline plan which had been abandoned by the previous military government. The system had been originally planned by United Nations experts that were advising the Federal Government in the 1960s, but successive governments were not serious about it. Governor Jakande was very serious about it and the right of way had already been demarcated by the time he was removed from office.

He established the Lagos Television (LTV), the only state tv station (the previous state and regional tv stations had been taken over by the Federal Military Government in the mid-1970s). The NPN controlled Federal Government quickly established a youth oriented tv station on the exact same frequency (NTA2 Channel 5) and LTV was eventually forced to move to Channel 8 (it was forced to move again in the 1990s, when the Federal Government reserved the VHF frequency band for only Federal Government owned stations. It eventually settled on Channel 35).

He also established Lasu, a multi-campus university that was modelled after the University of California multi-campus system.

But, the most controversial policy of the government (and the policy that was the subject of Sunday's debate) was the education policy.

The Federal Military Government had taken over private primary and secondary schools in the 1970s. Part of the reason for the take over was the fear that most of these schools were, in one way or another, controlled by foreign organisations and people, such as foreign missionaries and that it was dangerous to leave the education of Nigerian children in the hands of foreigners. These primary and secondary schools were handed over to the states by the Federal Government (the Federal Military Government also took over regional/state owned universities and still owns and manages those universities today).

Governor Jakande decided that every child must attend school, that they (and their parents) must spend little or nothing to get an education and that this must be done on budget (that is, the government must also not overspend in order to achieve this). So the government created numerous schools (I don't think any government in the history of Lagos has created as many schools as Jakande did).

The scholars buses ferried children to and from school free of charge and the government also reached agreements with publishers to supply books to the schools at no cost to the students.

I took some of those books from one of those students at that time and below are pictures of one of those books.

www.nairaland.com/attachments/10485552_101209415112779724628382974985295233809545n_jpegf25c7149db0ded952da615210e0b0c92

www.nairaland.com/attachments/10485553_1054885415112786091294413277182517401698560o_jpeg9a86eea7fd3015de841be594b17c80e7

You can see that it has the Seal of the Lagos State Government on it. This notice is stamped on some of the pages of the book - "Property of the Lagos State Government. Not for sale" (the notice on the pages of another book reads - "Property of the Lagos State Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Not for sale" ). The name of the particular school was also stamped on the books and it was a huge offence to sell those books.

One of my favourite parts of the policy and one that was hated by many students, is the part that was known as Center. Basically, students from schools in a particular area or neighbourhood would congregate at a centre in which they would be taught woodwork, home economics and other hands on subjects.

So, how can anyone have a problem with this policy?

1) Multiple schools: - Remember that most of these schools were seized from their original owners, most of whom were european missionaries. The missionaries believed in total, all-round education. They believed that it was important to educate the mind, body and soul. So most of those schools had large football fields, cricket pitches, basketball and tennis courts, chapels and mosques and even swimming pools. They also had farms for agricultural science and facilities for music, arts and drama.

Jakande was determined to get as many people as possible into school, so he built new classroom blocks on those sports facilities. Several schools were built in the same compound. You had "Government College, School 1", "Government College, School 2", "Government College, School 3" (sounds like a nollywood movie, doesn't it?) and so on and so forth. Many of the schools (classroom blocks) were built so close to each other that they were poorly ventilated. If you go round Lagos, you'd see a lot of these schools that were established between 1980 and 1982.

Someone complained, "What kind of schools were those? They had no laboratories, no sports facilities, no libraries, just blocks of badly built classrooms".

The original owners and ex-students of these schools were also very upset that their school compounds were being broken up in this manner (a visit to Igbobi College or Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School will give you an idea of what happened. The Aunty Ayo School system was divided into 3 schools!).

