The immediate past administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in Lagos State constructed the flyover bridge at Ajah, in Eti-Osa East Local government to ease traffic gridlock and bring sanity in the ever-busy community along the Lekki-Epe expressway, but residents say the chaos, which has been a sad feature of the area, has worsened in recent times. Eko Trust reports.
Commissioning the Jubilee bridge in May 2017, the former governor explained that the motive behind it was “to improve connectivity in the axis and facilitate economic growth.”
But this objective, according to residents, has become elusive as chaos, commotion and gridlock remain permanent features of the Ajah area, especially in the Jubilee bridge underpass leading to Badore.
The area known and identified as Ajah spans Victoria Garden City (VGC) to the Abraham Adesanya roundabout on the Lekki-Epe express, and extends to places like Badore, Ado and Langbasa, in the interior.
Our correspondent who visited the area reports that the busy Ajah under-bridge has become a source of worry to many residents of the neighbouring communities that make use of the axis on a daily basis to go to work. Despite the massive presence of traffic officials and mobile policemen, roadside traders, bus operators, tricycle rides and area boys have made commuting in the axis difficult.
Within the Ajah/Jubilee bridge axis, there is an inter-state motor park on the right, outbound, Lagos while on the left is the Badore road. This is the axis where residents have called for government’s intervention due to the daily chaos in the area.
This is blamed on commercial bus drivers and commercial tricycle operators who have taken over a section of the expressway, operating without recourse to traffic laws.
Our reporter monitored the situation around the bridge and the underpass last Friday and observed that the road leading to Badore and other adjoining communities has been virtually taken over by traders displaying their wares. Also, tricycle operators freely picked passengers on the road, thereby disrupting free flow of traffic. On the road median were hordes of beggars.
Also, the huge, menacing gathering of commercial motorcyclists, popularly known as ‘okada riders’ compounded the disorder in the area.
According to residents, the overall beautification of the area, which was the intention of the government in constructing the bridge and underpass, has given way to commotion because of the failure of enforcement.
A resident, Mr Nkemka Nwabiani, told our correspondent that the great job done by the former administration by constructing the bridge and which brought sanity to Ajah and its environs has been rubbished by the failure of relevant agencies, especially the state Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA), to enforce the laws.
Nwabiani lamented that chaos had returned to the area and the ensuing gridlock in the Ajah/Badore axis especially had become unbearable to residents.
He disclosed that hoodlums, known as area boys, had taken over control of the road unchallengeably.
He alleged “LASTMA officials and the police officials collude with the area boys and transporters to cause mayhem. Drivers park at the entrance and the exit and don’t care if a car is coming or not. In the evening, at this particular junction, you will see a man with a stick standing, a LASTMA official beside him, and the man would say nobody coming from Badore can drive through.
“Those he permits to exit are the Keke Marwa riders from the side of the market. He does it as long as he wants without being challenged.
The last time I almost came out of my car and it would have gone into a fight until one area boy came and told me to pass. And after I passed, he blocked it again. It is really that bad. We need help at Ajah, we need all the help that the government can give.”
Nwabiani pointed out that Ajah had been neglected, adding, “It looks as if Ajah is not part of the Lekki/Epe axis. We feel like a pariah city within a city. So the government needs to do something about it.”
He added, “The government has done a good job by building the linkroad and a flyover. But they need to go a step further by enforcing traffic law. They need to make all the transporters, all the commuters and the keke drivers, especially, obey the traffic laws. They block the roads and make passage of other commuters impossible.”
He called on the government to prevail on traffic officials to enforce laws in the axis in order to return sanity to the area.
“If you go inside Badore, the number of estates there are over 100.
It is unbelievable the number of people traversing this axis. When you come out in the morning you won’t believe the number of people that come out from here. It is as busy as Oshodi. This is how Oshodi used to be before former Governor Fashola cleared it up. We need the same kind of intervention here in Ajah.”
Efforts by our correspondent to speak with the Chairmen of Eti-Osa Local Government and Eti-Osa East Local Council Development Association, Bankole Saheed and Rafiu Olutunji respectively were unsuccessful as they didn’t respond to text messages sent to them on the issue.
The LASTMA spokesman, Olufemi Filade, told EKO TRUST that the agency was yet to receive such complaints from that axis and urged the residents there to provide evidence to enable the agency take action.
“Without that there is nothing we can investigate. On this particular case, we need evidence and I can assure you that there will be fast action. We have also sent out monitors who are not in uniform to look at the conduct of our officers on duty.
“But we are pleading with motorists to be patient and also have a change of attitude. If they obey traffic rules and regulations, this lockdown will not occur,” Filade said.
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