Rehabilitation of Iju road recently completed
PMNEWS
Akosile….CPS
Just four months after assuming office, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is now on the receiving end of some ‘impatient’ Lagosians who feel that he is not doing enough to clear all the potholes on Lagos roads.
To them, the man ought to have, by now patched all the potholes, which were left unattended by his predecessor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode. To them, the fixing would have been done as fast as the speed of lightening and they are baying for his blood for the slow movement.
ALSO READ: kwarans hail Abdukrazaq over free cataract, other surgeries
The Lagosians, mostly journalists, aired their views on a Facebook posting by Mr. Chuks Nwanne and concluded that even the ones he has managed to fix, were shabbily done.
Here are some of their comments on the Nwanne’s post:
“So, Ambode is proving to be better than him after all?
Issoraite! Ndiya Baykay Eze asked.
Mike Nliam in his comment said: “honestly, when I move around Surulere, I just dey ask myself, ‘is this Surulere?’ Potholes everywhere, Enitan Street is a good example of how bad things have gone.”
Kelechi Okoye asked the governor’s Chief Press Secretary Gboyega Akosile pointedly, “I hope they are not those temporary relief for a permanent ailment kinda stuff. Something should be done about the quality of repairs. It is just not enough to pour ‘coal-tar’ that cannot stand the test of time on the roads. It’s high time we started doing things right. #Myonecent”
Okorie Uguru had this to, say, “also, that using stones to fill some pot holes is different from road repair. It is just additional misery for Lagos commuters,” and to which Femi Salawu thanked him and said,”Okorie Uguru, thank you for raising that. I see a lot of quick fixes that are easily washed away once the rains come again. I still don’t understand a trained Engineer will fix roads without drainages and channels yet expect the roads to be enduring. I see them pour gravel stones frequently at NNPC, Ejigbo junction. Yet they have to come back a couple of months later for another temporary solution.
“From another Point-of-View, there are environmental concerns in the matrix that cannot be addressed in isolation. Perhaps, a multi-agency approach is required. Take Iyana Ejigbo for instance, the indiscriminate disposal of biodegradable wastes such as plastic table water bottles is a menace. These items clog the channels and drainages spilling flood water on the roads. We need a structural solution to this problem, I tell you.”
But in the mix of all those comments, came some in defence of the governor and his team from the likes of Joe Igbokwe, his senior special assistant on drainage saying, “Chuks take it from me, the roads will be fixed.”
While Mr. Temitope Ajayi who was part of those who took care of his publicity during his electioneering campaign, had this to say, “in fairness, how do we expect the current administration in Lagos to fix all the bad roads at once. I think the govt has done well in its intervention so far. The Public Works Agency works day and night on the roads across the state. They publish daily schedule of repairs on all their social media handles for citizens to follow. It will take consistent work for the next 2years at least to make a major dent especially on inner city roads.”
However, Akosile assuaged their anger when he calmly and professionally that help is on the way and that the governor is no unawares of the difficulties they are passing through on the road.
Accoding to him, ” “His Excellency is aware. In fact, he knows this more than you do. While you see those around your routes or coverage area, he gets reports of all the potholes around Lagos! The question is, what’s being done? Just last week, he empowered the LSPWC with more funds and they’ve gone back to site, fixing all the bad portions of the State roads. His Excellency is responding to the challenges of roads in Lagos. They are daunting but are surmountable. From October, we are scaling up rehabilitation of roads. It is going to be aggresive and I’m sure by the end of this year to early next year, the story would have changed,” Akosile said to the admiration of all.
