TRENDING March 28, 1978 edition of the Daily Times newspaper with a front-page screaming banner headline “Lagos Traffic Defies Solution… Chaos despite new measure” aptly captures the history and story of the current traffic crises the state is witnessing which have got specialists and experts screaming that an epidemic of mental illness is likely if the state government does not quickly look for new ways of solving a problem that has not only become a permanent feature of the nation’s richest and most populous state but is almost as old as the state itself.
Lagos State was created on May 27, 1967 and in a little over a decade of its existence, its traffic problem had been deemed intractable as new effort then produced only chaos, as reported by that edition of the Daily Times. Forty-one years after the publication, nothing has changed as similar screaming headlines and front-page pictures of motorists’ harrowing experiences have kept dominating media space – for the same wrong reason that new ideas from successive administrations in the state keep producing chaos.
Fifty-two years down the line for the rapidly developing state, residents watch with awe as traffic horrors in the state consistently defy solutions put forward to tackle them and the current phase being experienced by its over 21 million inhabitants occupying a paltry 3,577 square kilometer landmass is almost at the breaking point despite the emergency declared against the crises on October 13, 2019 by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Residents are not only tired of spending endless hours in traffic for trips that should take less than an hour, the aftermath effects are getting experts worried that an average road user may become a mental case, not leaving out those who should be treating the patients.
A professor’s story
Professor Oni Fagboungbe is a renowned psychologist and the University of Lagos (UNILAG) don. Penultimate Tuesday, fate played a joke on him and he was forced to engage in self-diagnosis. Lagos unending gridlock showed him it is no respecter of anyone and by the time prof was done dealing with a usually one-hour trip turning seven and a half hours, he became his own subject of empirical analysis.
He told Saturday Tribune his story: “Let me share my personal experience on the Lagos traffic. I left the University of Lagos around 4.30 p.m. on Tuesday (last week) for my home in Egbeda. I was held in the traffic commotion and didn’t get home until 12.00 a.m. Could you believe that I spent seven and a half hours on the road for a journey of less than an hour! You can imagine the level of stress and frustration. I slept and woke up in my car while the journey lasted. Can you quantify the man-hour we have lost and the effect of the traffic gridlock on my physiology? It is a serious issue”.
Having a firsthand experience of the ongoing traffic crises and the textbook effects, the issue became an easy subject for Professor Fagboungbe to dissect with Saturday Tribune, dipping deep into his knowledge of many years to warn of an impending danger.
In the chat that was had over the telephone, he said: “I want us to assess the traffic situation in Lagos State from the point of view of what psychologists called Frustration Aggression Theory (FAT). The effect of this theory is not felt by human beings alone; even lower animals like rats do experience the effects. For instance, if you are moving towards achieving a goal and a barrier crops up, undoubtedly, you will become frustrated. This is what Lagos residents experience daily in Lagos traffic. The consequence of such frustration occasioned by persistent traffic is aggression.
“However, there are two dimensions to such aggression. It is either it is directed at oneself or at the society. Therefore, in the case of Lagos traffic, residents direct their aggression to the government. This is why you see people react aggressively and scream uncontrollably at a slight provocation. The effect of such aggression is loss of confidence in oneself, in the government and in people around you. You will see such level of aggression directed at motorists on the road when you are trying to negotiate another lane. At a sober period, people talk about the electorate not coming out to vote during election. They talk about politicians not delivering on their electoral promises.
“Generally, frustration due to traffic makes people lose confidence in the society, labour and in government. The psychological effect of persistent traffic on the society is enormous and immeasurable. When people are frustrated to the level which they are in Lagos, the manifestation will express itself in multiple folds by way of their refusal to pay tax and disobedience to constituted authority. In fact, they will lose faith in everything around them.”
Life is hellish, traumatic –Aboru resident
With the continued exclusion of roads in Aboru community in Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area from the list of 116 roads captured by the Lagos State government for rehabilitation, residents in the highly populated area have described their condition of living as inhuman, solitary, offensive and short, noting that the absence of infrastructural amenities and lack of good road network are adversely affecting their health.
Prior to the creation of Agbado Oke-Odo and five other LCDAs out of Alimosho Local Government Area, Alimosho with 1,288,714 residents was the largest local government in the state. By all measures, Aboru is an isolated community, no thanks to the neglect of the community by successive governments in Lagos State.
For Sulaiman Alamutu, who resides in Aboru community, living in the community in the face of rotten roads and poor hygiene is hellish. According to Alamutu, a journalist, the already tense situation becomes more traumatic during rainy season. The poor state of roads in the community has sent many tricycle operators out of business, he added.