2) The buildings: - The quality of the new buildings was also another source of concern. I watched a documentary on Jakande's birthday, in which the project coordinator explained what happened. Jakande told her that he wanted X number of classrooms built at Y amount. She went, did her study and came back and told him that it was impossible. He replied that he had faith in her and he knew that she could do it and restated that he wanted X number of classrooms built at Y amount. That she should find out where she can make savings. So she went back and made some adjustments. Rather than using glass window panes, they used wood. They made other similar adjustments and were able to build X number of schools for Y amount.

This was one of the things that infuriated people the most. One of my friends on Sunday complained that, "I can never like that guy. I don't know why people are trying to whitewash and launder his image. That guy built chicken sheds in my school and called them classrooms!"

Many of those classroom blocks were very basic. Some had no coat of paint, some had wooden windows, no fans, no electricity, etc.

Governor Mudashiru, who took over from Jakande, had to spend a lot of money to upgrade some of the classroom blocks.

3) Interview: - Like I said earlier, the missionairies and the colonial government believed in total education. They believed that they should not only educate the mind, but that they should also develop the body, social skills, behaviour and spiritual needs of the child. So there were sports activities, plays, musical performances, etc.

Thus, prospective students were interviewed and investigated to determine their suitability, not only academically (which would have been determined by the entrance examinations), but also in terms of character.

Jakande's policy dictated that school districts were divided into catchment areas. Principals of secondary schools had to accept students from specified primary schools in their catchment areas (so long as the student passed the G2 primary school leaving certificate exam [one of the easiest exams you could ever take). It was also very difficult for the principals to expel these students, except the student failed promotion exams twice.

The result was that many unruly students were admitted into these schools. Discipline broke down. It became quite normal to read stories in the newspapers about students beating up teachers and even principals. This was also one of the reasons why the old Principals Cup Competition was suspended. Extreme violence often accompanied these football matches. Secondary school students went to school and football matches with axes (known as UTC), cutlasses and other dangerous weapons.

4) Carrying capacity: - The policy led to a dramatic increase in school enrollment and this put a huge strain on facilities (despite the rapid increase in schools and classrooms). Most schools, pre-1979, had a student-class ratio of 25 or 30 students per class. This changed during the Jakande era and it was not unusual to see classrooms with 60 to 100 students.

5) Shift system and boarding facilities: - Jakande's aim was to provide education to as many people as possible, so it was very strange that he abolished the shift system.

Pre-1979, people who were unable to get an education when they were younger and those who could not make it into the regular morning session because of space constraints, could enroll in the evening school system. Most schools had both a morning and an evening session (usually using the same school buildings, but sometimes using separate buildings). Jakande abolished that system and the morning session became the only session. For example, the facilities that were used for St Gregory's College's evening session became the Government College Victoria Island (GoCoVi). The shift system was initially created by the civillian and military governments of the 1960s, when the launched "universal education" policies. The facilities overstretched the existing facilities, so they had to introduce a shift system.

Jakande also abolished the boarding school system. The government planned to demolish the hostels and build classroom blocks where the hostels previously stood.



Now, certain families have a tradition of attending the legacy schools in Lagos. The legacy schools include:

CMS Grammar School, Methodist Boys High School, Methodist Girls High School, Anwar-Ul Islam Model College (formerly Ahmadiyya College and before that, it was known as Saka Tinubu), Anwar-Ul Islam Girls High School (formerly Ahmadiyya Girls College), St Gregory's College, Holy Child College, Baptist Academy, Kings College, Queens College, St Finbarr's College, Our Lady Of Apostles Secondary School, Maryland Comprehensive Secondary School, Aunty Ayo International School, etc. (All of these schools, except Kings and Queens College, were taken over by the State Government. Aunty Ayo was divided into 3 and 2 of the schools were taken over by the State, while one remained private).

I know a family which has had at least one member in a particular school every decade since the 1920s. I know another family in which the tradition is so strong that the children are brought back to Lagos, from wherever they are in the world, to attend a particular school (or its sister school). These families were very angry at the way that Jakande was "destroying" "their" schools. The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Anthony Okogie, launched scathing attacks against Jakande in the newspapers. He also instituted several lawsuits against the Lagos State Government. The families made several attempts to stop the LASG's attempt to "destroy" their schools. The Old Boys of Igbobi College stopped funding the school at a point, because they were depressed by what was happening to it.

