Lagos/Ibadan expressway Commuters groan over traffic situation at Ogere

Trailers parked on both sides of the
Lagos -Ibadan expressway

There has been a lot of hiccups along Lagos/Ibadan expressway among which are the bad state of the road and the indiscriminate parking by trailer drivers. Adebayo Waheed was at the Ogere toll gate which drivers have turned into a park for articulated vehicles and tankers. He reports.

The significance of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway to the socio-economic development of Nigeria and enhancement of commercial activities by people thronging Lagos State and its border countries from all states in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasised.

This is because the road is the only expressway in the country that serves as a link road between the state of excellence and other states.

Vehicular movement on this road is heavy as transportation of goods and services on a daily basis has continued to contribute positively to the socio-economic development of towns and villages along the road.

But for many years now, the bad state of the road had been affecting the smooth carriage of economic activities. Lives and property worth several billions of naira have been lost through road accidents resulting from the bad spots along the road.

Despite calls from experts and individuals on successive governments on the need to rehabilitate the road, they had paid lip service to it until late 2007 when some rehabilitation work was done.

Apart from the bad state of the road, another obstacle which has also continued to affect smooth commuting is the irrational parking of long vehicles (trailers) on the sides of the expressway especially at Ogere and Ibafo.

The drivers of these long vehicles, who do not care about not being the only road users, park their vehicles indiscriminately along the expressway thereby hindering the free flow of vehicular movement on the ever busy road.

The indiscriminate parking of these long vehicles had, several times, claimed lives of drivers and commuters, while property worth billions of naira had been lost in the process.

This is so because, while trying to avoid the unnecessary hold-up created by these long vehicles, drivers plying the road would decide to take one-way in order to beat the traffic jam (facing oncoming vehicles) and on several occasions this results in auto mishap and the death of innocent people.

Investigation conducted by Midweek Tribune revealed that vehicles travelling from Lagos State to Ibadan, Ekiti, Osogbo as well as eastern and northern parts of the country sometime spend hours at Ogere toll gate as a result of hold up usually created by the long vehicles.

A commercial driver, Lateef Adam, who ply Sango-Ota-Ibadan on a daily basis told Midweek Tribune that the long vehicles are constituting a menace on the road, adding that on several occasions, commercial vehicle drivers while trying to find an alternative route, in an attempt to avoid hold-up created by the long vehicle drivers, have been involved in fatal accidents resulting in loss of lives.

According to him, the long vehicle drivers have adopted the habit of creating traffic jam along the road as they do not have regard for other road users.

Some people plying the Lagos - Ibadan express- way have accused both the state and federal government of insensitivity to the plight of the road users as little or nothing is being done to check the trailer drivers.

However, it is noteworthy that the Ogun State government, headed by Otunba Gbenga Daniel, decided to build a trailer park at Ogere to check the drivers. The trailer park at Ogere has been described as the first of its kind in this part of the country.

Apart from the parking space for the trailers, there are other facilities like an hospital, hotel, shopping centre and petrol station and police post for the convenience of the drivers.

However, despite the provision of the trailer park, some of the trailers still park along the road. They even ignore the signpost of “No parking “erected along the road by the state government while some of the signs have been destroyed by the long vehicle drivers while trying to park along the road.

The state government, in an attempt to restore sanity on the Lagos - Ibadan expressway, has put in place, a unit of the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency with a view of putting in check the long vehicle drivers who have refused to comply with the traffic rules and commercial drivers who are fond of driving against traffic whenever there is hold-up.

When Midweek Tribune visited the trailer park at Ogere, officials of the agency were seen controlling traffic while there was also a mobile court which tried offending drivers for driving against the traffic.

Speaking with Midweek Tribune, the commander of the agency, Odumefun Oluremi Abiodun, said the agency’s presence along the road was to ensure free flow of traffic and to assist the road users to have free movement. According to her, the unit is stationed at Ogere to check the trailer drivers, “but we have a problem with them.