“Many tricycle operators that ply the roads have moved to other areas with a manageable road because of the damage to their vehicles caused by potholes and gullies. Only a handful of them now operate in the community. We have sent lots of appeals to the state government but nothing has been done till now. There is a major palliative work going on in other parts of Lagos State but at no point has this particular road been listed for either rehabilitation or reconstruction. It is unfortunate but we will not relent in calling the attention of the state government to our plight.”
I spend N600 daily on transport from N20,000 salary –Salesgirl
Without doubt, the current traffic situation is touching the low and the mighty, the rich and the poor and the educated and the illiterate. In short, the logjam isn’t just a leveler but it is also a unifier, which means that Aboru community isn’t alone in the cry for a better living condition. Among the long list of affected communities are communities within Oshodi-Isolo and Ejigbo LCDAs where residents are confronted daily with the challenges of dilapidated roads and traffic menace.
From dawn to dusk, Lagos traffic officers sweat their hearts out to overcome the daunting task of managing the traffic situation at Aye Junction in Oshodi-Isolo LCDA. Along that corridor, without mincing words, Aye junction road is the most damaged of all the roads in the LCDA. Motorists and okada riders are constantly stuck for hours in traffic on the road. According to some residents, the narrowness of the road, its bumpy surface, deep holes and the filthy stagnant water that litter the surface are worsening the plight of its users.
After the completion of her secondary education, Christiana Adeyemi, a resident of Ile-Iwe Meta in Isolo decided to take up a job as a salesgirl in a trading store at Alaba International market, Alaba Ojo, to keep herself busy before she gains admission into the university.
Narrating her experience journeying from her residence to her place of work daily, 21-year-old Christiana said it is tortuous, painful and draining. “The traffic situation from Jakande Estate and Ile-Iwe Meta, Isolo, is sickening. There is no day I don’t spend more than necessary on transportation. It seems the traffic challenges are beyond what the Lagos State government can handle. The city is overblown with too many people while the level of infrastructure is not improving.
“Residents experience more of pain and poverty than the luxury and good life the city is known for. Since I have been living in Ile-Iwe Meta and working in Alaba, there has never been a breathing space for road users. It has been crisis on that road every day. You will see commercial bus drivers maneuvering their ways and driving against traffic and ending up being trapped in the deadly ditch at Aye Junction while LASTMA officers watch helplessly. The traffic situation has reached such a crisis point that passengers are stuck for three or more hours. It causes a drain in my pocket. I can’t save for my education because all my salary has gone into transportation. I am paid N20,000 monthly as a salesgirl and I spend about N600 daily on transportation. How can I cope with other needs in such a situation? In spite of this, I buy analgesic every week to relieve my body of pain. I am appealing to the government to wade into the matter. They need to urgently fix this road. It is the only connecting road from Oshodi-Isolo to Ikotun and the entire Alimosho. But right now, the state of the road is appalling. With the volume of commercial and private cars plying this route, the road is too narrow and it needs to be expanded and rehabilitated,” Adeyemi said.
I’m seriously considering quitting Lagos –Ejigbo driver
More dangerous and notorious for traffic is Jakande Estate, Oke-Afa Road in Ejigbo LCDA. The road is terribly bad. The residents, for many years, have clamoured for a link bridge to be constructed to ease the traffic stress but the state government was yet to yield to their demand.
The traffic on this route has been there since time immemorial and it is getting worse by the day. It has nothing to do with the ongoing palliative work.
Just as Adeyemi battles the discomfort occasioned by traffic and the drain in her pocket, Daniel, a commercial bus driver shuttling between Oshodi and Ikotun, grumbles about his avoidable spending on the maintenance of his bus.
Daniel, a 43-year-old vulcaniser who, out of low patronage, abandoned his profession to take up driving job, disclosed that if the hardship persisted till December, he would be forced to relocate to his village and engage his energy and time on a more productive venture.
He said: “There is no week I don’t visit the mechanic workshop for repair works. When I left vulcanising for commercial bus driving, I thought that things would improve for me financially. But the reality that stares me in the face is that I work between 5.00 a.m. and 11.00 p.m. and I still find it difficult to clothe, feed myself, my wife and my two children.
“It is not that passengers are not paying their fares but the problem is that I spend large chunk of my earnings on the maintenance of the bus and after settling the bus owner, the agberos, traffic officers and my conductor, what would be left is not always enough to cater for my daily needs. If this should continue, I will relocate to my village and continue with my vulcanising job. The effects of the bad roads are not felt by road users alone but it tells on our income too. Many commercial bus drivers have turned into agberos because they believe it is more lucrative to be collecting toll for the NURTW than to sit behind the wheel from morning to night, driving through bad roads and patches with nothing to show for it at the end of the day.”
