News Star newspaper

Pipeline road, an eyesore

ADUNOLA ADEDAMOLA
The state of some roads in Lagos is bad. What we have as roads in the state are potholes sometime deep enough to ‘swallow’ a jeep. There are many tarred roads in Lagos that have turned into nothing but mere sands and stones.
The issue of bad road in the state has deteriorated to the extent that one dares not wear white cloth to work unless one is in his/her personal car. If you are not in your personal car, then God save you for that white cloth may turn brown before you return home from work in the evening. You may even have sorry tale to tell if it rains that day.
One typical example of such bad road is the Pipeline-Ejigbo Road in Egbe-Idimu Local Council Development Area (LCDA) of the state.
The road had been well planned by the state government in its bid to open up the rural communities in the state. It was meant to link Pipeline area in Egbe-Idimu council to Ejigbo in Ejigbo LCDA, as a short cut to Isolo, Oke Afa housing estate, Mushin and Oshodi. It was also meant to decongest the usually heavy traffic on the ever busy Egbeda-Idimu-Ikotun road.
But a project that had raised the hopes of the people has now turned their nightmare no thanks to abandonment of the project by the contractors handling the project with the authorities concern showing no concern to the plight of the residents.
Now, the road has totally become impassable and has led to many houses in the area being heavily flooded whenever it rains.
Residents of the area now find it very difficult to get out of their homes due to the state of the road, especially when it rains and many car owners have abandoned their cars preferring to hop on okada rather than risk their cars being ‘buried’ in the deep gullies in several portions of the road.
Some of the residents of the area, who spoke with our correspondent, lamented the hardship they have gone through as a result of the state of the road. "If you have an appointment to keep at a stipulated time, you need to set out hours before the appointed time and be ready to spend more money on transportation or risk being late for your appointment," a resident said.
An okada rider plying the route, Mr. Usman Idris, said "the road is a major road. It leads to the NNPC depot in Ejigbo but the road is not good. This is why vehicles have virtually abandoned the route. The state government should please tar the road and save us this agony we are going through".
Another rider, Mr. Francis, lamented the health hazards caused by the dusty and bumpy states of the road. He said "the gallop on the road caused by the bumpy nature of the road is also affecting us. By the time you get home after work you will be very tired. The pot holes also make our work harder during rainy season".
Another bike rider, who prefers anonymity, said "the stones and gallops are affecting our health negatively. We usually have body and waist pain everyday. The motorcycles are also at risk. We do repairs everyday. During rainy season, the whole place is flooded and people will not want to pass through this road because of water, hence, business will not move".
A pepper seller, Mrs. Ronke Adedeji, said the drainages under construction have been abandoned. She urged the state government to construct the road. "Construction of the road will impact positively on the residents as the socio-economic life will be improved," she said.
Adedeji said if the road is rehabilitated, motorists would ply it and "market will sell well".
A bus driver, who prefers to be anonymous, said "no road, no business. The journey you undertake in 30 minutes becomes a journey of one or two hours. They are constructing drainages on one side. They should construct on the other side too and at least grade the road for use".
Mr. Steve George, another bike rider, said "it was some okada riders and kind-hearted Nigerians who made the road a bit motorable some time ago, and the local government supported with 12 trucks of sand".
He also said that "okada riders now work for two days and take a day to rest because the state of the road is affecting their health negatively. They can not work very well as they like because of the road. We used to make up to N800 daily before but now we can only realise N500. The government has started work on the road but they should come and complete it. There is no use having drainage without roads".

It’s zero tolerance for illegal structure—LG boss

The chairman of Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State, Kamaldeen Ayinde Baiyewu, has expressed commitment to maintaining the zero tolerance policy of the state government to illegal structure in the council area.
The council chairman, who disclosed this recently during a meeting with traditional rulers and stakeholders in the local government as part of his sensitization tour of the council area, said the decision to demolish the Godwill Market was taken because the market was built on a tarred road between Muyibi and idewu streets linking Kirikiri road, thereby, constituting obstruction to traffic in the area as it was blocking five major roads in the local government.
"The state government has directed us to demolish all illegal structures in our respective local governments for our environment to remain clean always. The location of the market is a road, hence, should not be turned into a market," he said.
At the palace of Baale of Osukaka, the council chairman sought the support and cooperation of traditional rulers and chiefs in the local government in his administration’s desire to move the council forward. "We want to put in place programmes, measures, policies and projects that will impact positively on the people and I know we cannot achieve this aim without your support, prayer and cooperation, hence, there is the need for all of us to unite and move this council forward. We are operating an open-door policy, therefore, we are always ready to listen and abide by your advice which we believe is very important for us to move this local government forward," he said.
Baiyewu, in essence, called for the assistance and cooperation of the traditional rulers in his administration’s desire to increase the internally generated revenue of the council.
The chairman of the local government’s traditional rulers’ council, Chief Nosiru Oluwa, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues, expressed the support and commitment of the traditional rulers to the improvement of the local government. "We are delighted at this visit and we are assuring you of our support and commitment to your desire to move the council forward," Oluwa said.
The chairman’s entourage then moved to the mechanic village where he castigated the occupants of the village for being too dirty. "This place is too dirty. You have to do something and ensure that cleanliness is maintained always," he ordered the mechanics led by one Mr. Opara, who promised to abide by the chairman’s order.