It became an insult to be referred to as a Jakande boy or Jakande girl (they were synonymous with the word "thug" ) or for someone to say that you attended a Jakande school.


However, like my other friend would point out, this policy enabled many people who would probably have been uneducated and a problem to society, to get an education, get a job, feed their family/be independent and contribute to Nigeria's development. Cricket pitches, football fields, etc are a small price to pay in exchange for that.

naptu2:
There seems to be some misunderstanding. Nigeria is not funding the construction of a road from Lagos to Algiers.

This road is part of the Trans-African Highway network and each country is only responsible for the stretch of road within its territory.

In the case of the Lagos-Algiers Highway, Nigeria is funding the construction and maintenance of the sections within its territory and Algeria is also funding the construction and maintenance of the section within its territory. Organisations like the United Nations, the African Development Bank and the African Union are assisting the other countries to fund the construction and maintenance of the sections in their territory.

The Trans-African Highway Network was proposed by United Nations experts in the 1960s and on 1 July 1971 Robert K. A. Gardiner, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), established the Trans-African Highway Bureau to oversee the development of a continental road network.


The 9 highways are:

1) Cairo - Dakar Highway

2) Lagos - Algiers Highway

3) Tripoli - Windhoek Highway*

4) Cairo - Gaborone Highway*

5) Dakar - Ndjamena Highway

6) Ndjamena - Djibouti Highway

7) Dakar - Lagos Highway

8 ) Lagos - Mombasa Highway

9) Beira - Lobito Highway


* Note that South Africa was not a member of the OAU when this plan was made and sanctions had been imposed on it due to its apartheid policies. Therefore, it was not included in the project initially. However, the highways that have an asterisk beside their names will now terminate in either Cape Town or Pretoria.


As you can see, this is not a new plan and you would be forgiven for thinking that all the highways should be complete by now, but that's not the case.

Some African countries have experienced wars and other forms of conflict that have hindered the construction of these highways. In the case of Nigeria, the main problem has been the maintenance of the highways, as you can see from the Badagry Expressway, which is part of the Lagos - Dakar Highway. A 2003 NEPAD report on the Lagos Algiers Highway also touched on the problem of maintenance:




https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Project-and-Operations/00473227-EN-TAH-FINAL-VOL2.PDF

aloyemeka2:
Enemy of Progress FG may stop expansion of Badagry Expressway

Emeka Ezekiel


There are strong indications that the Federal Government may stop the Lagos State Government from going ahead with its plan to expand the Lagos Badagry Expressway to a 10-way carriage road network.

[img]http://odili.net/news/source/2010/feb/3/punch/images/pix200812233113821[1].jpg[/img]
Minister of Works and Housing, Dr. Hassan Lawal



advertisement


Governor Raji Fashola (SAN) has concluded plans to expand the 48- year -old expressway from the current four lanes with provisions for light rail and Bus Rapid Transit System.

But the Federal Government, is currently planning to concession the road to private sector operator under an Public Private Sector Partnership scheme.

It was reliably gathered that the Federal Government's action was based on the belief that the Lagos Badagry Expressway is a federal road and has declared illegal, the action of Lagos State Government to carry out expansion work on the road

The Minister of Works , Housing and Urban Development, Dr.Hassan Lawan, who confirmed this development, said, "I have had reasons to tell the Lagos State Government that the Lagos -Badagry- Seme Border does not belong to Lagos State . It is a federal road.

"Indeed, it is not only a federal road but an international road. No state government can lay claim to any international road. That road leads to not less than five West African countries. So, that is a federal road

"If Lagos State is ready , let them come out and apply like every other contractor and we will look at it on merit. Whatever work they are doing on that road is illegal because it is not their road.