Hell for motorists, commuters on Lagos-Abeokuta expressway
Emeka Nwosu (45), a fairly-used clothes (okrika) trader, claimed that his wife had noticed that in recent times that he was increasingly becoming reckless, restive and annoying over what she suspected to be his inability to meet expectations for the Yuletide.
However, the Anambra State-born trader confessed to Saturday Tribune that he goes through stress daily plying the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway from his home at Iyana-Ipaja to his market, located opposite Arena Plaza at Bolade Bus Stop, Oshiodi.
“In the last seven years, I targeted to reach the market before 6.00 a.m. so as to sell some of my wares to workers and other people who are either going to their offices or their business places. Since the construction works on Agege Motor Road, which merges with Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, commenced, I have missed my targets as I will leave my home at 4.30 a.m. from Monday to Saturday and get stuck in a standstill for hours between Ile Zik Bus Stop and Bolade Bus Stop and eventually get to the market 9.00 a.m.,” Nwosu said.
Investigations conducted by Saturday Tribune in the last two weeks revealed that hell appeared to have been let loose on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway as motorists and commuters experience long traffic logjam on both sides of the roaad due to the ongoing construction works on the railway and the road, which compelled traffic diversion.
Motorists and commuters coming from Abeokuta in Ogun State to Lagos along the expressway daily are likely to experience a relatively smooth ride until they get to Owode, Conoil and Sango/Joju bus stops, where they could get stuck for hours due to the vehicles plying one side of the expressway.
Also from Mangoro Bus Stop in Lagos, the traffic builds up through to Zik, Ikeja under-bridge, Shogunle, Ladipo and Oshodi.
Mrs Funmi Mustapha, a Lagos-based trader, told Saturday Tribune that she spent close to five hours last week trying, from her Agege residence, to get to Oshodi along the expresswaydue to traffic logjam.
But Olatunji Olawale, an engineer with the firm handling construction of the expressway, disclosed that workers handling the project work during the day while those in Agege and other areas will work both day and night.
Speaking to Saturday Tribune on the daily traffic logjam, Olawale blamed another construction company for not laying quality asphalts along the railway lines, which allegedly resulted in the diversion of traffic and confusion along the expressway. “Two weeks ago, five people were feared killed near Air Force Base at PWD due to the fact that the asphalts laid by Stanbic could not dry in time,” he said.
Attempts by Saturday Tribune to speak with officials of the said construction company, at Ladipo, Shogunle and PWD bus stops failed as the workers were said to have closed for the day.
Homes, family abandoned
It is a tale of woes for many who have had to device means of coping with the situation which has caused separation of many families. Indeed, many residents of the state now live apart from their families and only stay together at weekends as the affected residents who have been finding it difficult coping with the hectic traffic situation were forced to relocate to places close to their workplaces. Those buoyant enough settled for very small apartments like one-bedroom or self-contain apartments, while abandoning their own personal buildings. Those with lesser financial capability simply opted for squatting with friends, colleagues and relations despite being landlords elsewhere. The most dangerous aspect of the squatting arrangement, as Saturday Tribune discovered, is unmarried but mature ladies agreeing to squat with men who are either married or not simply because the ladies are fed up with spending hours in traffic.
A journalist disclosed that a lady he always gives a drive home at the close of work, because they live in the same Mowe/Ibafo area, has also been enduring the current pains of all users of the road since the renovation work began. She also decided to take the risk of sleeping over at her helper’s friend’s place, the day her friend couldn’t make it home. “She called me this particular day and I told her I would be passing the night at my friend’s because I had no strength to stay in traffic for hours. I was shocked when she asked if she could join me there to pass the night too,” the journalist said.
Mr Lasun Iyanda (not real name) is one of those who absconded from his own home built to provide maximum comfort. He lives in far-away Ofada area of Ogun State, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway where he owns a lush apartment built to taste to provide every comfort needed by his family. He is a landlord in an area where he also supplies others with free water.
Now Mr Iyanda, who was spending about N400 on okada fare from Mowe to get to his house late every night because of ongoing road reconstruction of the expressway by the Federal Government, has since taken the painful decision of abandoning his home and family. He now only goes home twice a week, including weekends. He stays with a friend and a colleague in office who lives around the Akute area of Ogun State, where he is trying to settle to a new life, while maintaining a strong resolve to secure a one-bedroom apartment around Ikeja area of Lagos where he could easily access his office.