“Since we have different drivers from different states, it is not so easy for us to pass the message across to them. When you see one today, you will see another one tomorrow, but we have been trying to put more efforts to make sure that we pass the message of not parking their vehicles on the sides of the road pending the time the new trailer park will be completed,” she said.

She added that many traffic offenders had been arrested, tried and fined while their vehicles were towed from the road.” I am waiting for a towing vehicle so that we can tow away those vehicles parked at the left side of the road. You will see that the other side while coming from Lagos is free but on the other side, we still have some stubborn drivers who park there.”

Asked on why there are still long vehicles parked on the sides of the road, she said “they are making use of the trailer park built by the state government but it is already filled up.

The government is constructing another one but before the completion of that, we have to ensure that those on the sides of the road are sent away.”

She however explained that towing the long vehicles without the presence of policemen was difficult as the drivers would not allow them and some even threatened to stab them.

Some commercial vehicles trying to
manoeuvre their way during traffic
hold-up.

”We don’t always tow the vehicles everytime, it is only when we have police officers that we tow them,” she said.

At the trailer park, Midweek Tribune discovered that there were many vehicles which had been there for months. It was further learnt that their failure to move out of the park contributed to the plight of the drivers who could not secure spaces inside the park.

The secretary of the Hausa community in Ogere, Alhaji Yusuf Ahmed while speaking with Midweek Tribune said that the parking of the long vehicles on the sides of the road was as a result of problem.

“Most of the trailers outside could not secure spaces in the park because some of them had been parked inside for two or three months but if we can have another park, the traffic will be eased,” he said.

He debunked the claim that the drivers had refused to use the park because the government was charging much money.

“It is not true that the government charges too much. Here, in Ogere, we pay N500 while in Lagos we pay between N700 and N1,000,” he said.

Alhaji Ahmed explained that trailer drivers stay in the park for months because of the delay in getting products from Lagos.” “They have to stay in the park until they are called for their market,” he said.

While commending the state governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel for constructing the trailer park which he described as first of its kind in Nigeria, he stated that with the completion of the second trailer park, things would normalise and there would be free flow of traffic along Lagos - Ibadan expressway.

The supevisor of the trailer park who identified himself as James told Midweek Tribune that there had never been problem between the management of the park and the drivers. Speaking on the charges, he said they pay N500 for as long as stay inside the park without demurrage.

He also attributed the parking along the road to non-availability of space in the park as vehicles stay there for months. “They pay N500 to remain there until they are called but if they pay demurrage, they will not want to stay too long in the park. After two or three days they will want to move for others to come in but, since there is no demurrage, they remain for months,” he said.

Speaking, the Serikin Hausawa of Ogere, Alhaji Abdullahu Abubakar, commended the state governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel for constructing the trailer park. According to him, the construction of another trailer park will no doubt improve the flow of traffic along the road.

The Managing Director, Gateway Trailer Park and Motel, Ogere,. Otunba Leke Adesanya, identified two reasons for the continuous parking of trailers on the sides of the road.

These, he said are the high number of trailers plying the road, especially those coming from the northern part of the country, thereby stopping over at Ogere park and the ineffective rail trasportation system in the country.

Otunba Adesanya in a telephone interview with Midweek Tribune said the federal government needs to put the rail transport system to work with a view to reducing the movement of long vehicles on the roads.

“The long vehicles are just too many and people rely on them for the transportation of goods to various parts of the country,” he said.

While noting that there was no serious enforcement on the part of the federal government on the usage of the park, he stated that the state government was just trying to educate and encourage the drivers on the use of the park to ensure free flow of traffic along the road.

According to him, the management of the park was charging N500 without demurrage unlike in Lagos where they charge N1,000 daily. “We have to encourage them, we have not started collecting demurrage from them,” he said.

The significance of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway to the socio-economic development of Ni
geria and enhancement of commercial activities by people thronging Lagos State and its border countries from all states in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasised.

This is because the road is the only expressway in the country that serves as a link road between the state of excellence and other states.

