Do you Reside in Festac ? Amuwo Odofin ? Then you must be familiar with the problems faced leaving your homes out when passing Mile 2. It has become a nightmare to motorists and a death trap to pedestrians especially those that have to join in the hustle of getting to work on The island , Marina and its environs.
The issue here is the negligence of the government and everyone of the role that the Apapa-Mile2-Oshodi Expressway plays .
Apapa-Mile2-Oshodi Expressway is a major road that connects Nigeria’s major seaport in Apapa and the ever-busy Murtala Muhammed International Airport. For years and counting , the road has been in a terrible condition despite its importance to the economy , and even its citizens.
I cannot count the number of fatal accidents , vehicular traffic that has been experienced by people due to the bad state of the road. The main issue here is , People who live in Festac dread this road especially when heading to work in the morning , the traffic that accompanies it is really terrible.
What really brought this issue up is the recent trend of tanker drivers occupying this roads without caring about its consequences. Aside from tankers which are the main culprit known for causing gridlock , heavy-duty trucks that convey containers from the Apapa wharf has worsened the problem.
Sometimes an individual can spend up to 4 hours just trying to leave Festac due to the gridlock caused by bad roads and traffic caused by accumulation of these heavy duty vehicles on the express way.
Well i would not totally condemn the government as the road has been improved upon as compared to its previous state as drainage system and walkways were provided . It was good for a while but the dragon has resurfaced.
Passengers and commuters who ply this route can attest to the fact that this is a serious problem to be tackled urgently.
The tanker drivers now occupy the major part of the road turning this road to a parking lot . The entire service lane has been occupied , not neglecting the reckless nature of their driving. Their encroachment into the service lane leave me wondering why they haven’t been sanctioned as they cause heavy vehicular traffic on a daily basis.
This has made life unbearable for Festac residents especially those who drive to work as they have to spend hours on a route that normally should take some minutes to drive.
Talking to a resident of Festac who wish to remain anonymous, he complained bitterly about this development.
I usually drive to work but now i cant as i cannot stand the gridlock that is caused by the bad roads and now these tanker drivers have occupied the road leading out of Festac as i work in Victoria Island. These tanker drivers have made life difficult for me ‘
Speaking to a Tanker driver he explained that sometimes they are on a spot for 2 days or more as they queue for fuel collection. This occurrence was worse especially when there was fuel scarcity nationwide.
As a result of these gridlock and tankers overtaking the roads , bus drivers now use a One-way system to Mile 2 from Cele Bus stop. They use the newly constructed flyover at Cele and then head against traffic to Mile 2. This act is rather dangerous as commuters have lot their lives .
The police and LASTMA officials used to tackle this issue but now i really don’t know what is happening. The service lane has been taken over to as far as Ilasa Bus stop by trailers and tankers.
Festac town residents have been suffering this for a while. Apart fro the gridlock that occurs , there is increase in robbery incidents in this traffic. It has now become a huge nightmare driving through Mile 2 once its dark ( early morning and evenings).
Most times you can see shattered glass on the floor in the mornings, which is a proof that a robbery incident occurred. Lives have been lost , properties and belongings stolen , and cars snatched sometimes. There is no more peace of mind while driving on this route.
Besides its failed sections, reckless drivers of heavy-duty trucks conveying containers from the wharf worsened condition on the road. Most hit by the ugly experience were commuters who waste precious man-hours coming from the Festac Town, Badagry Expressway and Apapa axis. The most frequent spot where commuters are robbed is on the top of the mile 2 bridge.
The sad part is that this gridlock sometimes can be from Apapa all the way to Ilasa ,The long queue of these tankers is a serious issue .
The second rainbow bus-stop is now as rowdy as the former Oshodi . The one-way drivers make crossing the expressway unsafe for Festac citizens , turning it into a nightmare.
Do you think the solution is an overhead bridge ? what of the tankers that always queue up all day and sometimes for days just to get fuel from Wharf.
I suggest the government provide Tank Farms to avoid clustering at Apapa so as to return sanity to the road.
Indiscriminate parking of trucks and tankers on the roads, failure of portions of the roads as well as activities of policemen and other security operatives within the port city are blamed for the worsening traffic situation in the area.
On the average, workers arrive at their desks between 11 am and 12 noon, by which time they would be tired. Apart from that, by 3pm or 4pm, they close work to wade through the traffic. Many residents of Festac, Satellite Town and the Jakande Estate around the Mile 2 axis, are known to have relocated as part of efforts to arrive their workplace on the Lagos Island axis in good time.
In all, 56 tank farms (for storage of imported petroleum products) are in Lagos State alone, with 35 located along the Kirikiri Town-Trinity junction axis on the Wharf/Tin Can Island road.
What do you think should be done ?
Get the police, army and other security agencies to relocate those tankers away from the Festac-Mile 2 axis without any delay!! The state govt must act now! This issue needs to be tabled at the House of Reps so that something urgent can be done.
There is a tanker park at Ogere on the outskirts of Lagos, and there is another one near Orile that the NUPENG and NARTO unions are yet to complete.
Let those tankers go there and stop causing problems and mayhem for Festac citizens!