"We have said this time without number and please be rest assured that we are on top of the issue as far as that road is concerned because it the gateway to ECOWAS countries. So I don't see how that road can become Lagos state's road"

But the Lagos State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Francisco Abosede, told our correspondent on Monday, that the Federal Government was aware of the plan by the Lagos State Government to expand the road.

According to Abosede ,"I do not believe that the Minister of Works ,Housing and Urban Development will say that because he is fully aware of the development of the road and the rail project on it.

"Mr. President did set up a Committee of Ministers of the Federal Government and Commissioners of Lagos State headed by the Secretary to the Federal Government and Lagos State Attorney-General to work together on conflict resolutions which has been successful."

The proposed expansion of the 10-lane Lagos/Badagry Expressway by the Lagos State Government has been broken into three lots. The first lot, which is about 7.5 kilometres, stretches from Eric Moore to Mile 2; while the second lot measuring 24 kilometres stretches from Mile2 to Agabara. However, the third lot stretches from Agbara to Badagry. The project, estimated at N220bn, is expected to be executed under a World Bank -assisted programme.

http://odili.net/news/source/2010/feb/3/839.html

olafolarin:
The FG already granted LASG's application to upgrade the road.This was done in the 1st month of this administration.
So you cant abort pregnancy thats already been delivered.
The project is already in its 2nd phase which is the constuction of the 27.5km road and just today the CCECC handling the light railproject on the road will start its work.
The FG can go suck it, Cabinet full of no do-gooders,

DoctorDree:
All na cruise
At the end of the day non of those students go get contract,many won’t even understand anything construction pass theory!!!

naptu2:
Here's a short background of this project.


1) The Lagos-Badagry Expressway was built between 1969 and 1973 and it is a federal expressway. It was originally planned to be a single carriage road, but Governor Mobolaji Johnson suggested that it should be made a dual carriageway.


The road is owned by the Federal Government, but in 2008 the Lagos State Government applied for and got a concession to reconstruct and upgrade the section of the road from Orile to Okokomaiko. The road was in a really terrible state at that time and Lagos State planned to expand it to a ten lane expressway, including a BRT lane, rail line and several bridges and overpasses.

The project suffered a lot of challenges, for example, the former minister of works, Hassan Lawal, once announced that the Federal Government was going to take back the road. However, President Yar'Adua intervened and ensured that there wasn't any trouble. Yar'Adua said that the reconstruction of the road was in the interest of the citizens of Nigeria and therefore, party differences should not hinder the project and he gave his full blessing to Lagos State to reconstruct the road.


The first section of the project (from Orile to Mile 2) was a difficult stage because there were a lot of cables, pipelines and other utility infrastructure buried underneath the road and therefore the Lagos State Government gave the project to Julius Berger, which originally constructed the road in the 1970s. The Chinese Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC) was responsible for laying the railway tracks and reconstructing the road beyond the Mile 2 bridge.

However, a massive problem hit the project after the first section was completed. The project was being funded with a loan from the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Lagos State Government required a Federal Government guarantee before it could access the funds. The government got the first tranche of the loan with which it completed the first phase, but the Federal Government refused to guarantee the second tranche of the loan. Governor Fashola flew to Abuja to complain to Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (who was the minister of finance at the time) and the National Assembly, but the government still did not guarantee the loan.

The Federal Government said that Nigeria's debt burden was too high and that it would not guarantee the loan. The Lagos State Government argued that there was no danger as it had the means to repay the loan and it would not default. Some critics claimed that politics was interfering in the project. However the problem continued. The Federal Government did not guarantee the second tranche of the loan until the exact date that Governor Fashola had given for the completion of the project.

From this point onwards the project suffered massive funding challenges. The Lagos State Government tried to fund the project from its own budget, but the cost of the project had risen and there were massive delays because there was not enough funds to complete the project.

However, the Central Bank of Nigeria has now stepped in to provide funds for the Blue Line Rail Project (which will run in the middle of the Badagry Expressway) and this has enabled the Lagos State Government to resume work at full pace.



