Agege flyover of anguish

IT should have been sometime in December 2017 or so when bulldozers and other heavy-duty construction equipment moved in to the heartlands of Agege, a densely populated suburb of Lagos, pulling down structures that had earlier been marked for demolition, to clear the way for a flyover that would crisscross Oba Ogunji Road/Pen Cinema area over the Railway Crossing and landing into Agunbiade Street/Oke-Koto area of the community. This was, no doubt, a laudable and timely intervention project in an area that had become notorious for intractable human and vehicular gridlock, which is compounded by the many road intersections and an avalanche of open and locked markets – both structured and spontaneous, as well as unscrupulous elements such as pickpockets having a free day both at daytime and nightfall. And so, the joy of the residents and many commuters around the popular Pen Cinema area knew no bounds, as they could see an end in sight to their daily gruelling experience of living in or passing through the labyrinth that the suburb has become.

The residents had every reason to believe. At least they had witnessed, within the last three years or thereabout, how the erection of such a structure at nearby Abule-Egba, a sprawling neighbourhood on the ubiquitous Lagos – Abeokuta Expressway had not only given the area a facelift but also helped in no small way to scale up the quality of life in the area. I heard testimonies of people who had not been to Abule-Egba in a while scream to high heavens at the transformation that came the way of the suburb. It really opened up the area and the adjoining neighbourhoods. So, this was the kind of transformation that Agege residents were looking forward to in no distant time.

I am not sure I can quote successfully the delivery timeline set for the Agege Flyover project, but the local media is awash with evidence of commitment to an early delivery. For instance, as picked from an online edition of Vanguard Newspaper of April 12, 2018, the contractor handling the construction work had promised the Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, that the flyover would be delivered by December 2018 “as special end of the year gift to residents and visitors,” which was a piece of cheery news to all who had been expecting the bridge to be completed and commissioned for use. And the pace with which the work was being executed from the beginning tended to lend credence to that. In no time, the substructures were fixed, the bridge support structures in form of columns and piers began to spring up and the beams laid at the set-out point. Before long, the superstructure were being fixed and the flyover was beginning to take shape, at least for the first half of it at the Oba Ogunji side, peaking at Pen Cinema Roundabout.

However, this initial pace notwithstanding, it soon dawned on the people that their waiting has just begun, as it became evident that the site has been abandoned and no work whatsoever is going on there. And that is my very axe that one has to grind with the Lagos State government or whosoever is behind the stalling of this well-intentioned project. Agege is a heavily built-up and densely populated area, aside from being a major road and rail transport terminus. What this implies is that the teeming populace that traverse the locale are constrained to undergo a daily gridlock of human and vehicular traffic, while the construction work lasts. This underscores the imperative of speedy completion of the job, which could only be made possible by working round-the-clock at the site. But that has not been the case!

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The resultant effect is that commuters and other wayfarers on that stretch experience unbearable and excruciating pain on daily basis to cross the hurdle of Agege Pen Cinema and Railway Crossing to their various places of engagement. The gridlock, which starts as early as circa 5:30am each day, especially on weekdays, is further compounded by the debilitating state of most adjoining roads such as Iju Road, Abeokuta Motor Road, Capitol Road, etc., many of which are littered with craters and crevices. This causes corporate workers, traders, students, travellers and all other road users to fritter productive hours, while hoping endlessly for the snail-like traffic to move. It is a common sight for these different classes of people to trek upwards of three kilometres or more to navigate the intractable traffic that dots the Agege landscape most days. And that is in spite of the yeoman’s sacrificial job being done by the officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Police Motor Traffic Division and other security outfits, both at regular and irregular hours of the day.

This is the real bone of contention. It goes without saying that workers, traders, students, etc. who undergo such unpleasant experience before getting to their places of engagement would most likely have their productivity compromised. Also, one can further rationalise that passing through such unbearable encounter months after months has grave health implications for the victims. With Nigeria’s life expectancy data put at a comparatively low rate of 55 years, and Lagos State’s figure even much lower, subjecting the populace to avoidable drudgery is a major threat to longevity and quality life.

The point need be made, however, that the real issue here is not the inconvenience the work itself is causing the people. Such discomfort is a price to pay for development works especially in a built-up area, and so would be borne with equanimity in anticipation of the relief that would soon come. The real grouse is the abandonment of the work site for well over 3 months now and still counting, while the rains are beginning to set in. This can only worsen the plight of commuters who are stuck with that route, and make life more tedious for residents of the surrounding neighbourhoods. It is in view of the foregoing that one would call on the Lagos State Government authorities to, as a matter of urgency, mobilise the contractors back to site with a view to relieving the populace of the daily grinding and groaning on the stretch.

Adefioye writes in via abiodefi@yahoo.co.uk