Lawmaker, Setonji David Seeks F.G, State Governments' Intervention on Lagos-Badagry Expressway
David, who lamented in an interview that the Lagos-Badagry Expressway has become an eyesore and that it has become a death trap despite the fact that it is an international road, urged the Lagos State and Federal Governments to consider a total reconstruction of the road.
He emphasised that the road is overdue for massive reconstruction and that the people of Badagry have been cut off from civilization due to the bad state of the road.
"I am short of words to describe the situation of the road. I had a meeting in Lagos for 1 pm today Tuesday and I left Badagry at 6am, but I got to Lagos at 1:30 p.m. A journey of just about 40 minutes, we spent between five and six hours on the road.
"You can imagine what the people are going through. I wish you pass through the road. I am short of words to describe the harrowing experience of our people on that road. It is a Federal Government road, it is only in Nigeria that you see something like that happening.
"The road has failed. I am a civil engineer by profession, and I know that what is there is beyond maintenance, it is total reconstruction that we need on the road. How can you allow a road of over 50 kilometres, an international road, double carriageway to be damaged to that extent.
"As I am talking to you now, commercial vehicles are no longer plying Lagos- Badagry Expressway. It is on rare occasion that you see a few vehicles. People don't want to use their vehicles to ply such a terrible road. I think we are cut off from Lagos," he said.
While stating that the road was constructed by the Federal Government from Badagry to Mile 2, Hon. David said that the Lagos State Government took over some aspects of the road from Orile Iganmu to Mile 2, but that Okokomaiko to Badagry has become an eyesore.
He added that the carriageway has failed completely, and that if anyone passes the road, he would wonder if the area was in a war situation and that rain has worsened the situation.
His words: "That road has been like that for the past five years or so. Recently, the Federal Government awarded some parts of the road, and the little they have done has been washed away by the rain. The state of the road is now terrible.
"Another problem that we have on the road is that of extortion by security agents.
"It is only on Lagos-Badagry Expressway that in every two kilometers, you see a police checkpoint and they are there everyday making life miserable for our people. You cannot see less than 20 police checkpoints on the road.
"They are even making life worse for our people. You see a police checkpoint even after one kilometer. It is terrible, so we are appealing to both the State and Federal Governments to assist us on that because it is causing a lot of headaches and hazards for our people.
"There are cases of people having health emergencies and due to the state of the road, the vehicle would break down and the patient would die."
The lawmaker revealed that they had made a lot of presentations to the governments in terms of appealing to them to do something about the road.
These, he said, must have led to the latest award of the road to contractors, but that this has not translated to anything positive because the case of the road is still the same.
He then appealed to the Federal Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola and the Federal Government to assist them on the road.
He stressed that the Federal Government makes a lot of money from import duties at Seme Border "as it is an international road and inspite of that they abandoned the road.
"We are appealing to the Federal Government to come to our aid on the road and assist us so that our people can start enjoying the road."
On the effect of the road on the economy of the people of Badagry, the lawmaker said that economic activities in Badagry had been eroded because of the road.
According to him, "which business activity can thrive in such a situation? No business can survive in such an area. Nobody wants to come there to do business anymore and things are very expensive in Badagry now.
"To bring goods from Lagos metropolitan to Badagry costs a lot of money and this makes life difficult for our people. You will be amazed at what our people are going through now.
"That is why I said that I know what we go through each time we pass through Lagos-Badagry Expressway. So, we are appealing to the Federal Government to come to our aid."
On the issue of extortion on the road by security men, the lawmaker said that there was a meeting with the authorities of the security agencies in the area.
"The chairmen of Badagry Local Government and the two Local Council Development Areas (LCDA) in Badagry and myself held a meeting with the police, the Nigerian Army, the Customs and others to complain about the activities of their men on the road.
"They promised that it would get better, but the situation remains the same.
"That was about two months ago and I was at the meeting with other stakeholders. Most of us who were representing Badagry, including the council chairmen, my colleague that is representing Badagry Constituency 1 in the Assembly, Hon. Ibrahim Layode and myself were at the meeting to complain about the challenges we face with their men on the road.
"I can assure you that most of these checkpoints are illegal, but not all of them," he said.
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