2) The section of the road from Okokomaiko to Badagry is also in a very bad state and there has been a lot of complaints about it. The Federal Government has promised to reconstruct the road from Okokomaiko to Seme Border and this has led to a little war between the Federal Government and the Lagos State Government (even though both governments are controlled by the same party).

The Lagos State Government raised an alarm earlier this year that the Federal Government promised to reconstruct the section from Okokomaiko to Seme, yet no work had been done on the place. The minister of works, Babatunde Raji Fashola apologised for the delay, but he said that the Federal Government was owing the contractors and the problem was caused by lack of funds. He promised that the government was going to see if the project could be listed among projects that would benefit from funds from the sukkuk bonds.

However, in December, the NNPC announced that it was taking over construction of that section in exchange for tax credits from the government.

Federal Highway System of Nigeria

The Federal Highway System of Nigeria also known as Trunk A national roads connects economic and political centers within the country, in addition it links Nigeria with its neighboring countries. These roads are constructed and maintained by the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Works and the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency. In 1974, some roads previously maintained by the states were transferred to the Federal Government, this created a classification called Trunk F roads.

As at April 2003, federal roads constitute 17% of the total road network in Nigeria.

Lagos-Badagry Expressway: Until the Lord provides

By Ezekiel Padonu
19 November 2015


“God will provide for us. He is our Tate (Father). I only wish He would provide until He provides!” Yiddish saying

The quotation above is a Yiddish proverb. Yiddish was the international language of Jews from Central and Eastern Europe until the middle of the 20th century. I have noticed that English translations of their sayings, tend to sound sort of ‘tongue-in-cheek ’; the saying above is a case in point. Blasphemous as the saying may seem to an English speaking person and especially in this part of the world, the context of this write-up is not about religion of any shade or colouration.

When Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) came into office as governor of Lagos State on May 29, 2007, he came with the vision to transform Lagos into a mega city. Aspects of this mega city project included the rehabilitation of infrastructures formerly taken care of by the federal government, but had been neglected soon as Abuja became Nigeria’s capital in 1991. Of greater interest to this writer, however, is the Lagos Rail Mass Transit project.

The Lagos Rail Mass Transit, originally proposed by the past administration of Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande (LKJ) in 1983, but truncated by the military Administration of General Muhammadu Buhari, was a light railways project consisting of two separate lanes: an outskirt blue-line and an inner red-line. The Red Line was to run from Marina to Agbado. This line was to share the existing 30 metre wide Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) right-of-way.

In the repackaged project by Fashola the Blue Line, with a total length of 27.5 km from Marina to Okokomaiko, with 13 stations in between, will run east-west, right in the middle of Lagos-Badagry Expressway which links Lagos directly to the south-eastern border of Benin Republic and beyond.

The road is envisioned to be expanded and redeveloped into a 10-lane international gateway between Igbo-Elerin Road (Okokomaiko) and Iganmu. The line will run on elevated structure from Iganmu along the south side of the expressway passing the junction with Eric Moore Road, crossing just south of the National Theatre to Iddo, then south to Lagos Island with a terminal at Marina.

Apart from rail, the infrastructural design also includes provision for BRT and multimode integration with Non-Motorized Transport such as pedestrian walkways and overhead bridges for safe access by passengers to rail and bus stations. End-to-end travelling time will be approximately 35 minutes. It is to be built as a high capacity, electrically powered rail mass transit system.

Lagos State is financing construction of the Blue Line from its own resources, but the railway equipment including electric power, signaling, and fare collection equipment will be provided by the private sector under a Concession Contract. Actual construction work commenced with a ground breaking ceremony performed by Fashola on 26 July 2010, and Phase I of the Blue Line between National Theatre and Mile 2, was originally scheduled to enter revenue service by the first quarter of 2014. But as I write this, in November 2015, the project is still dragging on leisurely and the system may not enter service before 2018–19; by which time the project would have been on-going for 10 years.

