Ayodele Olalere
These certainly are not the best of times for residents of Aka Road, Ajangbadi, in the Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State.
The suffering, untold hardship and serious economic loss owing to the dilapidated nature of the roads have become a source of worry to the residents.
According to the residents, of more concern to them is the fact that all entreaties to a member of the Lagos House of Assembly, representing Ojo constituency, Hon. Victor Akande, to assist them to ensure the roads are fixed through the state government, have fallen on deaf ears, as the lawmaker allegedly ignored their pleas.
They lamented that in spite of the lawmaker being aware of their plight, as he regularly lodges in one of the hotels located on the roads, yet no respite has come their way.
When our correspondent visited the area, it was discovered that from Okokomaiko to Ajangbadi through Aka Road, all routes have been cut off due to their dilapidated condition.
Vehicles coming from Okokomaiko cannot get to Ajangbadi, as they have to stop at the Church Bus stop thereby forcing commuters to continue their journey by trekking through the bad roads.
It was also noticed that the canal at Corner Bus Stop was blocked with waste and sand, forcing the water to take over the road.
Speaking on the situation, the Baale of Ajangbadi, High Chief Teslin Jimoh Yakuju, Oniba 1, called on both the state and local governments to assist the community to fix the road.
The Baale called for palliative measures on the road, pending when the total reconstruction would be done.
He said: “The situation has affected us so much that all landlords, shop owners and motorists find it difficult, getting to their destinations. Vehicles coming to Ajangbadi from Okokomaiko can no longer get to their destination. We have called on Ojo Local Government and Lagos State Government; they said they would do it but we don’t know when. As rain is falling, businesses are closing.”
A Chief in the community simply called High Chief Yakubu, stressed that he and some residents had in the past called on Hon. Victor Akande to help in maintaining the road but their efforts have yielded no results. He added that residents have been trying their best to maintain the roads but their effort is not enough due to the magnitude of the damage on the road.
“Before, I used to gather the community; so, we did the little we could to enable vehicles to drive through, but now the road has totally collapsed. Business owners are vacating from the environment because of the situation. We have also been talking to Hon. Victor Akande to help maintain the road but no response from him,” he said.
Another trader, Mr. Bennett Ositadimma Okolie, whose shop is located at 152, Aka Road, lamented that they had been suffering on the road for over three years. He maintained that they find it difficult, making sales as buyers no longer patronises them.
He stressed that paying for their shop rent has become difficult. He said: “We have been suffering it for over three years now. As you can see, no vehicle is passing here. Before, vehicle owners would see our goods and stop to patronise us. We cannot even make sales a day not to talk of paying our rent.”
Okolie frowned at what he called neglect on the side of the government. He said that irrespective of their situation, they still pay different taxes to the government.
He lamented: “Even as the roads have crippled our businesses, we still pay tax to the government. Sometimes, we quarrel with them. I doubt if the representatives of this constituency are interested in the suffering of their people. In the past, the man that owns New Planet Resorts used to maintain the road for us. But recently, we saw policemen with some local government staff; we heard that they came to warn Planet to stop working on the road. That he should give them the money so they would do the job.”
Also speaking, a pharmacist in the neighbourhood, Chiyere Ugoeze, said that he used to have up to N20 million worth of goods in his shop before, but now he cannot boast of N500,000 worth of goods.
“We are begging the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. We are not asking for much; even if it is just to fill the roads so that vehicles can be passing, pending when they would do the main job, we will appreciate it.”
When our reporter contacted Hon. Olusegun Victor Akande, the lawmaker, representing Ojo Constituency 1, in Lagos State House of Assembly through his mobile number, requested that the reporter should visit his office between 10 to 12:00 pm the next day.
The reporter, with other journalists, visited his office at the Assembly Complex, Alausa. He asked the reporters to wait at the reception through one of the security men at the entrance. The reporters waited for four hours but could not see the lawmaker. Further calls made to his line were not answered. Messages sent to him were yet to be replied to as at press time.
