The power of vision and the changing landscape of Oshodi

For decades, Oshodi has been a breeding ground for social deviants, which explains why there are 17 different motor parks that exist within the vicinity.

It will be difficult to imagine that Oshodi, a riotous area in the heart of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial and economic hub, will be what it is gradually transforming into today. The emerging scenario in Oshodi speaks to the power of vision.

As often said, without a vision a nation and its people perish. The Lagos State government is running with a vision it caught three years ago to recreate Oshodi.

The aim is to give the area an ultra-modern outlook, away from its degree of chaos, lack of organisation and poor sanitation.

This filthy, noisy and crime-prone part of Lagos is also known for being overcrowded with both human and vehicular traffic. Oshodi in its present state is estimated to accommodate about one million pedestrians and over 100,000 passengers accessing the several parks and garages daily.

About 76 percent of the area is dedicated to transport and commercial activities. As a result, the place is challenged by heavy traffic congestion and other environmental issues.

Wale Adesina, a resident who deals in local textile materials in a market around Oshodi says he’s been a victim several times to the insanity in Oshodi, and cannot wait to see the emerging transformation.  He expresses concern about possible losses by owners of properties demolished in Oshodi, but adds that payment of compensation by the government will ease the pains.

James Odiki, another resident and banker with one of the banks which fence had to be demolished to align the project in Oshodi, says the sheer determination to change the story of Oshodi from that of confusion and chaos to a modern business centre with complementary world-class facilities is encouraging and fascinating.

The Oshodi Transport Interchange project, coming with ultra modern shopping mall, three-star hotel, standard bus terminals with connecting skywalk, expanded road network that connects the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Ikeja among other facilities, is set to change the landscape of the area forever.

Perhaps, for the first time in the last 18 years, a foreigner visiting the Africa’s largest economy, upon the completion of the project later this year, will drive through Oshodi without passing uncomplimentary comments about Nigeria.

And, from the testimonies of Odiki and Adeshina, it’s obvious that not only a first timer in Lagos will be enthralled by what Oshodi is becoming. Indeed, those who know Oshodi and have at one time or the other fallen victims of the activities of the swarm of criminal elements who take advantage of the chaotic scenes to rob and maim, will also be excited at what is being accomplished.

A visit to the project site shows that what started as an idea is rising into a reality. At the unveiling of the project in 2016, not a few had wondered how it will be actualised given the initial resistance by traders, residents, commercial buses operators, business and property owners, and the onerous task of getting them to key into the vision.

Today, the state government has done the ground work, persuaded and convinced the initial dissidents to see beyond their temporary gains from the chaos and with assurances of compensation payment on properties to secure the right of way; the Oshodi transport interchange and its ancillary projects are expected to be delivered before the end of 2018.

The visionary, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, during a recent visit to assess the scope of work at Oshodi, said: “I will like to appeal to Lagos residents to bear with us. As much as possible, we will try to reduce the stress the reconstruction might generate, by completing the Oshodi Transport Interchange by December 2018. This, we hope to present as Christmas gift to Lagos residents.”

But the contractor, Planet Projects, seems to have positioned itself to beat the governor’s deadline. Abiodun Otunola, managing director, Planet Projects, believes that the interchange will be completed in October this year.

Otunola hinges his conviction on the fact that work on the project is already at 70 percent completion stage. He told BDSUNDAY during a visit to the site last week that the project would be a cynosure of all eyes upon completion.

The contractor who gave a further insight into the project and what Lagosians should expect says the transport interchange will aggregate all 17 intra-city and interstate motor parks in Oshodi into three multi-storey bus terminals. The three floor terminals, which are 30, 000 square metres for each terminal will take care of the parking and passengers’ demands.

The terminal one will be for inter-state transport activities while terminal two and three will cater for intra-city transport activities. The terminals are being built to have standard facilities including waiting area, loading bays, ticketing stands, drivers lounge, parking areas, rest rooms and many more.

