Coalition of schools, markets, others to protest impassable Lagos-Badagry highway today
Seven months after failed mass action on the way and manner the Lagos State Government apparently abandoned the 10-lane Lagos-Badagry Expressway construction activities, markets, higher institutions and NGOs have concluded arrangements to hold protest against the sorry state of the highway.
Key organisers of the demonstration that may shutdown the over 50kms highway include SHACO NGO, WOMEN ARISE, GRIN, SSUCOEN, NASU LASU, AECOEDNASU, NYCN, BBA, MANDILAS, ASPMDA and others.
Recall that in October last year, similar planned action was botched but some of the organisers who spoke to Business Hilights Sunday evening decried the level suffering motorists and pedestrians have been going through without any form of attention from the State Government.
Part of the message on social media promoting the October failed mass action read as follows: ‘MASS ACTION! MASS ACTION!! MASS ACTION!!! FOR REPAIR OF BADAGRY EXPRESS ROAD’ read in part; “There shall be mass action and mobilization of Nigerian citizens on Tuesday 30th and Wednesday 31st October 2018 along Badagry roundabout to Mile 2. Youths, Market women, CDA’s, Students Civil servants, drivers and all other road users are to come out en-masse at Badagry round about; Aradagun junction; Muwo junction; Oko-Afo junction; Magbon junction; Agbara junction; ACOED roundabout; Iyana-era; Iyana- ishashi; Okokomaiko; LASU junction; Iyana-Iba; Volkswagen; Agric B/stop; Trade fair Under Bridge; Abule Ado; Alakija; Agboju; and Mile 2 Bus stop.
No vehicle shall be allowed on the road during the 2day period of MASS ACTION on Tuesday 30th and Wednesday 31st October 2018 between 7am- 6pm daily. Our Politicians have failed us and the only way to rescue our situation is through MASS ACTION.
Journalists and other media men are enjoined to cover this noble cause for broadcast to the whole world to know the plight of the Nigerian people”.
‘Kindly forward to your contacts and friends for effectiveness.’
When contacted, Police officers at the Tedi Police Station, opposite Ojo Military Cantonment said nobody had come to ask for permission to protest even though the sufferings on the road have become unbearable to everybody including the Police in the discharge of their duties.
However, some of the students from LASU and AECOD including their senior lecturers who spoke to our correspondent said Monday’s protest must hold as they have all perfected their placards, hand bills and even banners for the protest march to register their sufferings on the abandonment of the road project by both the Federal and State governments.
One of the students who pleaded anonymity said “We have gone to the Volkswagen construction office of the handling firm, CCECC and they gave varying answers which tend to suggest that resumption of full construction works on the road is not certain under the Ambode Administration”.
“Whereas some of the workers claimed non-payment of certain money by the state government, others said the state government had long stopped attending to them,” the Lagos State University student in Ojo main campus revealed.
Business Hilights recalls that the Lagos-Badagry Expressway had been under expansion by the Lagos State Government since 2006. The entire stretch was divided into three lots.
Lot one started from Eric Moore Junction to Mile 2, while Lot two continued from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko leaving Lot 3 from end of Okokomaiko to Seme border.
Whereas Julius Berger had long delivered Lot one, China Civil Engineering and Construction Company (CCECC), handling Lot two can be said to be major problem as the major crisis on the highway is within Lot two.
Besides, earlier in October last year, the European Union (EU), said it will be co-funding with other interest bodies including the African Development Bank (AfDB) in the delivery of the Abidjan-Lagos Highway Corridor to stimulate investments, strengthen the competitiveness of the territories and encourage regional integration for growth and job creation.
However, checks on the highway especially between Alakija and Volkswagen suggests near abandonment even as road users continue to gnash their teeth on the hazards so far presented by the endless construction activities.
One of the prospective protesters and a trader at Iyanabo market said “We are going on with the Monday protest so as to send an SOS message to incoming governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to fast track the project immediately he is sworn in as Ambode has abandoned the scheme”.
The trader revealed further that “There is no week we do not see or hear about containers failing off the road and injuring many. Okada riders are now king on the highway as vehicular movement is no more possible from day to day.
Though no Lagos State government official agreed to speak on the protest match or the state of the road, it was not clear if the State government tactically pulled out from funding the reconstruction simply because of the expression of interest by the EU and other interests in the ECOWAS region over the planned Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway.
Business Hilights recalls that the EU delegation in Nigeria and ECOWAS had in October last year in Abuja published a statement on its website, saying the project fits into the framework of the cooperation between EU and Africa, particularly West Africa.
Further details revealed that the proposed Corridor Highway coming on six-lane motorway, will connect some of the largest and most economically dynamic cities in Africa, (Abidjan, Accra, Cotonou, Lomé and Lagos) while covering a large proportion of West Africa’s population. It will also link very vibrant seaports in West Africa to all the landlocked countries of the region, namely Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
According to the statement, the recently-signed agreement for a study on the technical, implementation and operational aspects of the project comes nearly five years after the Presidents of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo signed a treaty on the establishment of the highway in March 2014.
Head of Co-operation, EU delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Kurt Cornelis, the cooperation aims to strengthen the competitiveness of the territories, stimulate investments and encourage regional integration for growth and job creation.
EU also noted that “The EU is contributing $10.38m while the African Development Bank has approved a $12.6m financing package, bringing the total finance for the feasibility studies to $22.7m.
However, users of the highway are calling on the governments to come up with relevant palliatives to save lives and man-hours’ as business on the stretch including activities in Lagos International Trade Fair complex, Africa’s largest trading centre are highly affected.
