Abiodun Jimoh
7 September 2009
Lagos — The increasing rate of development embarked upon by Lagos and Ogun state governments could be described as commendable bearing in mind the capital intensiveness of the projects at various levels.
But one thing that is more peculiar to the people is the availability of good roads network that link these two states as a first time travelling from Lagos to Abeokuta through Agege motor road may not know that he has crossed to Ogun state. By the time he leaves Alakuko area to Ajegunle/ toll gate due to the networking that bind the states since everything is smooth and steady except the hold up that sometimes happen at the toll gate when out of curiosity vehicles tried to manoeuvre their ways through short cut as a result of the dilapidated situation of the Sango-Otta junction abandoned by the construction company saddled with the responsibility under the regime of ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
But, the easy passage of the road network was adjudged to be commendable while the lives of the residents whose duties on a daily basis involves crossing the main road is at risk due to non-availability of pedestrian bridges for their usage. Many lives have been lost as a result of these bridges as those who are bent on crossing the ever busy road sometimes fall prey to the on-coming vehicles on the expressway on a daily basis since there are no alternatives rather than risking their lives while crossing.
A critical analysis of the over 40 kilometres road network that link the two states revealed that not less than 10 people die on a monthly basis on this road due to these syndrome since there is no other way or route than crossing the road.
According to Mr Ademola Akanni, a teacher at a private school at Alagbado who spoke to Daily Trust stated "ever since they extended this road, many people had lost their lives as a result of the extension while there are no pedestrians bridges for residents usage. This has adversely affected many families who had lost their relatives in the process of crossing the ever busy expressway."
"I was once a victim as I lost my younger brother in the process, it took us four days before we were able to locate his body at the Ikeja mortuary since no one knew his where about until we developed search party for him that later led to his finding at the mortuary. As for me I always pray before crossing the road since there is no means to reach the government except through the media."
While expressing their ordeal, many residents for the construction of a pedestrian bridge in their area having being risking their lives in crossing the expressway daily. They said "We have learnt to run faster ever since we moved to this place in April, as there will be no day that we will not cross the road, and we are not used to it before from where we were leaving. This scenario has become worrisome to us. We are pleading with the administration of Otunba Gbenga Daniel to help us by building pedestrian bridge for us here as everybody can see that all these vehicles especially commercial buses usually speed off at all times." Meanwhile, the question on the lips of many is when will the government of Lagos and Ogun States listen to the yearning of the people before more casualty will be recorded as the Christmas period is fast approaching when everybody will be eager to travel for the festival.
Daily Trust recalls that from Oshodi in Lagos to Sango in Ogun State that spanned over 40 kilometers can only boast of two pedestrians bridges located at Oshodi and Ikeja while others are begging for attention.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
