For indigenes and commuters daily plying the Lagos-Abeokuta express road,it is now an agony plying the 126 kilometre road which has deteriorated in the past three years due to lack of maintenance by the Federal government.
Indeed,besides the Lagos- Ibadan expressways which itself is under reconstruction,the Lagos-Abeokuta axis is probably the second busiest rad in the country.
Motorists plying the expressways have been made to stay three to four hours in a journey that ordinarily should not take more than ninety minutes.
Though the federal government through the Federal executive council announced with glee that the contract have been awarded for N22 billion in October,2018,yet no sign of any serious work on the road which connect the Ogun state capital with Lagos and neighbouring Begin Republic.
It also serves as the road to the Ota industrial hub which has many of its parent companies headquarters located in Lagos.
The road users spoken to said in Lagos on Sunday that the condition of the road had caused loss of materials and human lives.
According to them, apart from fatalities being recorded on daily basis, especially between the Ajala Bus Stop in Lagos and Toll Gate in Ogun, several productive hours were being lost due to the poor condition of the road.
Speaking at Kola Bus Stop along the highway, Mr Seun Jaiyeola, a Commercial bus driver, said that all the features that qualified the road as a highway had been washed away.
Jaiyeola, who decried the neglect of the road by governments, said that no day would pass without two or three trucks falling on the section between Ahmadiyya and the toll gate.
He said: “I am a daily user of this road, I carry passengers from toll gate to Oshodi, running few trips everyday. The condition of this particular Kola Bus Stop is very bad and dangerous.
“Apart from the heavy traffic that we experience, big lorries and containers fall here, most times. The poor condition of the road has reduced the number of trips we run daily.
“We are begging Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos and Gov. Dapo Abiodun of Ogun to do something about this road as fast as they can, even though it is a Federal Road. Both Lagos and Ogun sections are bad.’’
Another commercial driver, Mr Ismail Kolawole, said that the road needed total repair, saying that the government should declare a state of emergency on the road.
Kolawole urged both the Lagos and Ogun State Governments to collaborate and give prompt attention to the road.
According to him, the deplorable condition of the road is partly the reason for the increase in the fares between Toll Gate and Agege, Toll Gate and Iyana-Ipaja as well as Ikeja and Oshodi.
He noted that the problem of the road started with small potholes which did not receive any attention until it got to the present deplorable state.
Mr Titus Oyedeji, a private car owner, residing around Obasanjo in Ogun, said that the road had failed completely and required urgent attention.
Oyedeji, a Welder, said: “The question I ask myself daily is why should the government allow a road get to this kind of condition. It is really sad.
“Each day we go through hell here. The road condition has continued to damage vehicles each day.
“As if this is not enough, when we get to Ojuoore-Odiroko road, it is another nightmare.
“You will spend long hours and have one or two things to fix in your cars everyday. Few days ago, my exhaust pipe pulled out because of this road”.
He, however, commended the former Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State for constructing some alternative roads linking Ojuoore from Command, AIT and other adjoining routes.
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