Mile 2/Badagry Expressway: The Agony of Lagos Commuters

When you thought you have seen the worst in the city of Lagos then new surprises spring up.

Mile 2 can best be termed a gateway hub to the state, it has lots of access roads that link to various parts of the state, for example, Mile 2 links to Orile Iganmu, Orile links to the Island and Mainland respectively. It also links to the nation's seaport which generates billions to the state. Mile 2 is an important hub as its still same area you will see various automobile companies like GAC, Peugeot and lots more. As interesting as this city is, its a pity that it has one of the worst if not the worst road networks in the state, not only that, its the dirtiest so far expect proven otherwise.

Describing what we saw will be liking writing a Nollywood script for a movie, this road can best be described as where lawlessness reign in its totality. Due to the fact that the king of the road (the trailers) have blocked the axis leading to the road, the danfos and okadas too decide to form a double lane along the second side of the road.

AutoReportNG was in Coconut area, close to Olam factory for a meeting and what we saw was mind-blogging. The roads are nothing to write about, we observed that the roads are pretty new but everywhere was flooded, workers and residents in that area rely on bikes as tankers and trailers have blocked the only available section of the road, everywhere was blocked right from LaCasera factory to the seaport, you can imagine the pains and agony of commuters on that road.

We did a little assessment and also we got to ask from the Okada riders how long the road has been in this shape, one of the riders told us that the road has been abandoned for years as the government will only come a truck to fill some spots and after that, nothing will be heard from them again.

We noticed that since the road is closed to the seaport, a large volume of trailers take this route daily which makes the road to wear out quickly.

As we are touring the road, we noticed that the Federal Government has awarded a palliative contract to Segulat Nigeria Limited to put the place in order at least pending when the real work will start, but we are amazed to see the company come to site with only a few workers about 5 of them and they came with just one tractor.

It will be recalled that this road was reconstructed in 2012/2013 during the era of Mr. Babatunde Fashola administration but it seems our maintenance culture is knocking back at us again.

As we embark on this sad tour, we can't but ask the resident and those working around how they were to cope with the trailers, the bad roads and especially the hike in transportation.

We appeal to the minister of works and housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola to please look into this road as it has caused lots of hardship for the people, cars dared not pass this route expect you are willing to use it as a scrap.

These are some pictures we are able to gather in this area.

Apapa Bridge, A Disaster Awaiting to Happen - Photos

Apapa bridge is a major bridge in Lagos as it links people from the Island to the mainland especially those in Ajegunle, Ijora, Wharf among others. The Nigerian government is known to have a bad maintenance culture as they don't repair roads or maintain it except if they want to use it to score a cheap political point. The honourable minister of works and housing Mr. Babatunde Fashola as at 2016 visited this bridge to access the damage but it seems nothing has been done so far.

The state of Apapa-Ijora Bridge is saddening because it is a major artery to Apapa, home of Nigeria’s most utilised seaports. Because rail and water transportation have collapsed, we necessarily depend on roads to transport imported goods, including fuel, to various parts of the country from the ports. This has put more stress on the roads even as it has become a nightmare for commuters.

This is a bridge that one does not have to be an engineer to know that it is a disaster waiting to happen. Its expansion joints are broken, with columns supporting it peeling off even as the integrity of its alignment is suspect. According to a trader under the bridge, “there is always unusual vibration under the bridge when trucks travel over the expansion joints.”

AutoReportNG on his tour to Apapa saw the bad sharp of the pillars of the bridge, these are the pillars that support the bridge as they have already falling off. We noticed most of the pillars are blown off and they have started peeling, for a bridge of such magnitude then an immediate action needs to be taken as soon as possible.  The bridge has been neglected for over 12 years, despite the fact that it was engulfed in a fire about six years ago, which worsened its condition. We bring you pictures from our tour, enjoy!!!

Do you want your roads to be fixed? Tweet at FERMA for prompt action

It seems the Federal Government seems to be waking up to its duties after been neglected for a very long time. According to the SSA to Pres. Buhari on Social Media Mr. Bashir Ahmad,

The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has commenced repairs of damaged sections of federal roads across the country. Citizens can tweet pictures of bad roads and tag @FedRoadsNGR on Twitter for prompt attention.

The question now is that for how long will this be and how long will they cover? Let's keep our fingers crossed and watch as the event unfolds.