About three years ago, when the Lagos State Government under Babatunde Fashola commenced work on the road, it was good news to residents and commuters, who had experienced untold hardship. Two years after, however, the story remains the same. Besides, the contractors have since left the site. With the rainy season fast approaching, there's panic in the area.
Apart from Adeshina, other adjoining roads such as Ijesha, Omilani, Tapa, Adeboyejo and Ilamoye are not in good shape either. Ordinarily, these streets should have been an alternative for commuters coming into Ijesha through Adeshina. And with the Akorede Modern Market fast growing, traffic build up in the area could compound the situation.
For residents, transport operators, traders and artisans in the area, the condition of Adeshina Street is a classic example of how not to treat citizens. They expressed sadness that the local and state governments have abandoned their responsibilities to the people, who now have to fill failed sections with stones and sand to make them motorable.
"When Fashola brought the contractors to fix this road, we were happy; we felt it would ease the challenges of flooding here. But at the end of the day, the contractors only succeeded in constructing a drainage on one side of the road and then left; they have not come to site for over a year, now," said Niyi Adebayo, a resident.
In order to construct the drainage, the engineers chopped off a lot of buildings and walls on the street. Now, the open drainage exposes the people to risks of injury. Those, who have the means to construct culverts across the drainage, have done so; other settled for planks.
When Fashola brought the contractors to fix this road, we were happy; we felt it would ease the challenges of flooding here. But at the end of the day, the contractors only succeeded in constructing a drainage on one side of the road and then left; they have not come to site for over a year, now.
"This hotel (pointing) used to extend to where you have the drainage now. But they pulled down the wall, forcing the owner to move the gate back and construct another wall. In fact, they didn't even put a culvert there; people had to do it themselves. In the end, we are still back to square one," said Uche Nnaji.
For traders in the area, especially dealers in computers, printers and other office accessories, the deplorable state of Adeshina Street is hurting business seriously.
"We can move around today because it's dry season; you can't use this road during the rainy season. We offload our goods here. So, bringing in the trucks is problematic when it rains. In fact, some customers don't come here because of the bad road. We pay all sorts of levies, yet I don't know why the Lagos State government has abandoned this place," said Charles Odiase, a computer hardware trader.
Perhaps worst hit by the state of Adeshina are Keke NAPEP (commercial motorcycle) operators, who have no option but ply the rough road everyday to earn a living.
"I got this Keke four months ago. I have had to replace many parts because of poor state of the road. If I had my way, I wouldn't ply this route. But this is where I registered my tricycle; I can't go elsewhere. We are able to work here only because it's still the dry season; by the time rain comes, a lot of us will keep off this road," said, Tayo, one of the operators.
Investigation shows, meanwhile, that residents of adjoining streets are no longer comfortable with tricycles and danfo buses using their streets as alternative.
"They spoil our road and many of them are reckless; we have a lot of schools on this street. They should go and meet the state government to repair Adeshina Road for them," lamented Lolade, a trader on Adeboyejo Street.
According to John Nwankwo, "Any time I watch the TV, I see Ambode commissioning roads in other parts of Lagos, so why have they abandoned this road? This same road leads to Itire Ikate LCDA, yet they have ignored it. The bad part is: even with the poor state of the road, traders still bring in containers here. I don't know why we tend to wait for the worst before we take action."
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