Road to Hell: Commuters Left to Suffer as Authorities Abandon Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway

The rainy season comes with a cooling effect on the atmosphere and the rejuvenation of the ecosystem into lush greenery that could be seen permeating the entire landscape. However, it is a major setback for commuters plying Lagos-Abeokuta expressway. 

During Campus Reporter’s visit to D.S. Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic for the 43rd campus journalism training in August, our facilitators were confronted with an embarrassing sight of a decrepit road from Lagos to Itori in Ogun state. 

Despite the road playing a crucial role in Nigeria’s economy as it connects the country’s commercial capital with the industrial hub of the nation, commuters and residents of the communities on the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, said they have accepted the rough ride as their fate because the situation has remained the same for years.

indings by this newspaper shows that the abandoned road projects have caused several accidents, leading to loss of lives, unending traffic, vehicle breakdowns, and longer travelling times for commuters. Campus Reporter also learnt that many many people have been kidnapped at different bad portions of the roads.

With the rainy season, the already bad portions get worse with heavy-duty vehicles and trucks loaded with goods plying the routes day and night.

Speaking with our correspondent, Abolade Oyeneye, a student of D.S. Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic, who expressed his displeasure over the threats to lives, said he recently escaped death after he was involved in an accident. 

“I recently escaped death on my way to school as my motorcyclist was forced to swerve out of the way of a speeding car travelling in the wrong direction.  It led to a painful crash and severely injured my ball and socket joint,” he narrated.

Another student, Oyedokun Christina, recalled that she nearly missed one of her last semester’s examinations due to the delay experienced on the road. 

“It’s a day I will never forget,” she said. “Despite leaving home very early, I couldn’t make it to school on time due to the heavy downpour  the previous night. In fact, the bike man that was supposed to charge N300 eventually collected N1,000 from me.”

Motorists lament 

Speaking with Campus Reporter, motorists narrated their bitter experiences on the bad road.  One of them, Mustafa Ayelabu said the poor state of the road has caused commercial drivers a low income and the journey of 15 minutes now takes an hour. 

“The road is in a very bad state and it’s not  easy for commuters. We spend all the savings meant to take care of our wives and children, repair and maintain our vehicles. We call on the government to rescue us from these difficulties.”

On his part, Momode Adeoti, a tricycle driver,  added that some of his colleagues have abandoned commercial driving jobs due to the debt they incurred, spending their major income on repairs of vehicles repeatedly damaged by the dilapidated road.  

Meanwhile, a business woman who simply identified herself as BUNMI, said “the bad road affects our business and the traffic we encounter daily as makes the journey from home to the market tiring.”

Gov’t actions, inactions

Speaking with Daily Independent in August 2023, the Controller of Works at the Federal Ministry of Works in Lagos State, Olukorede Keisha, proposed that the abandoned sections of the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway will be given top place priority as the newly constituted Federal Executive Council begins meeting with David Umahi, the Federal Minister of Works in attendance. 

“As a Ministry, we are aware of the state of the road and have always appealed for patience from the motoring public, while trying to make them understand that the road was not completed owing to the paucity of funds at the Federal level, the meager resources available is being appropriated amongst many dilapidated road networks across the country which are also in very dire and critical conditions, realising that all the roads cannot receive attention at the same time from the government. 

“However, we asked Julius Berger PLC to go back to the road and complete it, but the company realised that the state of the road has worsened beyond what they estimated when they left the site initially, it will not be reasonable therefore to go back to work when we know that the resources available will not be enough to handle the quantum of work left on the road,” Keisha said at the time. 

Concerned about the plights of commuters, the Ogun state government in July, said Governor Dapo Abiodun has approved the construction of five roads across the state and he has decided to start the reconstruction of the Lagos-Sango-Abeokuta road to relieve the people of the pain they go through daily.

According to the state’s Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ade Akinsanya, the contract for the reconstruction of the road was awarded on March 28 by the State Executive Council to Craneburg Construction Company but necessary administrative processes were still ongoing at the federal level at the time. 

Meanwhile, the contracting firm, Craneburg, has moved to the site to begin the reconstruction of the road on Friday, August 23. The company said it planned to make one side of the road motorable, while construction proper goes on the other section.

This story was funded by the Campus Reporter project of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and written by students of the D.S Adegbenro ICT Polytechnic after Campus Reporter’s 43rd campus journalism clinic held in their institution:

1. Ugo Veronica 
2. Akinlatun Ebunoluwa 
3. Olayiwola Adijat 
4. Oyediran Fiyinfoluwa 
5. Yakub Damilola
6. Olutayo Nain 
7. Olofinjana Foyinsayemi
8. Bankole Oluwapelumi 
9. Adekoya Boluwatife 
10. Obabunmi  Olamide
11. Olayemi Ifeoluwa