Obalende Under Bridge: A Place Where People Eat, Sleep And Sell In Filthiness - Photos

This is Obalende underbridge also called the McGregor Canal. Obalende is not new to people that have been in Lagos for quite some time, Obalende, despite being a specific location to commuters who rely on public transportation come to Obalende as it has closer boundaries to some places like the Victoria Island, it also serves a part of the Business Districts because this road leads to places like Ikoyi, Banana Island, Ajah, Lekki among others.

As strategic as this place is, its quite unfortunate that the drainage, the surroundings, roads do not make it look fit for the position it carries. For example, the Obalende underbridge is nothing to write about. AutoReportNG team passed through Obalende and we noticed some graphic images which may not only embarrass the state governor but begs for a question as to who are those in charge of these departments and why do we have to wait until we are called out to do our job?

Obalende underbridge is home to many homeless guys also called street urchins or area boys as we call them in Nigeria. These folks sleep under the bridge, they eat, bath and defecate into the canal, so bad is it that when they finished eating, they throw the remnant into the same canal, when you walk through the bridge, you will find series of dirt from disposable packs to pure water sachets, to bottles among many others all littered around and inside the drainage. It will be recalled that in September, people from the ministry of environment came to pack the dirt in just a segment of this bridge, you can read the story here. As good as this may look, its quite disappointing after almost 3 months they have packed dirt from the canal, they left the dirt at the corridor of the canal, this means that once the dirt get dirt, they returned back to the same drainage, one wondered why they refused to call on LAWMA to pack this dirt away.

Related: See What Joe Igbokwe And His Team Are Doing At McGregor Canal, Obalende, Lagos

Another eyesore is when you crossed to the other side as if you are going towards Onikan and Awolowo using the same route, you will wonder how people cope in this place despite the place being close to police barracks and Police Headquarters, God bless you that pass the place anytime its 8pm, you either get robbed or get injured. The people there have turned the canal to all sorts of filthiness, for example, starting from the beginning of the road, you will see series of faeces, nylons, disposable packs among others, it's always very worse when it rains as everywhere will be smelling of urine and faeces most times.

One major highlight of this bridge is a certain man who covered himself with dirt. A close look suggests he might be one of those scavengers who pick from the dumpsites, he eats, sleeps and drinks in this dirt, he covered himself with nylons, bottles picked from God knows where, brooms, etc in fact, he used to pick potatoes, onions and other materials from which people normally come for them, we can't tell if they are for sale or not but this calls for strict scrutiny from the health ministry.

Obalende is a vital location that must not be allowed to be destroyed by some few homeless touts who don't care about protocol and ethics.

One then wonders what is the work of the SSA on drainage, Mr Joe Igbokwe? Does he go out to see things for himself? Has he received reports from this place? He posted the images of his men clearing the Obalende bridge in September, did he ask if they properly disposed of the dirt removed from the canal? What are the duties of LAWMA? Do we need to write to them before doing the needful in keeping Lagos tidy? These and more beg for questions from people who are at the helm of affairs. It is true that the governor is not omnipresent and that's why he has appointed aides to be his eyes and help him but when they refuse to do their job, he will take the blame. This is calling on the governor to do an assessment of this place and do the needful.

Read: Obalende BRT Park: Bad Maintenance Culture or Sheer Wickedness?

The former governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode was about transforming this place into a park before he left office, in fact, landscape work has begun, the drawing, the barricade has been done until when everything stopped. If the present governor can continue from there, not only will be this place be safe for road users, it will be a conducive place for relaxation and fun place for the residents of these communities
.
It will be recalled that Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu on assumption into office signed an executive order looking into the dirt issue in Lagos and traffic congestion.

These are pictures of this bridge, we need to warm that some of these pictures may look a bit uncomfortable.

See Also: #TrashChallenge: See What Young Nigerians Are Doing With Trash In Their Areas