Thoughts on the state of Lagos-Badagry expressway
There is an Igbo saying that if you are performing a ritual for a child that involves seven whole eggs, it makes sense to give him one, as a temporary measure, to boost his hope that the others will come. It is with this mindset that I look at the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, which is currently undergoing expansion, and wonder why there can’t be such a temporary relief so that road users can at least be alive to enjoy the ten lanes when the road is finally completed.
Lagos-Badagry Expressway is Nigeria’s international gateway to other countries on the West African coast – Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, among others. The Lagos International Trade Fair Complex – which now hosts the trio of Balogun, Progressive, and Auto Spare Parts (ASPMDA) markets – is also located along this route. The expressway is also the route to Alaba International Market (easily the largest electronics market in the country) as well as other smaller unnamed markets.
The expressway is undergoing an expansion to ten lanes, with provisions for light rail and Bus Rapid Transit System (the section up to Mile 2 is almost completed, while from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko, being handled by China Civil Engineering Construction Company [CCECC] is progressing at a rather very slow pace), and one must commend the Lagos State government for embarking on such huge project which is costing fortune. However, it is also good to point out the excruciating pain users of that road experience every day in gridlocks on that road. Many portions of the expressway have collapsed, with huge manholes dotting virtually every spot. The worst portions seem to be between Abule-Oshun and Barracks (the Nigerian Army Cantonment), and between Odu Eran Market and Volks (former Volkswagen of Nigeria). The traffic situation on these stretches is usually killing, and it gets worse when it rains.
As such, many traders whose businesses are situated at the Trade Fair Complex but who live beyond Volks (in such places as Iyana Eba, Igando, Okokomaiko, Ajamgbadi, etc) have been compelled to walk long distances until they get to Ojo Barracks where it is easier for them to get a bus to Trade Fair, failing which they continue their journey on foot until they hit their destination. On the other hand, traders whose businesses are located beyond Volks but who reside in the Abule-Ado, Satellite, Festac and Mile 2 areas often have to alight around the Trade Fair area and cover the distance between Trade Fair and Ojo Barracks on foot before joining a bus to their destination – or sometimes they have to walk up to Volks before they are able to connect a bus. As it is with traders, so it is with workers and all other commuters. In all of this, several man-hours are lost as commuters have to spend endless hours in the traffic.
For the traders, their losses are multiple. First, they have fewer hours daily to do business as they are forced by the traffic situation to get to their shops late, irrespective of how early they leave the house, and close very early as well so as to be able to find their way home before it gets dark. Second, many of their existing and prospective customers are discouraged by the traffic congestion. As such, they have continued to lose millions of naira to the traffic nightmare. As Austin Odoemenam, an electronics importer at Alaba International Market, articulates it, “Business is very slow. Goods that used to take one month to sell now take four months. Our customers have diverted to other markets not minding the high cost of goods in those places compared to our prices. Some call to ascertain the state of the road before venturing out, and once they are told nothing has improved, they divert elsewhere. So we now rely on customers who call us on phone to supply them goods, even those from outside Lagos. Returns are poor because we make better profits from customers who come to the shop to make their purchases. Transport fares have also gone up. We now pay N200 from Alakija to Alaba, a trip that previously cost N70. Even then, we spend 2 to three hours to get to Alaba every day. You wonder where one would get money to pay rent and all other expenses.”
For Leonard Umeokafor, a car and electronics importer at Alaba, who also lives in Festac, the road is every commuter’s nightmare. According to him, “Before now when the road was better, I would usually take my containers to Alaba to offload. But my last consignment I had to offload it at Trade Fair and later convey the goods in smaller bits to my shop at Alaba. Even though it was at a huge cost to me, it was better compared to what a friend of mine lost recently at Volks when his container fell off the truck that was conveying it to Alaba and the goods were spilt on paved portions of the road. He suffered a terrible loss as more than half of the goods in the container got damaged.”
But beyond the individual losses, both the federal and state governments must be losing huge revenues as well. The bad shape of the expressway has no doubt affected the volume of trans-border trade along that route. Moreover, one is not sure of this, but it can be speculated that the dilapidated state of the road could be part of why last year’s Lagos International Trade Fair was moved from the Trade Fair Complex (where it was held in 2011) to Tafawa Balewa Square on the Lagos Island. Participants in the 2011 trade fair had sordid tales to tell about the road.
In the face of this, there is a need for quick intervention by all those concerned to alleviate the pain of road users. Before now, as I am made to understand, the Lagos State government under Babatunde Fashola was in the habit of patching up the bad spots that could cause gridlock, and that helped a lot. So, while we all await the completion of the ten-lane project, the state government – or the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) or any other agency concerned – should do well to patch up the failed portions of the road to make it passable for not only the traders but also for other road users who ply that route daily to transact their businesses.
Finally, it is difficult to fathom why the Federal Government under President Goodluck Jonathan is standing aloof and watching disinterestedly while the Lagos State government is bleeding through its nose to finance a project that should, in the first place, be a Federal Government project. At the pace the project is going, it is evident that the Lagos State government is struggling. That is perhaps why it is using CCECC, which, clearly, is more affordable than, say, Julius Berger. A little support from the Federal Government would have gone a long way. But no, we must play politics with everything, even our own lives.
Oluigbo is of the editorial department of BusinessDay, Lagos.
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