Serious knocks for Ambode, as commuters experience hell on Iyana Ipaja – Ikeja road
When Akinwunmi Ambode was selected by the APC as its candidate in the lead up to the gubernatorial election in 2015, not a few people were skeptical about his capabilities.
To many, he was just another Tinubu errand boy.
Ambode, shortly after he was voted in, got down to work in a manner that suggested he knew he had something to prove. In little time, he had converted even his strongest doubters with some of the projects he began to execute.
Clearly a man on a mission, he appeared to be determined to override some of his predecessor’s legacies – for all the right and wrong reasons.
Many praised him for embarking on several neglected road projects in inner areas on the mainland, one of the major criticisms against Fashola during his otherwise commendable tenure.
But, for all the commendable moves Ambode has made, he has made just as many wrong ones.
The waste management imbroglio in Lagos is disgraceful given Lagos’ resources, and his government continues to dance around viable solutions.
Today, motorists and commuters who ply the Iyana-Ipaja – Ikeja axis of the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway daily are crying tears of anguish, no thanks to the inexcusable non-commitment of the contractors tasked to execute the project by Ambode.
It has been well over a year since the construction of a BRT lane and upgrade of the road was signed off by the governor, but there is no immediate sign that it’ll be completed before next year’s election.
For the purpose of the BRT lane, Ambode, who has promised a never-seen-before mega city, has brought in a number of upscale luxurious buses. He has boasted about a grand plan of freezing out the popular commercial yellow buses. Three months after, those buses remain parked at the Ikeja bus terminal, largely in part to the uncompleted road project.
Since Sunday, September 9, thousands of residents returning home from their various places of businesses have been subjected to untold hardship, as there continues to be total gridlock on the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway due to the abandoned road.
Commuters now spend hours in the gridlock daily.
Car owners are left with little choice than to remain in the gridlock until they can find their way through, while those who would prefer to be home early enough to prepare for the next day’s work are being made to pay through their noses.
Commercial bus drivers and motorcycle riders have been having the time of their lives, charging commuters as high as N700 for N200 trips.
“Ambode is doing rubbish with this road,” a man from the Eastern part of the country blurted out angrily as the motorcycle he mounted waded through tight spaces during Monday’s melee. He had been charged N500 from Ikeja Along to Iyana-Ipaja.
Newsroom had comprehensively reported two months ago how commuters experience hardship on the road and how the contractor appears to be incompetent. LASTMA boss, Mr Chris Olakpe had pleaded for patience.
With circulating reports that Ambode faces stiff competition for the APC governorship ticket following a fallout with party leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, commuters fear that their suffering may have just begun.
“They might abandon this road eventually if he doesn’t get reelected,” a commuter said Wednesday morning.
Another commuter was confident that the government has “purposely” delayed the completion of the road in order to use it as a campaign agenda for next year’s election.
“They won’t touch this road again until after the election,” he said.
Whatever the state government’s plan is, commuters who regularly ply the road are calling for its urgent completion, in order to ensure ease of movement after the day’s exhaustive work.
