By Bianca Iboma-Emefu
Since the rainy season began, it has been a nightmare for commuters and motorists plying the Mile 2-Badagry Expressway in Lagos State.
The downpour has in the last few weeks compounded the pace of reconstruction work on the road, thereby giving road users a big headache.
For instance, a journey that usually took between 15 and 20 minutes from Iyana-Iba Bus Stop to Mile 2 now takes an average of five hours, if not a whole day. Residents of the suburbs are groaning.
The ever-busy highway leads to West African countries, including Benin Republic, Ghana and Togo, among others.
Although the expansion of the expressway from four lanes to 10 lanes for vehicles and a new mass transit rail track at the median began in 2010, 12 years after, the perennial gridlock experienced by residents on the axis has continued unabated.
Speaking with Daily Sun, motorists and commuters who got stuck in the traumatising traffic pleaded with the relevant authorities to tackle the problem as soon as possible.
Some of the commercial bus drivers stated that they spend no fewer than five hours from Igbo-Elerin junction to Mile 2, a journey that shouldn’t last up to 30 minutes.
They identified the major challenges as the seemingly unending reconstruction of the road and the rainy season. Indeed, residents of Badagry, Ibereko, Oko-Afo, Magbo, Ibiye, Morogbo, Ijanikin, Iyano-Era, Iyano-Shasi, Afro-media, Igbolerin, Okoko, Alaba-Rago and environs gnash their teeth going and returning from their workplaces.
They daily lament that the potholes in some parts of the road were nothing but death traps.
Afolabi, a bus driver, said: “The construction work seems to have no termination date, which is not favourable to those living in areas like Ijanikin, Oko-Afo, Ibereko and Badagry because of the heavy traffic they experience daily. We may only go on two or three trips a day whenever there is traffic congestion. This is against eight or 10 trips that we complete on a normal day.
“It is affecting our proceeds and things are very expensive. Some of us, as breadwinners, find it difficult to cater for our families. We are expected to bring money home after the day’s job.”
He added that the economic situation was getting more challenging by the day, making it difficult for people to feed: “We need to work hard so that we can take care of our families. We can’t be spending hours here and be able to meet the expenses of the home. Something must be done by government to reduce our plight,” he added.
For instance, regular users of the axis, particularly around Igbo-Elerin, Alaba Rago, Volks, Iyana Oba/Mile 2, had a terrible experience on June 30 plying the route, after a downpour. The gridlock was so bad that it spilled over all through the night till July 1.
As learnt, the traffic situation is not new to residents of the area; it has been with them for years and they have endured it while they hope for government’s intervention.
A commuter, Mr. Kene Okafor, said that he lived in Ikoga but worked in Ajah and daily went to his workplace. He said what he does is to leave home as early as 4.30am in order to beat the traffic. But he recalled that there was a day that they were robbed at PPL area. And from that day, he dared not leave home so early again.
“If you don’t reside in this axis, you would not realise what the people here go through daily as they go and return from work,” he said.
A resident, who gave his name simply as Magaji, called for a speedy completion of the road, mounting of standard traffic light and removal of some bus stops along the route.
Another commuter, Ibrahim Ishola, said one of the major causes of the gridlock was violation of traffic laws by motorists.
Ishola urged government to implement measures that would bring about free-flow of traffic such as ensuring that hawkers no longer sell wares at the middle of the road.
“Government has to do something about it and clear those selling by the roadsides, kiosks and motor parks beside the road as well as speed up the construction process,” he said.
Another commuter, Mrs. Wunmi Emmanuel, said she has been living in Morogbo for the past five years and the gridlock has been there since the first day she moved to the area.
She said the expansion of the road was a good project but the pace has been very slow and unacceptable.
“We spend so much money on commercial bus, especially when it rains. The flood and abandoned construction work in the axis have made life very difficult for residents in this area. Some people trek from Okokomaiko for more than 20 kilometres to their business places just because of the traffic. Alaba traffic sometimes builds up to Okokomaiko and before you can escape from it is either you use a commercial motorcycle or you trek,” she said.
She added that the enforcement of traffic laws could resolve a part of the problems, emphasising that the stress they go through is better said than experienced.
For Miss Salamat Aminu, she leaves her house by 4am daily to get to her workplace at resumption time.
“Apart from the usual traffic congestion, we are robbed by hoodlums, especially between Alaba Rago and PPL bus stop. The robbers sometimes attack people at Iyana-Iba bus stop. Just because the road is under construction, they can easily escape,” she lamented.
Aminu countered the belief that the traffic was caused by the hawkers on the road. She said government should rather prevail on task force officers and other concerned bodies to ensure that there is sanity in the axis.
“By so doing, they should ensure that their checkpoints do not cause traffic congestion because we have suffered enough. A lot is happening on the road these days.
“Transport fare is on the increase as commercial bus operators are taking advantage of the traffic and road reconstruction,” Aminu said.
To worsen the situation, some miscreants openly defecate at different spots by the road, while others indiscriminately dump refuse on the major road without being challenged by the authorities.
As observed, the more the authorities try to clear refuse from the road, the more mountains of dirt resurface overnight. Commuters are often seen throwing packaged dirt from moving vehicles to the roadsides.
Another resident of the area, popularly known as Mama Ezinne, opined that the perennial gridlock was as a result of a large number of persons and vehicles from the area.
She shared her experience on the road. She said: “I had stayed at the bus stop for long due to the hike of fare. I was a little restless and I decided to board a commercial bike so I could get to my destination early.
“The man was from the North. Despite the fact that I cautioned him to reduce his speed, before I knew what was happening, we found ourselves under a trailer. I would have lost my life, if God hadn’t intervened.
“The government knows the problem and exactly what to do to stop the traffic that rocks here daily.”
In her contribution, Mrs. Tolani Ajani said trailers and other articulated vehicles usually parked by the road also contributed to the menace.
She pleaded with the government to order the truck drivers to stop indiscriminate parking.
Amaka and Chukwudi said because of the gridlock they trek in the morning to Trade Fair (Balogun Market) where their businesses are located.
“In the evening, we trek to Volks bus stop before we can board vehicle to continue our journey. On a very bad day, we trek all the way back home,” Chukwudi said.