Fast track Agbara-Badagry expressway construction – Residents urge FG

Some motorists and commuters plying the Agbara-Badagry expressway on Wednesday appealed to the Federal Government to fast track the construction of the expressway to save them from agony.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Badagry that the slow pace of work on the road had become a source of concern to them.

Mr Jegede Ibrahim, a commercial bus driver, said the contractor handling the project had stopped serious work on the road since March last year when COVID-19 began.

“When the contract was awarded in November 2018, we thought that the construction would be completed within six months because it is just from Agbara to Seme.

“The road has continued to be a nightmare to those of us who drive on it, especially when it rains,” lamented Ibrahim.

He said at present the Agemowo and MTN axis of the road had become unmotorable due to last Monday’s rain, which washed away the sand used by the contractor to level the road.

“We can’t access the expressway. So, motorists are plying the back of the road.

“There is no way one will ply the road twice in a week without taking your vehicle to the mechanic workshop,” he said.

Mrs Funmilayo Fasasi, a civil servant who lives in Imeke and works in Agbara said the road had become a deathtrap to both the commuters and motorists plying it.

She said the journey that would have taken between 20 to 30 minutes now takes three to four hours.

Fasasi urged the government to have mercy on the residents and do the needful, adding that the suffering they were going through daily was unbearable.

Similarly, Mr Olusegun Okoya, a private car owner, urged the Federal Government to release money to the contractor so that the construction would be completed.

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“We are appealing to the government to consider our plight here in Badagry and release funds to the contractor so that something meaningful will be done.

“The construction of drainage and leveling of the road with sand and granite by the contractor is not helping us here.

“It is sad that some of us here in Badagry are not enjoying the dividends of democracy because of bad roads and lack of electricity supply.

“The state we find ourselves here is very sad but we cannot blame God for creating us in border communities,” he said.

NAN reports that the minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on April 4, assured that the Lagos-Badagry Expressway rehabilitation project was not forgotten but was on the 2021 Sukuk funding priority list.

Fashola gave the assurance in Lagos during an inspection tour of road projects in the state.

He said major drainage works were ongoing and progressing to upgrade the highway from its old status to ensure durable construction, saying that funding challenges were being resolved.

“Lagos-Badagry Expressway is the real challenge. Again, it’s funding.

“We owe the contractor. That is why I said if we can expand the Sukuk this year, we are going to look at a few more roads to add to it,” he said.