Commercial motorcyclists, drivers decry poor state of Alabede, Raji Razak roads

Commercial motorcyclists and drivers plying Alabede, Raji Razak and Akinola routes in Agbado/Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, have deplored the poor state of most roads in the area, noting that this had not helped business in the area.

While appealing to relevant authorities to find a lasting solution to the problem, they told Community News that despite the fact that attempts were made in the past to carry out repair works on some of the roads, such facelift had left the roads worse than they were.

Yusuf, a commercial motorcyclist, plying Iyana Ipaja/ Pipeline Road, stated that even though a few months ago, repair works were carried out on Alabede Road, the efforts only succeeded in bringing temporary relief to those plying the route.

According to him, while the road had become almost impassable, the gaping holes on the road had continued to add to the high cost of maintaining their motorcycles and vehicles.

‘There is no week we don’t go to the mechanic. The road is terribly bad now, despite the fact that there was an attempt at surface-dressing it a few months ago.

“Unfortunately, we can’t pass the cost of these things directly to our passengers, that will be killing because the costs are high already. The state of these roads is not just  helping our business,” Yusuf stated.

Buttressing Yusuf’s claim, Mr. Alarape, a commercial bus driver,  plying Aboru/Iyana Ipaja route,  expressed his fears that with the gradual disintegration of  roads in the area, a time would come when some of the major roads would become impassable.

“Look at the whole stretch of Raji Razak Road, it is  littered with potholes from the beginning to the end. More worrisome is the fact that there are some spots where you will have to exercise serious caution before meandering through them. Every motorist develops goose pimples each time they pass through these spots,” he stated.

Besides pleading with the state government to expedite action on the construction works going on in some parts of the  area, he would also want ssuch gesture extended to the roads.