The local government level is the tier of government that is closest to the people. And are funded with statutory allocations from the Federation Account released every month by Federal Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, to the three tiers of government.
Sometime this year, elections were held to elect chairmen of the 20 recognised local governments and the 37 local council development areas (LCDA) in Lagos State. In the Ejigbo LCDA, …was elected as the chairman of the council.
The secretariat of Ejigbo LCDA is located opposite NNPC Junction. The road that takes off from the junction towards the NNPC depot in the area was reconstructed a few years ago with wellbuilt concrete culvets raised one foot above the ground to discourage tankers from parking their trucks on them.
In 2015, Lagos State Governor Akinwumni Ambode launched a laudable programme to reconstruct a number of rural ends to make them motorable to mark his first 100 days in office. The assignment was given to the Lagos State Public Works Corporation (LSPWC) to execute by direct labour. He also launched the Light Up Lagos Initiative, to provide visibility at night and make it safer for Lagosians to move about with higher level of safety.
For a long time, the Okota-Ejiogo-Ikotun road was very bad. Traffic jams were a daily occurrence on this road. But towards the end of the tenure of Babatunde Fashola, the government tried to do rehabilitation work on the road, but the real work was done within the first 100 days of Akinwunmi Ambode as governor of Lagos State, as I noted earlier. The whole stretch of the road from Okota roundabout all the way to Ikotun was reconstructed and asphalted. More importantly, the road now has streetlight that shines bright at night, making the road safer. These days, you find people strolling along the road and completely at ease.
The provision of the streetlight and reconstruction of the road has meant people who close late from work or their privates businesses are assured of getting a commuter bus to take them up to Ikotun, from where they can board other buses to the residential areas like Abaranje, Ijegun and Governors Road, all of which surround Ikotun as well as the Idimu and Egbeda. The rehabilitation of the road by the LSPWC ended the nightmare of traffic jams on the road. The road became free and open, thereby making possible for me to get home, at night, in about 25 minutes from Cele bus stop, on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway to Ikotun and straight to the warm welcome of my family. Truly, by the simple act of reconstructing the Okota-Ejigbo-Ikotun road and providing streetlights, traders now stay longer to sell their wares to workers coming home late.
But today, the menace of traffic jam has come back. The reason is the deterioration of the NNPC junction, resulting in a failed portion that has widened and deepened, forcing vehicle to practically come to a stop and try to crawl through the spot. Expectedly, several other vehicles plie up behind the one trying to maneuver past the bad portion. When traffic therefore builds up in this way on the worst part of the junction, on the side of the road heading to Ikotun, after Jakande Gate, other vehicles, in the typical fashion of Lagos drivers take other side of the road, going against traffic. As the average Lagosian knows and has had a firsthand experience, what results is road madness and gridlock.
The question that is begging for answer is this: has the chairman of Ejigb LCDA, whose office faces the NNPC Junction not seen what is happening outside his window? Doies he pass through this popular junction to drive into the premises of the secretariat. Is is impossible for the council to pour a trip of hardcore granite to fill the bad portion, as a temporary measure pending when the slow bureaucratic process of mobilizing the LSPWC to fix the road would wind through the mill of government?
When he ran for office, he promised the people of Ejigbo LCDA that he would pay attention to their welfare. This is time to keep that promise.
► Kingsley Chibuzor Ibezim wrote from Ikotun, through [email protected]