Save us from impending flood disasters —Shasha residents

For Lagosians, there is no better time than this thanks to the dividends of democracy readily made available to them courtesy of the transformation of the metropolitan city as witnessed in the ongoing works under the leadership of Governor Akinwumi Ambode.

Going round the various communities that made up Lagos State, the efforts of the Ambode administration to link all the communities to one another through seamless road network has continued to get better.

In all honesty, many Lagosians and non- Lagosians are praising the ongoing efforts of the Ambode administration which has since revived businesses through the ability of traders to carry  out their transactions through good road networks.

But unknown to Governor Ambode, there are still some strategically located communities that are yet to have a feel of the dividends of democracy he is spreading around.

To the over two million people spread across seven communities in Shasha  under the Alimosho Local government area of the state which coincidentally happens to be the largest concentration of the various communities that made up the local government, the dividends of democracy under the Lagos State government is yet to reach them.

The question on the lips of many of the residents include; why the area known for massive voting for the All Progressive Party (APC) during past elections have continued to be treated unfairly when the time comes for them to reap the fruit of their efforts in contributing to the election of subsequent governors.

For fear of being left out of the good wind being blown around by the Ambode government, the people of the area are begging the government not to abandon them like his predecessors by including the long abandoned road project in the area among those to be upgraded before the coming rains.

Many of those spoken to have continued to beg Ambode to show them mercy by urgently coming to their aids to avoid an avoidable calamity associated with rains.

Ambode is a man of his words-Oba of Shasha:

Speaking on the abandoned Shasha/Ajako/Bammeke road, the Oba of Shasha Kingdom, Oba Babatunde Akanbi Nasiru Lawal Ogunronbi expressed optimism that Governor Ambode will definitely fulfill his earlier promise to do the road.

While confirming that the contract for the upgrade of the road had been awarded three times before the coming of Ambode, the royal father appealed to the governor to writ his name in the gold by bringing the dividends of democracy to the people of the area by upgrading the road.

He described the abandoned Shasha/Ajako/Bammeke road as a link road to Egbeda, Shasha, Bammeke, Oguntade, Orisumbare, Ikotun, Idimu, Ejigbo, Oshodi among others have suffered neglect in the hands of past  who despite all appeals only glossed over it until they left office.and other areas which if completed will make transportation of goods and movement seamless to the people.

His words: “ I love Governor Ambode because he is a man of his words. That’s why I call him peoples’ Governor because he listens. He has done so much in the area of transport. The abandoned Bammeke road needs a quick solution because of the coming rains. We beg him to help us urgently or else the whole area will be a no go area when the rains finally come. Another election is at hand and we need this type of dividends to be able to appeal to our people to vote for the governor again when campaign starts.”

Like the royal father, Mr Paul Oniyide is the Chairman of Kajola, one of the Community Development Associations (CDA) affected by the poor road network in the area has equally appealed for an urgent response from the Lagos State government in view of the looming flood disaster that may arise if nothing is done to safe the situation before the rains come.

According to him, if the road is upgraded timely, it will save the residents from the impending flood disasters.

For Mama Shade, a trader who sells tomatoes and other cooking ingredients by the road side, she was full of appeal to the Ambode Governor saying: “let Governor Ambode come to our aid in this area just as he is doing in other areas in Lagos. If he can also upgrade our poor road, market will boom and we will get enough money to take care of our families.”

The award for the construction of the road was said to have been awarded during the time of former Governor Ahmed Bola Tinubu under the tenure of the present Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola as commissioner for works.

Unfortunately, the contractor bolted away without doing the work while it was gazetted that the road had been completed.

The government of Babatunde Fashola though Mae a little effort to work on the. Road but nothing concrete was done until he left power.

Now that the rainy season is around the corner the entire community is living in fear of an imminent flood disaster that may ravage the area if the government fails to urgently step in.