₦airaland Forum

Motorists, traders, and residents along Isheri-Igando in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State have decried the deplorable condition of a failed section of the road.

Speaking to PUNCH Metro during a visit to the community on Saturday, they also lamented that the road had subjected commuters to daily hardship.

Our correspondent during the visit observed that the damaged stretch, located between Okofilling and Unity Bus Stop, which is a few kilometres from the Igando General Hospital, has become a major bottleneck for motorists.

The section, riddled with deep potholes and eroded surfaces, forces commercial buses, private cars, and tricycles into long queues that stretch for several metres.

A long-time resident who gave his name simply as Mr Samuel said the road had been damaged for years.

He said, “This road has been like this for years. Each time they patch it, the next rainfall washes it away again. The main problem is drainage. Once it rains, this place becomes a river. Even the filling station opposite it was shut because of erosion.”

A trader who identified himself as Okon accused the government of performing cosmetic repairs that failed to address the root cause of the problem.

“They’ll just pour gravel and go. Once rain falls, everything scatters again. The gutter is blocked, and everywhere is flooded. People can’t walk, and cars move slowly. Businesses around here are shutting down due to reduced patronage and flooding,” Okon lamented.

Another trader, who identified himself simply as Charly Boy, said the road had remained in a terrible state with little or no attention.

“Every time it rains, the whole place becomes a pool of dirty water. We sell here because traffic doesn’t move fast, and people buy from us while moving slowly through the traffic,” he said.

While making similar complaints, a civil servant who did not want his name in print and also claimed to have moved into the area four months ago, described the condition as a menace to society.

He said, “Pedestrians can’t walk freely. When it rains, the whole place is filled with filthy water. You’ll be soaked, and you don’t even know the kind of germs in the water. The government should create a proper channel to direct water into a swamp or canal. Pouring gravel on the road is not always a solution.”

According to him, an ambulance going to the General Hospital has to drive against traffic on the other side of the road to get through.

“This road leads to Igando, Iyana Iba, and even connects to Badagry and Cotonou, yet the government keeps ignoring it,” he added.

Commercial drivers plying the road said it had become a nightmare for them, while it also cut their income in half.

A bus driver who identified himself as Tunde and also plied Iyana-Ipaja to Iyana-Iba said, “From Lanre to Oko filling, the bad spots can keep us in traffic for over an hour, starting from Diamond Estate to General. And this is the only road, no alternative. Sometimes, if you want to pass through, inside the street, they will lock their gate; they don’t allow bus drivers to pass. So we don’t have a choice, we have to be on the road.

“Normally, we make five trips daily. Now we barely do three. When it rains, and your bus breaks down in the water. You will have to pay people to push the vehicle out of the flood,” he added.

Another bus operator, Ibrahim, said the waste bin site near the roadside worsens the problem.

He said, “Those LAWMA trucks block the road, and the bins block the gutter. That’s why the water doesn’t flow. And on days when rain falls and it gets flooded, it will affect our vehicle in so many ways. First, the shafts, the ball joints, the kick, and one’s timing, and our transport bus don’t like erosion.”

Despite repeated calls for attention, the road remains in a deplorable condition, turning what was once a busy commercial stretch into a traffic-ridden eyesore that continues to frustrate both motorists and residents.

When contacted on Sunday, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Adeshina Odunuga, said the ministry would take necessary action once a formal request is received.

“I can assure you that if you are complaining about a bad section of a road, a letter should be written to the ministry, and the road will be repaired. That is how it is being done in the ministry,” Odunuga said.

ogododo:
https://punchng.com/lagos-residents-lament-as-failed-road-traps-motorists/

iwaeda:
Alimosho always give the highest vote, one day someone invited to wedding around Bamekke, Shaasha, Akowonjo, Egbeda. I can't believe such road exist in a mega city.

Chibuezelala:
The condition on this road very bad. Imagine being stucked in dirty water traffic and have to endure the scent of LAWMA and waste lands 🚭oozing from all sides of the road. Almost unbearable🤢. Government should please look into it🙏

Starboytwo:
I'm sure nobody has written a letter to the ministry...

We just like to criticize and shout...

The man who dey complain say gutter block, you will be surprised he is the chief culprit in dumping waste in the gutter.

LagosOrigin:
Between that Lanre bus-stop and Otunba Oladokun street is a dangerous place to live during rainy season. Inside the end of Otunba Oladokun street close to the general hospital, there is a mortuary there. Sometimes last year, heavy rain fell and the flood brought out dead bodies deposited in that mortuary at Otunba Oladokun to the street. This happened last year as read on the newspaper and till today, nothing has been done to build a gutter in that street that will connect to the drainage at Lanre . .

And again, that mortuary at Otunba Oladokun street beside general hospital at Lanre igando is not well regulated by the state government. I doubt if they follow lay down laws in operating a mortuary.

Lagos is a dangerous place to live walahi

ogododo:
https://punchng.com/lagos-residents-lament-as-failed-road-traps-motorists/

fergie001:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5v-F81hNTs

The Permanent Secretary, Office of Drainage Services and Water Resources in Lagos State, Mahmood Adegbite, has said that people drilling borehole in the Lekki axis of the state is probably drinking ‘’shit water.”

While speaking at a stakeholders meeting in the state recently, Adegbite noted that contaminated boreholes in Lekki pose health risk and added that treatment of waste water would eradicate any form of disease that may arise from it.

He said, “On waste water treatment, I will say that everyone digging borehole within the Lekki axis is probably drinking what I will call ‘shit water.’

https://punchng.com/video-everyone-digging-borehole-in-lekki-is-probably-drinking-shit-water-lagos-govt/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwMABDJjbGNrAwAEK2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEewOd7728C0FSKQJNWar4yKRxNpNKt1owSlw47y57FKAux2QxvQL24Iu18rtw_aem_3kB5Sd2GjpdqjN6zFuIs7w