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Lagos is not an easy place to govern. I personally believe it is probably one of the most arduous tasks in the world given the recalcitrance of its subjects. Lagosians are simply difficult by default. Having said that, the people of Lagos also do not deserve some of the pains their elected officers have inflicted on them. The gravest of them is probably that on Lekki-Epe Expressway.
In 2011, the LASG in collaboration with the Lekki Concession Company kicked off a 30-year concession arrangement that would allow the latter company build, operate and transfer the toll machinery. Effectively, the LASG mortgaged the future of its citizens for at least three decades in the name of infrastructural development. My grouse with this shambolic and distasteful copulation between the two parties isn't the humongous financial gains they both stand to reap but the inverse effect on the quality of life of the citizens on that axis of Lagos.
The 50-km Lekki-Epe Expressway happens to be one of the busiest roads on that side of town. A goldmine for any prospective investor. Between the incumbent Governor,his wily predecessor and their 'Eko o ni baje' mantra, Lagosians are subjected to pain and even death on a daily basis. Pedestrians suffer as much as motorists do and occasionally even meet untimely death courtesy LCC.
It is important to state clearly now for the record that the 'upgrade' carried out on this road was simply the addition of an extra lane on each side of the road. LCC simply added a third lane to the existing dual carriage road and erected a toll at two points. Shikena! So, from Bonny Camp, the road remains dual carriage till you approach the intersection of Akin Adesola and Falomo Bridge exit. At this point, it becomes three lanes all the way through Law School, Civic Centre and Mobil to the Admiralty Toll Plaza where three magically becomes almost eleven on each side. This is the widest part of the expressway understandably since this is the point of income generation. No be mistake! If LCC was gracious enough to widen the expressway to take eleven lanes for toll collection, they can as well add three extra lanes on each side of the road and reduce the gridlock on the road instantly. Just imagine what six lanes on each side would look like?
Prior to the concession, the expressway had a few roundabouts at strategic locations. The first was at Lekki Phase 1 followed by the one at Ikate-Elegushi. In their infinite 'wisdom', LCC decided adding more roundabouts to the road was the solution to all of Lekki's problems. Not only did they just add new and effectively useless roundabouts, they ensured that each roundabout was the size of a standard football pitch. I am yet to decipher exactly what the point of this grossly imbecilic move was. The effect of these pointless roundabouts is more bottlenecks during rush hours. It's simple really. You don't need to have 5 credits in GCE to figure it out. You can't add extra zips to a trouser and expect you'd take it off as fast as you used to when you had just one zip! It's simple logic and it beats me how LCC with a Board of Directors and a Management team missed it. So, every weekday morning from 7am, you have a common sense-defying length of traffic that stretches from the Chevron toll to the Admiralty toll. Every blessed day of week! The best part of it is that this will continue for 30 solid years!
What could LCC have done differently? First, they could have increased the number of lanes like they did at the Admiralty Circle Plaza. That would have helped. Second,they didn't really need to add more roundabouts to that expressway. In fact, they ought to have entirely scrapped the existing ones. What would have worked would have been flyovers. At every major intersection, build a flyover that bypasses oncoming traffic so there's uninterrupted vehicular flow. You simply cannot overemphasize the importance of building bridges! Okay, worst case scenario, they simply had to use the roundabouts, did they have to allocate such expanse of land for each roundabout?. Maybe they are planning to allocate them to Jagaban for luxury flats in the future. Eko o ni baje...
It is not enough that we waste man hours daily in meaningless traffic. We go through all that hassle just to eventually pay at the toll booths. Isn't it amazing how docile we have become? Not only do we lose time and money on this road, we occasionally even lose our lives and still, we are not perturbed. What will this government do that will annoy us enough to ask questions and demand respect? We would rather beleaguer God with our meaningless banality in the name of fasting and prayers and monthly congresses! Amazingly, the government in Lagos is arguably the best of the 36 in Nigeria. So much so that Mr Fashola's name has cropped up as a potential presidential candidate. After all, the man cleared Oshodi and planted flowers, why can't he rule Nigeria then?
Between Ozumba Mbadiwe/Bonny Camp and Oriental Hotel, there is just one pedestrian bridge. After that the next one is at Lekki roundabout then the next is at Jakande roundabout. What this means is that pedestrians who need to cross the expressway must deftly manoeuver between speeding oncoming vehicles. The young man in my opening paragraph was not so lucky. School children are sacrificed incessantly at Ikota while crossing this road of horror! Between the 'concession-er' and the concessionaire, nobody thought it was necessary to building pedestrian bridges at every 200 meters of that expressway, rather they built roundabouts. Nothing else typifies mental laziness than the shoddy planning of this project. But you see, that is the sad reality we are faced with. A government that has absolutely no respect for its citizens. In saner climes, we won't even be having this discussion. Truth is, they were too aroused by the amount of profit at stake that they didn't think all this through. Who really cares if there are a few casualties here and there as long as Asiwaju's credit alerts come in flurries?. What's the value of one human life to LCC when there's 33million naira to be made every day from toll collection?
I don't own a shop in Ikota Shopping Complex but I understand how accessibility affects business. Pre-concession, you could simply turn off into the complex after Victoria Garden City. Now, thanks to LCC and their ingenuity, customers have to drive to Ajah before they can use a roundabout to come and shop at Ikota. If you have never heard of Ajah traffic, please Google it. Shop-owners will lose business certainly. Sales will nosedive as only a few people will opt to go through that hassle just to shop at Ikota. Interestingly again, those shop-owners won't take up arms and fight government. Instead, they will go to church and pray. They will ascribe fictitious powers to 'principalities and powers in high places' as the cause of slow sales and dull business when the real problems are staring at them in the face.
From Abuja to Lagos to Potiskum, one thing is clear. We are a bunch of fools being ruled by idiots. That is the only clear explanation for the madness that I witness everyday on Lekki-Epe Expressway. Explain to me what the real difference between the PDP and the APC is? One steals with his left hand. The other steals with his right hand. Is it a coincidence that the CEO of Deux Project Limited also sits as a high ranking member of the Board of Directors of LCC? Deux Project Limited is also responsible for routine mechanical upgrade and maintenance of virtually all the facilities in Lagos-state owned hospitals. Deux Project Limited also played a big role during the re-election campaign of the sitting Governor. I am not saying anything o! Neither am I postulating any conspiracy theories. Before you say you read it here that it was apple that killed Sani Abacha.
The Chevron toll plaza isn't generating revenue yet. The structure is in place but there's a buy-back arrangement between the government and LCC which allows motorists use the plaza free of charge while LASG pays on their behalf. This 'subsidy' will continue till such a time when the LASG will announce in the national dailies that it can no longer sustain the arrangement and will empower the LCC to continue tolling normally. I expect this time to be shortly after the next APC Governor of Lagos assumes office. So, we'll queue from Ikota to pay toll at Chevron then join the standard roundabout-induced traffic from that point to Admiralty Circle plaza where we will pay another toll to access Victoria Island.
Brace up folks. We have another 27 years to go...
Eko o ni baje. Pay your tax.
