A friend confessed that he had been watching with utter alarm, dismay and a sense of helplessness as the inward drive of motor traffic from Mowe, Ogun State, to Berger/Kara, onto the old Lagos Tollgate corridor of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway inflicts agony on commuters. The other day, yours truly also went through the excruciating agony, and ended up spending more than four hours between the bridge underpass at Ketu to Berger/Kara, while trying to travel from Lagos to Oyo State.
It was baffling to observe that those working on the road preferred to clog up the lane going out of Lagos on a Friday when many people would be travelling out of town for the weekend. It was also the date of the monthly Holy Ghost Service of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
The assurances of the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, that the Federal Government would soon complete the rehabilitation work on the road, sounded hollow, more like the trite talk that Americans would describe as “jive talking.” His assurance will be the umpteenth time that the government, starting from that of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, till that of the current President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), will be telling those who use that road on a daily basis that all will be well. Now, those who think that decisions on practically everything in Nigeria must be centralised really fail to look out for the comfort of the people of Nigeria. They cannot see, for instance, that failure to devolve control on roads could have adverse effects on the Nigerian economy.
Former Speaker of America’s House of Representatives, Tip O’Niel, who declared that all politics is local, knew what he was talking about. The traffic situation of the Berger axis cannot be truly assessed from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, even though there is a director of federal roads who is resident in Lagos State.
Maybe outgoing President Buhari, who has moved railways from the Federal Legislative Exclusive List to the Concurrent Legislative List got an epiphany on how to “democratise” decision-making about the economy of Nigeria. He should further tinker with the Federal Exclusive Legislative List, so that Section 11, on “Construction, alteration and maintenance of such roads as may be declared by the National Assembly to be federal trunk roads,” so that some federal roads can be reclassified as state roads. Also, the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee should allocate more funds to beneficiary states, to enable them to adequately maintain their portions of the expressway that have become innercity roads. Of course, the money part will be difficult.
But it shouldn’t be if there is a genuine intention to ease the traffic situation of, say Lagos State, that yields huge revenue to the Federation Account. When relocating the Federal Capital Territory to Abuja, military President Ibrahim Babangida promised to confer on Lagos State a special status, (which suggests special funding).
A more creative way to control and curb the heavy motor traffic between the RCCG’s Redemption City in Mowe, Ogun State, through Berger, on to Oworonshoki, in Lagos State, is to hand over that stretch to Ogun State and the Lagos State governments. A more audacious suggestion is that the entire stretch, from Sagamu Interchange to Berger, both in Ogun State, should be handed over to Ogun State Government for management, repairs and expansion. This is because of the dense communities on both sides of the expressway. This axis is sandwiched between busy communities that pour out a high number of commuters that visit every day. It is no more an expressway per se; it has become an inner city road.
And because of this development, it will be unrealistic to continue to treat the road as an interstate artery. Just observe the heavy human and vehicular traffic on that stretch on any day. It’s just like that of the busy Oshodi within the Lagos metropolis. If you recall that Herbert Macaulay Way and Murtala Muhammed Way, both linking Yaba to Oyingbo, were originally expressways that have now become innercity roads, you’ll better understand the argument.
Also, the avenue, from Berger to Third Mainland Bridge, veering right, from Oworonshoki/Gbagada onto Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, onto Apapa, should be conceded to Lagos State. Maybe if this were done, the Lagos State Government could draft its town and road planners to integrate the Berger-Oshodi/Apapa Expressway into the Greater Lagos master plan. The suggestion of Prof Olumide Olusanya for the Otedola Bridge underpass, and other road junction management initiatives, which were implemented by the Lagos State Government headed by Governor Babatunde Fashola, have received the following words of applause:
“The traffic intervention projects… provide seamless uninterrupted traffic by a series of low-cost, self-regulating alternative junction modifications that eliminate or reduce conflicting turning movements to the barest minimum. The peak hour average total delays over these junctions were reduced from about 20 to 60 minutes before the intervention to about 2 to 5 minutes maximum currently.”
This initiative proves that it will be well nigh impossible for the Federal Government to be looking in from Abuja, to provide sanity for commuters who go through the punishing daily grind of an express road that is practically an innercity road. Maybe you’ll recall that in recent times, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing allowed the Lagos State Government, led by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, to rehabilitate and upgrade the International Airport Road that leads from Murtala Muhammed International Airport to the Lagos metropolis.
The speed with which the high-quality road, the gateway to the Lagos metropolis, was completed, recommends this creative model to manage the inner city part of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. It may also be better to create a dedicated special force of Lagos State Traffic Management Agency, Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, Federal Road Safety Corps and the Nigeria Police, to manage the traffic from Sagamu Interchange, through Mowe, to the Third Mainland Bridge. It is not enough for Lagos State Government to merely offer to collaborate with both the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and the Ogun State Government to manage that road. It is also not enough for Lagos State to commit to consult with these significant others on the OPIC, Kara and Berger aspect of the busiest road in Africa. More is required. Also, Lagos and Ogun states should have a joint urban, housing, railway, waterways and roads development programme. After all, the World Bank once suggested that the Lagos metropolis development plan should integrate Ogun State.
Those old enough may recall that when the military regime of General Murtala Muhammed insisted on moving Nigeria’s Capital from Lagos to Abuja, they got a counsel to the contrary. Premier of the Western Region and Vice Chairman of General Yakubu Gowon’s Federal Executive Council, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, suggested that Lagos could be extended as far as Sagamu in Ogun State. He was ignored. Today, you don’t need a flashlight to see clearly that Lagos metropolis is growing organically outward to Ibafo, Mowe, towards Ibadan, Oyo State, and also from the Epe axis to Ijebu Ode in Ogun State. The strength and dynamics of the Lagos blue economy is unstoppable, regardless of the rebuff. Anyway, the incoming administration should think about conceding expressways that have become innercity roads to states.