The transport interchange change is coming with accessible walkways and pedestrian bridges and a state-of-the-art sky-walk to link all the three terminals. In addition, there are lanes, tunnels, lay-bys, green area to soften the environment as well as proper waste management system.

“Also, we will introduce fencing, street lighting and a dedicated security team for Oshodi including surveillance tower, CCTVs, etc.”

Upon completion, the Ambode administration would have transformed Oshodi into a world class CBD with business, travel and leisure activities conducted in a serene, secure, orderly and hygienic environment. Essentially, it will be an organised transport system that will ensure free flow of traffic.

Otunola says the project, when operational will serve at peak hours an average of one million people daily with an exponential positive impact on public transportation in Nigeria’s commercial city.

According to the MD, about 300 buses will be departing the three terminals hourly to various intra and interstate destinations.

“The idea is to make available access to efficient and effective transportation to most Lagosians, especially those in the lower and middle income brackets who cannot afford to fund their own private cars every day.”

Terminal 1 will serve those travelling outside Lagos and the west coast. Terminal 2 will service commuters heading towards Abule Egba and beyond and places like Mile 2, Okokomaiko and beyond, while terminal 3 will serve commuters going to Anthony, Ojota, Lagos Island and Ikorodu.

According to him, the interchange was conceptualised to solve problem, reason he said his company is not a general contractor. He added that Oshodi had been neglected, as if it does not matter, but the governor is giving it a new face.

“People can hardly pass through Oshodi unhurt, especially at the wee hours of the day while many at peak period struggle to enter a bus in a chaotic environment after a hard day’s work. All that will change,” says Otunola, whose company also built the recently commissioned ultra modern Ikeja Bus Terminal

To enhance passengers’ comfort, the MD says the three terminals, with multi-layer floors will have elevators to ensure commuters move easily from one floor to another.

To ensure that there are enough buses on ground to pick passengers at any given time, Otunola says two layover parks are being created with the capacity to hold 70 buses. This way, passengers do not have to wait endlessly for buses on operation to arrive from outside for them to board.

Also to ensure that buses coming from the layover do not obstruct free flow of traffic around Oshodi, two underground tunnels had been incorporated into the project, through which the buses from the layover will connect terminals one and two easily.

He says because the interchange is built to attract tourists within and outside the country, a three-star hotel and shopping mall have been factored in, to serve the leisure of passengers and the tourists. According to him, 1000 light will be installed around the interchange, to create effects, to reflect the mood of a celebration like Christmas and Independence Day celebration, beaming the green and white national colours.

More importantly, the transport interchange, according to Otunula, will showcase national pride and signpost the fact that Nigeria has come of age in engineering design, given that the project is being handled 100 percent by an indigenous company and engineers.

Kehinde Bamigbetan, the Lagos State commissioner for information and strategy, says the project reflects government’s undying commitment to the development of modern infrastructure.

“About 168 people enter Lagos per hour and we cannot drive them away. This administration is thinking ahead. Others may see problems but Ambode thinks solutions. This is what is reflected in the Oshodi Transport Interchange and other projects going on within the state.

Bamigbetan says the government wants to build a Lagos that can be internationally benchmarked. “We want situation where whoever arrives Lagos can get a bus conveniently to his or her destination without spending hours at the bus stop.”

The commissioner says that the governor is passionately committed to building on the legacies of his predecessors in office, and that when Oshodi is completed, there will be no space for street miscreants who makes the area unsafe for members of the public.

On sustainability of the project, Bamigbetan says “Lagos has run on the basis of continuity and consistency in policies and governance based on a long-term development plan. Therefore, there is no fear about the future of Oshodi Transport Interchange.

“No government will take this away from Nigerians, particularly Lagosians who stand to benefit in many ways from this iconic project,” says Bamigbetan.

According to the commissioner, the project is also about promoting local content as it is being executed by an indigenous firm that has ensured that all the workers are Nigerians, thereby, preventing capital flight.

“If you look around the site, you won’t see Chinese or Germans or Lebanese. All you see here are Nigerians, and this is also a strategy by the government to create jobs locally,” Bamigbetan says.