Barely two months into the administration of the incumbent Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwoolu, residents of Ikorodu division of the state have cried out over what they termed marginalization of the division in the on-going road rehabilitation work undertaken by the Lagos State Public Works across the State.
According to a schedule of road rehabilitation and palliative work recently released by the agency, the road rehabilitation work will cover the entire bad roads across the State. However, residents of Ikorodu Division have gone to the social media to condemn the alleged neglect of the several bad roads spread across the division’s Ipakodo, Ikorodu, Ijede, Igbogbo and Imota by the Lagos state government.
Ikorodu Oga Radio independent investigation also revealed that most inner roads across the division are currently in terrible state and mostly impassable by vehicles. The road situation is so terrible that most residents who live along the affected areas have been forced to abandon their homes while many have reserved themselves to fate, with the attendant high cost of vehicle maintenance, occasioned by avoidable wear and tear caused by the dilapidated roads. Residents without personal means of commuting have had to bear with exorbitant transportation fares, charged by commercial bus operators and motorcycle owners, popularly called okada.
Expressing his frustration, Rasheed Fatuga, Founder, Ikorodu Ambasadors group noted that, ‘ In a SANE environment, a reliable government would have looked at the number of persons who resides and travels to work on a regular basis on Itamaga, Idi-Iroko, Cele, Omitoro, Eleshin, Gberigbe, Elepe, Ijede Road in Ikorodu and fix the road’.
‘Even if they lie to the people that they do not have the funds to repair it fully for now because it’s a long road, at least palliative care can still be carried out. Sometimes I see how women and children struggled to get to their respective homes from Ikorodu Garage/Itamaga to Elepe/Gberigbe/Ijede and I feel like crying’, he added.
‘The road is terrible; transportation cost rises; people struggles; injuries increases; cars break down; traffic Jam everywhere; police extorts; SARS disrupts; the risk gets higher’, an infuriated Fatuga submitted.
The community advocate further wondered what the Wasiu Adeshina-led Administration (Chairman, Ikorodu Local Government) is doing about the road. He opined that, if the LG cannot handle the palliative care, then they should write to the State Government.
Another concerned resident, simply called Ennie had to publicly called out the trio of Hon Babajimi Benson, Hon S.O.B Agunbaide and Hon Saka Sholaja who are the State and Federal lawmakers representing the division on the need to immediately address the unfortunate situation.
Another resident simply condemned the Sanwoolu administration in Lagos State for not living up to his promises to the good people of Ikorodu and its environs during his campaign visits to the division in the heat of the Lagos State electioneering campaign, where he promised to attend to all the infrastructural challenges being faced by the division.
It is important to note that from the updates posted by the Lagos State Public Works Corporation (LSPWC) where rehabilitation works have been carried out in Lagos so far, the agency is yet to give a update on any palliative work on a single road been repaired or rehabilitated anywhere across Ikorodu Division.
