By BENJAMIN NJOKU

The traffic stretched from Mile 2 to Berger Slate on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway. For hours, motorists and other road users were trapped. They struggled to escape through the narrow space that was left of the failed portion on the road to no avail.

The condition becomes aggravated whenever a trailer or any heavy duty truck breaks down at the particular spot where the road failed.

Berger Yard, home to the nation’s largest auto-market, has turned to nightmares for motorists plying Oshodi -Apapa Road.

The dilapidating state of the road today is better imagined than experienced. Millions of road users on daily basis are stuck at a particular portion due to pot holes and craters that have become the order of the day on the road.

Over the last one year, the road has become a death trap for motorists as well as a hot spot for criminals to carry out their nefarious activities.

A commercial bus driver, who identified himself simply as Mr. Bamidele Ojo, said the road has not only become a death trap, it has equally affected business as buses develop faults as a result of the bad state of the road.

He said that the situation has been causing serious traffic jam on the expressway such that motorists abandon their vehicles once they get to Berger Yard.

“The situation calls for attention. It is one road that means so much to many Nigerians. On daily basis, you find vehicles abandoned on the highway. Mostly affected are trailers. The suffering on this road is getting worse everyday. Today, I have plied this road twice. I’m afraid I don’t want my bus to break down,” the driver said.

Another commercial driver, who wouldn’t want his name to be mentioned, blamed the bad state of the road on the heavy haulage vehicles which ply it.

He appealed to government to come to the rescue of road users.

An auto-dealer at Berger Yard, Mr. Samson Ibe, said the road started degenerating after some telecommunications companies dug the road in their bid to run their cables.

According to him, the state of the road has affected business as customers no longer find it convenient to come to Berger to patronise them. “You can see that our customers have no space to park their cars when they come to patronise us here. This is because it is no longer convenient for them.

“Also many trailers do U-turn and so have damaged the road. Because of the bad condition of the road, they fall, causing obstruction. Passing through the place between 4 pm and 7 pm can best be described as hellish.

“The road is no longer motorable. Cars cannot conveniently pass through the road. The moment they venture to pass, they fall into the craters. This is a federal road, and, therefore, there is need for government to come to the aid of the road users,” Ibe said.

Indeed, it could take a motorist hours in the evening when heavy traffic is Oshodi bound to move between Under Bridge Bus Stop, where the auto-dealers operate, and Berger Yard. Sometimes, the traffic snarl stretches to Mile 2 and beyond.

Last year, the Federal Government assured motorists and other users of the Apapa- Oshodi Expressway of its commitment to providing immediate and long -term remedy to what has been described as an embarrassing situation.
Though the government is repairing the failed portion of the road at Coker/First Rainbow Bus Stop, failure to extend the work to Berger Yard, Sunrise and Berger Slate is imperative.

While visiting Governor Babatunde Fashola, last year, at Government House, Alausa, the minister of works, housing and urban development, Dr. Hassan Muhammad Lawal, who led a delegation of the works ministry comprising the Director Federal Highways Construction and Rehabilitation, Engr. Sani K. Haliru; the Chaian of the Governing Board of FERMA, Engr. Abdulkadir Kure; the Managing Director of FERMA, Engr. Dr. Olubunmi O. Peters; the Controller of Works, Housing and Urban Development in Lagos State, Engr. Emeka U. Mgbemena and other senior officials, disclosed how Messrs Borini Prono Nigeria Limited had moved to carry out palliative repairs in the short run, pending the consideration of a report of a technical committee set up to proffer long-term solutions to the perennial problem of flooding on the road. Road users are still waiting for the fulfilment of the promise to make the expressway, the gateway to two of the nation’s busiest ports, motorable.