Letter to Works Minister: Death trap on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway 

Esther Ogundipe

I invite the attention of the Honourable Minister of Works to a very serious issue that bothers on the safety and well-being of the people of Ibadan, especially those living on the Toll Gate – lwo Road axis of the Lagos – lbadan expressway.

Sir, this newly-rehabilitated express way that serves both intra and inter-city purposes, projects a paradox in development. In part, it offers a great relief to travellers from across the country, plying that road.  By contrast, it presents as a death trap and another source of stress and agony to residents of that axis.

The Minister may be aware that the axis is a full residential area, from beginning to the end, and completely different from  Lagos- lbadan express way that connects the two cities.

While the Lagos- lbadan (Toll Gate)  axis could,  to some extent, be managed as inter-city road with little need for pedestrian bridges and flyovers, the Ibadan city part of the road is a totally different landscape.

Hence, that axis ought to be developed with necessary physical safeguards  for human safety, to prevent unnecessary deaths, in the course of criss-crossing the road.

Essentially, the safety of the huge number of residents and local users of that road, demands that pedestrian bridges should have been built at several critical points.

Unfortunately, this was not the case. Hence, according to reports, several lives have been lost and will potentially be lost if the residents are compelled to continue crossing that express way on daily basis.

The young, the elderly, pregnant women and women with babies are all subjected to this fatal road crossing.

Honourable Minister, your tenure in Ebonyi State portrayed you as a pragmatic leader and development-oriented. I also believe you are citizens-sensitive.

Consequently, I am appealing to you to use your good offices to address the above highlighted concern, expeditiously. After all, the primary goal of governance is the security, safety, and welfare of citizens.

Closely associated to the above is the lack of flyovers to connect residents to their homes, without having to perform an agonising 10 or more kilometres travel before they can make U-turn and drive back to their homes or other situated destinations on that “expressway”.

I learned that the few turning points in between that long stretch of road, are temporary and will eventually be blocked, thus leaving no space for vehicular u-turn.

Honourable Minister, going by my earlier narratives, that road does not fall into the category of non-residential express way that should stretch uninterrupted for several kilometres.

Global best practices and effective city management, demand that the safety and well-being of people should be prioritised across the entire spectrum of state administration and government’s projects.

On a final note Sir, I’d like to plead with you to kindly act on this matter.

The people, whose lives are daily endangered by this situation, are looking up to you to speedily emplace measures to safeguard their lives.

Thank you so much, Honourable Minister, for your kind attention.

I also urge Oyo State Governor, Mr Seyi Makinde to impress it on President Bola Tinubu to address this inadequacy.

I remain grateful.

Esther Ogundipe ( Mrs)

estherogundipe03@yahoo.com

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