Oshodi/Airport road: Kudos to Osinbajo, Ambode

Recently, Nigeria’s Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo granted approval to the Lagos State government to reconstruct the degrading Oshodi/Murtala Muhammed International Airport road.

The approval given by the Acting President has generated reactions from different stakeholders particularly from the aviation sector.

Prior to the approval, the Oshodi/Airport road had for years become an embodiment of embarrassment particularly to the airport authorities in view of its strategic position as the first road that anyone coming into the country comes in contact with.

The bad state of the road has continued to be a source of worry to airport users who have been coping with the gridlock usually created by the bad road.

All efforts made in the past by the aviation authorities to make the Federal Government who is responsible for the management of the road to put the road in order failed in view of dirty politics played despite the huge fortune the road generates into the coffers of government.

It is in line with this that Crucial Moment is commending the statesmanship of Professor Osinbajo for granting the Lagos State government the support to turn the road around.

The development will go a long way in revamping the image of the country vis a vis the location of the road as a link to the number one gateway airport in the country through where both foreign and local passengers enter the airport or go out.

It is no longer news that the bad state of the Oshodi/Airport road has turned it to den of criminals in various forms including armed robbers who capitalise on the traffic created by the poor road to unleash havoc on innocent passengers or road users.

The approval granted the Lagos State government to work on the road will be a big relief to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) which has been at the receiving end in view of the national embarrassment and danger the neglected road had caused and still causing.

At this juncture, however,  there is the need for the Lagos State government to carry the airport authorities particularly FAAN along in the project as this will greatly make the goal of the Oshodi/Airport road a standard one after reconstruction.

In making this dream of providing a befitting road network on the Oshodi/ Airport road axis achievable, there are certain steps that needed to be taking by the Lagos State government.

Obviously, apart from the poor state of the road, the environment surrounding it is an eyesore particularly with the presence of fuel tankers of different shapes and sizes.

All attempts made by FAAN in the past to make the fuel tankers realise the sensitive nature of the airport as a place where fuel tankers do not belong had been resisted by the drivers who introduced different sentiments to the genuine efforts.

Therefore the approval for the state to reconstruct the road has brought a great relief to the aviation authorities and other airport users as the latest development will end the lawlessness of the tanker drivers.

Besides the littering of the airport road with fuel tankers, there is also the need to reorganise the motor park being used by the commuter buses plying the airport and Oshodi road which is presently in a state of disorderliness.

Once again, kudos to Professor Osinbajo and the Lagos State government for agreeing to take this national burden off the airport authorities.