By Ebele Orakpo
“Driver, please take  it easy oo. This kind of driving can cause miscarriage in a pregnant woman. You are too rough,” admonished a commuter by name Nuru as the commuter bus wove its way through a very bad stretch of road in Obawole area of Lagos.

“Can’t  you see it’s not the driver’s fault? The road is in a terrible state. Or do you think anybody in his right mind will want to be rough on this kind of road and end up destroying his vehicle?” asked Obi
Retorted Amos: “Fashola is working! Fashola is working! Honestly, I haven’t seen anything he has done for us here.”

“Please, let’s tell ourselves the truth. The man is working hard. He has changed the face of Lagos for good,” said Shola.
“Yes, he is working in some  areas  while leaving others unattended. Abi, is this area not part of Lagos?” asked Amos.
Said Shola: “Go to Victoria Island, Ikoyi, VGC, Lekki, Ajah, Orile, Surulere and other places and see the rapid changes taking place.”

“Ehn, what’s my business with those areas? What business has the vulture got to do with the hairdresser? As far as I’m concerned, we have gained nothing from this government so far. Even the flowers he was planting in other areas, we benefitted nothing from it,” continued Amos angrily.

“Ah, Ah!, What about Agege-Iju road? Is he not reconstructing it?” asked Moses.

“Abeg, for how long? The constractor has worsened our situation as he has refused to complete the job. The rains have started and we are suffering it. It took them forever to do half of the road and the remaining half will take them eternity,” noted Amos. Continuing he said: “Since last year when they started, they are still on the drainage and then the worse happened. The contractor burst a major water pipe and that has halted the job.”

“You mean they are still on the chorus, they never enter the body of the song?” joked Tony.
“Exactly! They are still battling with that and one lane has been blocked, leaving one lane for hundreds of vehicles to contend with. That’s why they are taking this alternative route which looks like the road to hell,” said Francis.
“I think they are done with the broken pipe. They are working on the road now,” corrected Jude.

“But let me ask, do  we not have a local government chairman and a representative in the state House of Assembly? What is their job? Why did we elect them to represent us? Fashola cannot be everywhere. He expects these representatives to be his eyes and ears in their areas and tell him the needs of the people,” stated Shola.

“Just look at the hell we are made to go through everyday. Tell me how you can be in traffic for four to five hours and still be productive,” noted Nuru.

“Ok, these roads in Obawole are alternative routes but they are in a terrible state. What stops the government from grading the roads for now to ease the sufferings of commuters in the area and then hasten the work on the Iju-Agege road?

The worst is that if your vehicle is not in top shape, you dare not pass through Obawole. Literally speaking, it’s an uphill task. Some vehicles are not able to climb the hill so the driver asks the passengers to disembark, climb the hill on foot and meet him and the vehicle at the other end so they could continue the journey.

“Imagine those with medical conditions that may prevent them from climbing hills!! God help you if you have a heart problem,” said Tonia.