The sheer scale of this project is ambitious to say the least and has far reaching implications for all stake holders. The Lagos State Government on the one hand, because of the huge financial outlay involved; for the construction work and in compensations to be paid to people whose properties may have to give way for the expansion. The Federal Government on the other hand has inherent interest in the development since the road is designated a ‘federal’ highway.

During Bola Tinubu’s Administration, huge billboards had appeared along this road for the world to see saying, “This Road Belongs To The Federal Government. Please, Bear With Us” in a bid to wash his administration’s hands off the deplorable state the road. There were innuendos and speculations concerning how the PDP-controlled Federal Government at the time, was frustrating Babatunde Fashola’s efforts on the project for political reasons and in spite of the many advantages of the project.

Property owners on both sides of the 27.5 Km stretch of the road were also affected. Many of them lost their means of livelihood or had to relocate. There were also reports of some who lost their lives due to health complications arising from fear of losing their properties to the expansion; some because they did not possess the requisite documentation, to enable them get any form of compensation for their impending loss. Real estate agents and speculators have also been known to leverage on the prospect of this project to attract customers, never forgetting to inform them of the ’10- lane road’ coming soon to that axis.

The segment of the society most affected by this laudable project, however, is the ordinary road user. He is at the receiving end of both the good, the bad and the ugly outcome of it all. On the one hand, the realization of such a dream would make transportation a lot easier, faster and less cumbersome for him; as he would arrive his destination more relaxed and within fairly predictable time and who knows, he might even have his life expectancy improved as well.

However, on the other hand, unfortunately, non-completion of this project will practically kill him: as he spends most of his waking hours of the day in the logjam on the road; or as he misses most of his appointments no matter how early he sets out or in his attempt to beat the traffic, he loses a limb, if not his life, while ‘flying’ an okada (motorbike) – which, by the way, is restricted on that road and thus illegal.

For reasons best known to the powers that be in Lagos State, under this new dispensation, the project is almost grinding to a halt, with no explanation whatsoever, from any quarters. What you see these days, is an army of engineers, technicians and other sundry skilled and unskilled workers, sauntering around the work site day in day out, with little or no activities going on. The road user is the worst for it.

Before now, all efforts seemed to be geared towards the successful completion of the project on schedule. The only downside to this is the fact that since the year 1976, when this road was commissioned, routine and periodic maintenance of the road has been neglected by all agencies of government; including FERMA. To exacerbate matters, this neglect has continued unabated and the road is only waxing worse. As things stand right now, from Seme border to Mile 2, you can hardly drive straight for 10 metres without having to slow down, swerve to avoid a ditch or run into one, with attendant consequences to the vehicle and its occupants.

What you see at some very bad portions instead, is motorists driving against oncoming traffic on the opposite lane, endangering themselves and others as well, in the process. You would also see unemployed youths, who have turned themselves into ad-hoc road maintenance ‘experts’, digging by the road side road and filling the pot holes, but they are actually using it as an opportunity to solicit for handouts from road users. All these say a lot about what we have become, as a people and a nation.

However, I have no doubt that work will pick up shortly on the project. Firstly, because there is now a substantive state executive cabinet in place in the state; secondly, the same party (APC) is in power at both the state and federal level, thus, no antagonism from any quarters for political gains and lastly, President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB), the sitting will likely intervene with federal might, if just to redeem his image, dented back in 1983 as mentioned earlier: his campaign team had tried so hard to absolve him of any complicity in the matter during the last elections.

While we wait for this to happen, however, there is a serious and urgent need for three things to happen. One, something must be done on the portions of the road still awaiting the caterpillars, diggers and workers of the construction company handling the project. Two, while work is ongoing and traffic has to be diverted, alternative routes must be provided and motorists advised accordingly. Three and most importantly, on the portion of the road not covered under this current project (i.e. from Okokomaiko to Seme Border), everything possible must be done to make the road passable; thank goodness, the newly sworn in Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure in the state, Mr. Ganiyu Johnson has declared war on potholes on all roads in the state. This will help to reduce the man hour wasted every day and carnage on that road, as well as elongate the life span of both vehicles and road users.

