Who would imagine a light traffic
on Ojuelegba bridge on a Friday afternoon? Who would think of free flow of
traffic at Costain on a weekend? Even during festive periods these major roads
in Nigeria’s most populous city are
usually busy while helpless residents are forced to bear the burden imposed on
them by the of activities of truck drivers.
Even law enforcement agents are
powerless. In November, Hyginus Omeje, sector commander of the Federal Road
Safety Corps (FRSC) in Lagos, said trucks and tankers parked on roads are
linked to powerful Nigerians and his men were handicapped to enforce traffic
regulations that could lead to arrest and prosecution of the drivers of those
heavy duty vehicles.
“My officers often try to enforce
arrest and subsequent prosecution, but the culprits mostly go free after one
influential person calls from Abuja, demanding for the release of the impounded
vehicles. This is a daily occurrence that has been impeding the operations of
the FRSC in tackling the wharf access road crisis,” he had said.
Although Omeje was referring to
roads in Apapa, where vehicles from all over the country head to tank farms and
depot to load petroleum products, the menace constituted by truck drivers
stretch to Eko bridge, Iponrin, Costain, Ojuelegba bridge, the ever-busy
Ikorodu road and other parts of the cosmopolitan city.
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| Trucks on Ojuelegba bridge, the old order |
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Imagine a light traffic on Ojuelegba bridge on a Friday afternoon
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Residents experience manhour
loss, commercial bus operators hike fares while a journey that should
ordinarily not take 15 minutes end up running into hours. When TheCable visited
Apapa in July, a driver who simply identified himself as Daniel, said while it
took him five days to get to Lagos from Plateau state, he had spent over one
week trying to access the port to get petroleum products. Daniel’s inability to
get to the port had effect on road users as his trailer was parked on a moving
lane. The driver’s story captured what port users experience frequently and the
attendant traffic woes for Lagosians. The situation remained unchanged for
years but on Friday, residents woke to tanker-free roads; the articulated
vehicles which grind the city to a halt and make life a nightmare for road
users, were out of sight. Thanks to the presidential rally of the All
Progressives Congress (APC). Ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit,
authorities in the state had made plans to ensure free flow of traffic and one
of the ways of making that happen was sending heavy duty vehicles off roads and
bridges.
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| Jibowu bridge without trucks? |
“You see what we complain about,
the government knows the right thing. About 2000 trucks on this bridge but
immediately they heard Buhari was coming, they cleared everything,” a policeman
told TheCable at Eko bridge on Friday afternoon.
“Tomorrow, before Buhari enters
his plane, what am I saying? Before he gets to the airport, the trailers would
be back on the roads. We know it is because of him they disappeared. They just
keep pretending, they don’t want to be embarrassed. Then, Buhari comes and he
would say the roads are free.”
At Jibowu, shop owners were
unwilling to comment on the situation. When our reporter approached some staff
at a bus park, they said they had been warned not to speak with anybody
regarding the improved traffic situation as a result of the evacuation of
tankers.
But some motorists and commuters
freely shared their experience. Most of them expressed surprise over the free
flow of traffic, claiming the state government knew the right thing to do but
decided to turn deaf ears to the cries of the people.
“It’s amazing that for so long,
Lagosians have cried, suffered and pleaded with the government, federal and
state, to do something about the trucks but they turned deaf ears,” the
resident who pleaded anonymity said.
“All of a sudden, there’s APC
rally for Buhari in Lagos and space fell from heaven at the port for these
trucks to pass. Today, what has been taking about 30-40 minutes for a one
kilometre journey within Surulere literally took 10 minutes? 10 minutes!, Imagine
all that productive time I have wasted because my life and the lives of
Lagosians are less worthy than the life of a president who was elected to
serve.”
Olakunle Kazeem, an operator of
the tricycle better known as “Keke NAPEP” or “Marwa”, who opened up the
conversation in pidgin, said: “No traffic today…the traffic dey always affect
our work, the fuel wey you buy no go dey enough for you. I’m happy that all
these trailers no dey road today o.
“They removed all these trailers because of Buhari,
may they never return here till the second coming of Jesus. I’m not joking,
please. These trailers have been affecting our business negatively. Once they
are on the road, we go through the inner streets and this doesn’t favour us. A
journey of 20 minutes will take one hour and we increase the transport fare
because we spend more on fuel.”
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| What the bridge before the National Stadium looked like before preparations for Buhari’s visit |
“Because of these trucks, we
spend up to three hours from Iponri to CMS,” said a bus driver,
“To avoid the stress and waste of
time, we go through the streets. We had roads that we could not use but imagine
how everything is working perfectly now.
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Trucks on Eko bridge before the evacuation
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Eko bridge after the evacuation
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| Trucks heading to Apapa |
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| Fastest way to beat the traffic is by using ‘Okada’ |
Another resident said: “I hope
they would even fix the roads, but alas no! The convoy would use SUVs with
heavy duty tyres. The drivers have probably studied the routes to know where
the potholes are.”
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| Teslim Balogun stadium being set for the rally |
Some residents also commented
about the absence of the trucks via social media.
"@cheve1810: @Gidi_Traffic Tankers and trailers disappeared in a flash because the president is coming to Lagos tomorrow. As in, not a single one on Eko bridge and you tell me these leaders are not intentionally mean to the citizens of this country? #GIDITRAFFIC— GIDITRAFFIC (@Gidi_Traffic) February 8, 2019
No trucks parked on the road , Apapa is so free this is almost 1 pm . 10 mins drive @Gidi_Traffic pic.twitter.com/HePkSV21An— Chocolate Somebody 🍫 (@dauchessdgurl) February 8, 2019
President is coming for a rally, then all trucks disappear.— Mazi Oji (@HonDaniel23) February 8, 2019
Lagosians move daily but are left to face the dangers and struggles of the trucks parked on the road.
The interpretation is, your president is more important than any one in this country. They don't care about you.
So apparently it's not rocket science to remove trucks on the roads. At least the president and VP's presence in town has shown that! The Lagos state government @followlasg has some explanations to make! @Gidi_Traffic— Oluwasanmi ben segun (@benshama01) February 8, 2019
Not sure if I’m impressed or utterly disgusted at how quickly these tankers have suddenly disappeared from our roads. Couldn’t believe my eyes...— Ebuka Obi-Uchendu (@Ebuka) February 8, 2019
According to a report, the helicopter which will convey the president from the airport will land at the National Stadium, adjacent the venue of the rally and Buhari is expected to take a brief walk. If some Lagosians had the opportunity to interact with the president even for two minutes, they’ll appeal to him to get the trucks off the roads and bridges permanently.
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What other evidence ir proof do we need to know that this present Government is wicked? And 2mrw.they will all be back and the suffer continues.
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