Daniel commissions projects in Ijebu East, commends council boss

About 24 people-oriented projects have been commissioned in Ijebu East Local Government Area of Ogun State by the state governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel.
The projects were executed by the administration of the council chairman, Tunde Oladunjoye, who was recently voted best local government chairman in the state.
While commissioning the projects, Daniel commended the Oladunjoye administration for bringing meaningful developments and growth to the doorsteps of the people of the council area. 
The governor, according to a statement by his press officer, Mr. Kehinde Onasanya, was in the council area as part of the on-going community-demand review visit in the state which was also meant to see how far his promises to the people have been actualized, after which interactive sessions were held with the host communities.
Among the  projects commissioned were: block of classrooms and head teacher’s office completed with furniture, health center, water projects, rural electrification and provision of transformers, local government office complex completed with access road, staff canteen as well as a number of road projects completed by the state Road Management Agency (OGROMA).
The occasion also witnessed the commissioning of staff buses, a 15-tonne tipper lorry, security vehicle, various forms of empowerment schemes and motorbikes while three students from the council area got education scholarships to the tune of N300, 000 per student.
Daniel expressed delight that some of the promises which he made during the ward-to –ward tour of the state were being fulfilled gradually.
He commended Oladunjoye for his giant strides, adding that "he has impacted positively in the lives of the rural populace".
The governor said "I must state that Oladunjoye has not disappointed us with a number of people-oriented projects we have commissioned this afternoon. One of the challenges which I gave during my last visit to this council was to ensure the completion of this secretariat complex and I am indeed impressed with what I have seen today".   
He expressed appreciation the traditional rulers in the area for their support and solidarity, adding that his government would not relent in delivering democratic dividends to the nooks and crannies of the state.
Speaking later, the Ajalorun of Ijebu Ife, Oba Michael Oguntayo, expressed appreciation to the governor for bringing meaningful development to the area, saying "the council chairman is replicating your good programmes in this local government".
Speaking earlier, the council chairman, Tunde Oladunjoye, said he is determined to better the lots of his people, adding that "right from the time I conceived the notion of vying for the post of chairman, I have had at the back of my mind to make myself responsive and accountable to my people as their servant-leader and also to serve them diligently".

Lagos Assembly demand financial autonomy

The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Honourable Adeyemi Ikuforiji, drew a standing ovation from his colleagues last week when he publicly asked the state governor, Barrister Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, to ensure that the self-accounting law, which advocated for financial independence for the Assembly, be implemented.
After Fashola had read his 28-page budget speech, which equally drew applause from the audience, Ikuforiji was asked to comment on the budget presentation. He as usual commended the state government for doing a thorough job on the budget.
"It is commendable that this year’s budget achieved 80 per cent success and I know this administration is committed and determined to improve on the lives of the citizens as well as enhance their welfare. The budget that has just been presented here will surely impact positively on the people of the state," he said.
Ikuforiji, however ‘stunned’ the governor when he asked him to ensure that the self-accounting bill passed by the Assembly during the tenure of his predecessor, which was signed into law by the former governor, is fully implemented. "I want to ask Your Excellency to put machinery in motion to ensure full implementation of this law which will go a long way in assisting us do our legislative job as well as our oversight duties as required by the law," the Speaker said, eliciting standing ovation from the other lawmakers.
Fashola in his usual style just smiled wryly, nodding his head intermittently and stared into space.
The Speaker assured the governor that the lawmakers would swing into action in order to ensure that the budget is passed. "However I want to assure that while we intend to pass the budget as quickly as possible, we will still do our job of strict scrutiny of the budget provisions of each ministry and parastatal. We will ensure that due process is employed in all our dealings," he said.
The self-accounting law implementation became a major bone of contention between the legislature and the executive few months ago. The lawmakers schemed for the implementation of the law when the executive starved the Assembly of the needed fund to prosecute its programmes and projects.
The bill was passed during the administration of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu which the former governor consequently ascented to but because Tinubu was ready to do the wishes of the Assembly financially, the lawmakers felt there was no need to press demand for the implementation of the law.
However, when the Fashola administration tightened the noose financially on the Assembly, the lawmakers felt they can only have financial independence if the law is implemented.
The ball is now in the court of the executive or else another round of confrontation with the lawmakers looms.