Akin, another resident, who works around Ojota but lives in Mowe, has a series of nasty encounters concerning road congestion as he has had to make a complete U-turn most times on the road any time he is stuck going home. According to Akin, he had had to sleep in the office many times.
“Sometimes I consider sleeping in the office when I feel I cannot cope with the stress and whenever I see that I need to go back home and the congestion is not something I can wade through, I leave my car in the office and take a motor bike back home at exorbitant fee. That is how I have been managing things and the stress involved. It’s really not easy. I leave home as early as 5.00 a.m. to drive through the traffic which may not be too hectic then only to get to the office to rest if there is any time for that,” he said.
Also, a respondent who refused to disclose his name said he refused to move to his new building at Ibafo along Lagos- Ibadan more than a year after completion, all because of the gridlock. According to him, his refusal was in spite of pressure from friends and relations, even as he maintained that he preferred to retain his current rented apartment in Alagbole area of Ogun State in spite of the inconveniences involved until the final completion of the ongoing reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
It is a major issue –Govt
Saturday Tribune presents a brief chat with Mr Gbenga Omotoso, Commissioner for Information, Lagos State.
Question: The Lagos State House of Assembly, a few days ago, passed a resolution urging the state government to direct contractors doing road rehabilitation in the state to work only in the night to save motorists and commuters from stress due to traffic congestion witnessed across the state during the day. Can we know if the resolution has been complied with?
Answer: We are discussing with them (the contractors) on how we would do the work with minimum discomfort. You see, these people are working in the day; some work is being done in the night at huge cost. We are trying to sit with them to see what they can do, too. Our team and their team are meeting so that people can get maximum comfort. But don’t forget that everything is not state government roads; some are Federal Government’s roads. The Federal Government is fixing theirs, too. There are some that Railway people have done, for instance, the Agege Motor Road. Railway is under the purview of the Federal Government.
We are trying to let people know where there are alternative roads. They can use them instead of just staying on one road and get stuck. The police are throwing in 1,000 more men. LASTMA, too, were made to do more and everybody is just looking at the traffic now because it has become a major issue. So, we are not taking it easy.
More residents being hospitalised –Mental health expert
A mental health expert, Chief Executive Officer of Mental Health Foundation, in Lagos, Emmanuel Owoyemi, said that traffic-related stress breaks down human immune system. Owoyemi stated that the level of stress caused by the Lagos traffic, if left unchecked, could cause illnesses and untimely death.
Highlighting the psychological effects of the traffic jam on human physiology, he said: “The psychological effect of being stuck in prolonged holdup for hours include loss of money and man-hour, not being able to achieve one’s target, and failure to meet up with flight and job interview appointment. All these increase frustration.
“Another point to note is this: when the stress level in our body is high, our body’s ability to fight diseases reduces and our immune system starts crashing. The implication of this is that more people will fall sick. Traffic stress is not good for anyone. The danger inherent in persistent traffic situation is too high which is why in Lagos, many residents are being hospitalised for stress-related illness.”
Lagos peculiar problems
Like a polygon with many edges, Lagos, the centre of excellence, has many perspectives to it. Apart from being the most populous state in Nigeria, Lagos, with a population of over 21 million inhabitants, is reputed as the commercial nerve centre of the country, a major financial centre in Africa and one of the fastest growing cities in the world.
Little wonder people from different walks of life move in droves to the state of aquatic splendour to hunt for the hidden treasure and countless opportunities that perceptibly proliferate its streets.
However, with the daily visitors to the city whose numbers over-stretch infrastructure amenities like roads, living and doing business in a mega city state like Lagos which has been described as “no man’s land” comes with a lot of complicated burden.
One is the burden of satisfying unquenchable needs in the face of scarce resources. Another is the burden of securing a decent and pocket-friendly apartment and of feeding and of being gainfully employed.
There is the burden of persistent traffic gridlock constituted by over five million cars and 200,000 commercial vehicles plying Lagos roads daily, a development some residents have described as hellish, hazardous and monstrous.
Apart from the gullies and potholes that comfortably sit on the surfaces of Lagos roads, persistent traffic gridlock that plagues the city has subjected commuters and other road users to series of untold hardship, causing them to trek long distances to their various destinations, losing immeasurable productive man-hours and worsening their health situations.
Moved by their plight, Sanwo-Olu declared a state of emergency on various highways and carriage roads within the state, with the Lagos State Public Works Corporation already commencing palliative work on 116 roads across the state, in addition to over 200 roads already rehabilitated by the corporation in the last three months. But the cries of the residents have not abated. Will they ever laugh?
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