Helen Ovbiagele, Woman Editor

When I consider what Nigerians are exposed to in all areas of life in this country, I can’t help but admire their high spirit of tolerance, perseverance and ‘make do.’

Also, instead of turning on those who are responsible for the infliction of woes and hardships on us, we turn on ourselves, robbing and destroying the lives and property of fellow suffering Nigerians who have nothing to do with whatever is ailing us.

When the ‘Bridge people’ brought heavy equipment to the Apapa/Oshodi Expressway some months ago, signifying that serious work was going to be carried out on that road, many of us rejoiced, and began to dream of that road being restored to the good state it was several years ago when it took a mere thirty to forty-five minutes to get from Festac Town to the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

Both sides of the road were free of pot holes and flood water, and barring the rowdy parking of commercial vehicles which caused senseless traffic build-ups at Mile 2 Oke, Cele and Toyota bus stops, you cruised along happily.

Before that state of joy then, the portion at Berliet had become so bad with flood water and gullies that during one afternoon of heavy down pour of rain, movement was impossible and many commuters slept in their vehicles that night. A middle-aged man was reportedly found dead at the wheel of his Benz the next morning.

Oshodi-Apapa traffic gridlock

In spite of the inclement weather, hoodlums had a field day, committing all sorts of atrocities on the unfortunate commuters.

The authorities moved in and that portion of the road was rehabilitated so well that for several years afterward, the Berliet area was no longer a problem. That is, until last year when flood water and gullies surfaced again, accentuating the terrible state much of the expressway is at the moment.

I don’t know what their brief is, but the ‘Bridge people’ began this year’s rehabilitation some distance from their own camp along that road.

I’m not an expert on road building, but in my view, a good and serious job is being done. However, the shut down of the main road, and the clogged up and very inadequate diversions are chaotic and very stressful to users of that road. Right now, it’s possible for you to be on the same spot for one hour, then you move forward a few metres and spend another one hour there, right from the overhead bridge from Kirikiri until you get to Ijesha bus stop, when the real fun of falling from one huge gully to the other starts.

You stumble along until you get to Ilasa and if your vehicle survives all the battering and bumps, you can begin to breathe as you continue your journey. If you have the courage to look at your wrist watch, you’ll find that you’ve spent over four hours from the kirikiri overhead bridge to Ilasa.

A colleague who lives in Olodi Apapa had to go meet her younger sister who was returning from a trip abroad. The plane was scheduled to come in at 6pm. She reckoned that with the slow pace of disembarkation, extra and tortuous pace of going through our immigration, snail’s speed at which luggage rolls onto the turnstile, it would be safe to add another two to two and a half hours to the arrival time, and get there for about 8.30 pm.

She didn’t reckon with the situation of the road repair and since it isn’t a road she usually plies, she didn’t take seriously, the sensible advice that she should find an alternate route to the airport, like going through Apapa, Western Avenue, Gbagada, Oshodi, and then to Airport Road.

She had meant to leave at six, but to please her mother who was urging her to leave much earlier, she left her house at 5pm; a very reasonable time to leave in normal circumstances. But these are dangerous and stressful times on that road which has become a nightmare to all users.

That day, it took the lady two and a half hours to get to Mile 2 from her house. To compound her problem, a trailer which had been negotiating a bend leading to the service road of the expressway near the Berger camp broke down right at the bend, blocking the narrow road.

An alternative way had to be sought, in which vehicles had to climb on the pavement at a dangerous angle to get past the trailer. Thanks to the mobile phone, she got to know that her sister’s plane arrived on time and she was in a very long queue at the Immigration. By 8.25pm, she had collected her luggage.

“Hey, don’t leave the arrival hall yet. I’m just getting to Mile 2 Oke.” said my colleague.

“What? You’ve been on the road for more than three hours, and have only just got to Mile 2?”

“Yes. It’s the road repair, you know. The one they started before you left. We all have to take the service lane at Mile 2. It is full of potholes and the situation is chaotic. They’ve hit my car twice already. I couldn’t afford to get down to argue with anyone. It isn’t safe. Beside, hoodlums are everywhere.

Yes, my windows are wound up even though the aircon is not working. I’ll survive. Three people have pointed at the bonnet of my car, crying ‘smoke, smoke’. Oh no! Of course I didn’t stop. Even if I have a flat tyre, I’ll just keep going until I can get to a church premises. Luckily, there are several on this side of the expressway. Oh, everywhere is dark. You know there are no street lights here. Hang on in there. I’m sure the road is better after Mile 2.”

Poor thing! She didn’t know that she was just getting onto a worse portion of the road. At a point, the sister told her to turn back and go home, and she would spend the night at the airport and take a taxi home the next day.

“I can’t. I can only go turn at the Cele bridge and traffic is chaotic and bumper to bumper on the other side of the express. Motorists from Badagry road and Festac are driving on that side to Oshodi, compounding the problem for those going from Oshodi to Apapa, many of which are trailers. Both sides of the road are dangerous at this time of the night. I have to keep going.”

When at 10 20pm she was just getting to Toyota bus stop, she rang a relative of theirs who lives at the Airforce base near the airport to go pick up her sister, and they would both spend the night at her place.

I understood very well the agony this lady went through. Thank God she was safe in the end.

Rehabilitating that expressway is most timely and commendable, but poor planning has robbed us of the pleasure the exercise should bring us. Much thought should have been given to alternate routes and diversions for road users. The service road right from Mile 2 to Toyota bus stop should have been put in order first, with the deep gullies filled in properly so that traffic there can flow unhindered.

It’s weird to divert traffic there in its present terrible state, where some vehicles fall into the gully and quench there, while others break down due to overheating/other mechanical and electrical faults. This compounds an already terrible problem.

Sending road officials there isn’t much use as their presence cannot improve the state of the road, and drivers have to stop at these gullies to pick their way through. Just pouring gravel to fill these gullies on the service lane temporarily, will go a long way to half-fixing this mess, as vehicles can move there at a faster pace.

Another road causing distress right now in Lagos is the side of the MM International Airport road leading to Oshodi. It’s an eyesore which is an embarrassment to the country because it is the visitor’s first glimpse of our dear country.

We should also consider the security aspect of such an important road being left in decay.

Whichever authority is responsible for these two roads should take pity on us the masses and fix them fast, and never allow them to blight our lives again. Isn’t there enough suffering in our lives already?