So, to put the Yiddish saying quoted at the outset into perspective, let me salute the courageous and visionary leadership of Babatunde Fashola ( BRF ) – qualities I am convinced are also resident in the incumbent Governor Ambode – for coming up with this bold and ambitious project. The prospect this road project holds is beyond word, and we can’t wait to have it completed and commissioned for use. But wait we must. Therefore, while we wait, we want a road we can use; a road without pot holes; a road we can be proud of. Oh, if only we can have Lagos-Badagry Express road!

Padonu of Plot 16, Oworonsoki Expressway, Gbagada, Lagos, is
an engineer and author.
08025491282
ezepad1@yahoo.com

naptu2:
The reason that I'm posting this article is so that you can see the sentence in bold text.





https://guardian.ng/features/youthspeak/lagos-badagry-lord-provides/

naptu2:


Just as I thought, babaolofin has entertained me.


Firstly, I knew that he would try and flee from his main point, simply because I have comprehensively defeated it. This was his main point, "What you intend to achieve is the ownership of the road and that of the project this has been settled long time ago."

The road is owned by the Federal Government and it has been so since 1974 . There is no dispute and there has never been any dispute about the ownership of the road or the project, so how can that have anything to do with my intention for creating that post?? (This is a fact that he did not know, which is why he brought up Ndubuisi Kanu's name. What has Ndubuisi Kanu got to do with a road that was taken over by the Federal Government in 1974?).


Then, secondly, he went to the exact point that I knew he would. He wrote, "My final stand is that Lagos can singlehandedly build that road through International Financing and IGR if it were to be an independent state". Was that in any way part of my original post? No. Is Lagos an independent state? No. Did I say that Lagos would not be able to fund it if it was not an independent state? No.

As I have stated, I have written many times (probably up to a hundred times) that Mobolaji Johnson built that expressway. He was unhappy that Lagosians had to go through the Western Region to get to Badagry, which is part of Lagos and therefore he decided to build the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. He simply does not understand and cannot comprehend what I wrote because his mind is fixated on a single spot.

I'll give you an example using another road that Mobolaji Johnson conceived. The Third Mainland Bridge was Mobolaji Johnson's idea. He had the idea to build a Ring Road around Lagos and to create a park and ride facility at Oworonshoki. He went to Germany for medical treatment and coincidentally he met the chairman of Julius Berger. They planned the Ring Road and Third Mainland Bridge (including the Marina waterfront). However, the Lagos State Government could not completely fund it and the Federal Government took over the project. The Federal Government also had problems funding it in the 1980s and Governor Rasaki suggested to General Babangida that it should be funded through crude oil swap, just like Abuja. Later, Rasaki told Babangida to deduct the funds for the bridge directly from Lagos State's allocation and finally, when Julius Berger stopped work on the project, Rasaki had to approach my uncle, Chief Bode Emanuel, who was the chairman of Borini Prono. Borini Prono completed the job on credit.

The point is that the project was built during the military era, when state governments could build such projects, but they also needed permission from the Federal Government. It was not built during the civilian era when state governments can do what they want without interference.

To give you another example, when bombs were exploding in Lagos in the 1990s, Governor Marwa had to get General Abacha's permission to move his residence from State House Isaac John Street to State House Marina. This is despite the fact that Lagos State Government owned the two structures.

The same Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson has written about how he had to prod General Gowon to create the Armed Robbery Tribunal, despite the fact that armed robbery is a state offence (not a federal offence) and he, Brigadier Johnson, was the Lagos State Governor.

But back to the main point. There was absolutely no ownership dispute about the road. The ownership of that road has always been clear. I did not create that post to highlight any ownership dispute because there was no ownership dispute in the first place.


However, I want to thank you, babaolofin, for providing my Christmas/New Year entertainment. It was quite funny while it lasted. I won't be reading your posts anymore (it's not even what this thread is about). Goodbye.