Craters, refuse mar Agege Motor Road as users agonise

After a few months of respite, regular users of the ever-busy Idi-Oro/Mushin end of the Agege Motor Road have begun to experience agony.

At the twilight of the rainy season last year, it was a regular sight of fallen articulated vehicles, crater-sized potholes with murky water, and long-winding vehicular queues that told the story of neglect and nightmare in the area.

The nightmarish challenge that residents and motorists faced was also compounded by activities of traffic robbers, who terrorised road users at will. But with the dry season came some moments of respite as boulders were dumped at a few of the potholes.

As soon as the rainy season began, the old tales of pain, frustration, neglect and torture have been on the lips of residents and motorists.

First, dirt has taken over many parts of Mushin and the rains have made a bad situation worse as the blocked drainage has left the roads flooded, widening the size of the road craters.

Things deteriorated last week as motorists trying to avoid the logjam on Oshodi-Apapa expressway at Toyota Bus Stop got trapped in the alternative routes, with some seriously damaging their vehicles while navigating through the pool of water and gullies on the road.

Motorists coming from Yaba and Ojuelegba were stranded at Moshalashi, Idi-Oro down to Olosha for nearly two hours on a journey of about five minutes.

While their endurance limit was stretched, the stench oozing from the heaps of refuse littering the road and blocked drains spelt a tortuous hour in traffic.
 
A resident, Mrs. Ladi Towobola, said the government needs to pragmatic not only about fixing critical road infrastructure timely but ensuring the waste management in such densely populated area is given upmost priority.