When Uche Eze rented an apartment at Agboju, off the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, he was more than excited because he looked forward to an easy commune to Lagos Island where he owns a textile shop.
But no sooner he rented the apartment of his dream than things begin to go awry. One of the odds he has to contend with is gridlock occasioned by bad roads and articulated vehicles parked on the highway.
According to him, it did not take long before his health began to deteriorate. Not long after, Uche, who had since become very familiar with his area and even contemplated acquiring landed property around the vicinity, had to come to the unpleasant conclusion that it was time to move on as the situation became more unbearable.
Worse still, his wife, Ada began to mount pressure on him to relocate elsewhere as she and her children could no longer cope with the scenario.
So bad was the situation that his wife threatened to move out of their home with her children as she became afraid that her husband’s deteriorating health could end up killing him, and turn her into a widow.
Afraid of losing his wife, the businessman had to look for a new apartment at Ijeshatedo, which is just a short distance away, where he and his family are at the moment.
“The situation was unimaginable because I could not believe what I went through after renting an apartment at Agboju.
“I had always thought that the situation was going to improve, alas it never did until when I had to cave-in my wife’s pressure to look for another apartment elsewhere.
“There were occasions when I came back from work and I could not eat the food prepared by my wife, it was that bad.
“On many occasions, I sleep to and from work almost daily, and naturally it affected my productivity and even my health.
Lateef Oseni, a graduate of Lagos State University (LASU) said he had the same experience with Mr. Uche until when he graduated from the institution two years ago.
According to him, he had to leave his Ilasamaja residence by 5:30 a.m. daily to enable him to attend classes.
The situation, he said, is worse most times when going home through the Lagos-Badagry Expressway. Though construction work had started during the period, he noted that the pace was rather slow, with its attendant challenges.
“It was hellish attending my classes at LASU as I had to face many challenges due to the bad state of the road.
“What kept me going was my determination to graduate from LASU no matter the challenges because it had to do with my future.
“In fact, it was a miracle that I endured the challenges of bad road and traffic jam on that important road, which has been bad for so many years,” he said.
Curiously, the contract for the expansion of Lagos-Badagry Expressway was awarded by the Fashola administration as one of its signature projects to ease traffic on the international route. Many described the road as a major dent on Nigeria’s image.
Fashola’s intervention was, therefore, seen as a bold step as the road hosts multi-billion naira businesses, including the Trade Fair Complex, ASPAMDA, FESTAC Town, Military Institutions, the Badagry Deep-Sea Port, among others.
However, the project was slowed down during the Ambode administration as construction activities on the road came to a halt. The road then became nightmarish.
This left parts that had already been tarred to cave in, leaving gullies at such places as Mile 2, Orile, Coker, Under Bridge, Iyana Iba and others.
Sign of neglect still exists with large portions of the road taken over by overgrown weeds, which creates cover for lunatics and armed gangs, to freely operate occasionally.
Passengers and passers-by also answer the call of nature on the abandoned parts of the road, even as traders, food sellers, beggars and others operate till the wee hours of the night.
However, the situation is improving with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s directive to the contractors,
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