Vehicular movement on this road is heavy as transportation of goods and services on a daily basis has continued to contribute positively to the socio-economic development of towns and villages along the road.

But for many years now, the bad state of the road had been affecting the smooth carriage of economic activities. Lives and property worth several billions of naira have been lost through road accidents resulting from the bad spots along the road.

Despite calls from experts and individuals on successive governments on the need to rehabilitate the road, they had paid lip service to it until late 2007 when some rehabilitation work was done.

Apart from the bad state of the road, another obstacle which has also continued to affect smooth commuting is the irrational parking of long vehicles (trailers) on the sides of the expressway especially at Ogere and Ibafo.

The drivers of these long vehicles, who do not care about not being the only road users, park their vehicles indiscriminately along the expressway thereby hindering the free flow of vehicular movement on the ever busy road.

The indiscriminate parking of these long vehicles had, several times, claimed lives of drivers and commuters, while property worth billions of naira had been lost in the process.

This is so because, while trying to avoid the unnecessary hold-up created by these long vehicles, drivers plying the road would decide to take one-way in order to beat the traffic jam (facing oncoming vehicles) and on several occasions this results in auto mishap and the death of innocent people.

Investigation conducted by Midweek Tribune revealed that vehicles travelling from Lagos State to Ibadan, Ekiti, Osogbo as well as eastern and northern parts of the country sometime spend hours at Ogere toll gate as a result of hold up usually created by the long vehicles.

A commercial driver, Lateef Adam, who ply Sango-Ota-Ibadan on a daily basis told Midweek Tribune that the long vehicles are constituting a menace on the road, adding that on several occasions, commercial vehicle drivers while trying to find an alternative route, in an attempt to avoid hold-up created by the long vehicle drivers, have been involved in fatal accidents resulting in loss of lives.

According to him, the long vehicle drivers have adopted the habit of creating traffic jam along the road as they do not have regard for other road users.

Some people plying the Lagos - Ibadan express- way have accused both the state and federal government of insensitivity to the plight of the road users as little or nothing is being done to check the trailer drivers.

However, it is noteworthy that the Ogun State government, headed by Otunba Gbenga Daniel, decided to build a trailer park at Ogere to check the drivers. The trailer park at Ogere has been described as the first of its kind in this part of the country.

Apart from the parking space for the trailers, there are other facilities like an hospital, hotel, shopping centre and petrol station and police post for the convenience of the drivers.

However, despite the provision of the trailer park, some of the trailers still park along the road. They even ignore the signpost of “No parking “erected along the road by the state government while some of the signs have been destroyed by the long vehicle drivers while trying to park along the road.

The state government, in an attempt to restore sanity on the Lagos - Ibadan expressway, has put in place, a unit of the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency with a view of putting in check the long vehicle drivers who have refused to comply with the traffic rules and commercial drivers who are fond of driving against traffic whenever there is hold-up.

When Midweek Tribune visited the trailer park at Ogere, officials of the agency were seen controlling traffic while there was also a mobile court which tried offending drivers for driving against the traffic.

Speaking with Midweek Tribune, the commander of the agency, Odumefun Oluremi Abiodun, said the agency’s presence along the road was to ensure free flow of traffic and to assist the road users to have free movement. According to her, the unit is stationed at Ogere to check the trailer drivers, “but we have a problem with them.

“Since we have different drivers from different states, it is not so easy for us to pass the message across to them. When you see one today, you will see another one tomorrow, but we have been trying to put more efforts to make sure that we pass the message of not parking their vehicles on the sides of the road pending the time the new trailer park will be completed,” she said.

She added that many traffic offenders had been arrested, tried and fined while their vehicles were towed from the road.” I am waiting for a towing vehicle so that we can tow away those vehicles parked at the left side of the road. You will see that the other side while coming from Lagos is free but on the other side, we still have some stubborn drivers who park there.”

Asked on why there are still long vehicles parked on the sides of the road, she said “they are making use of the trailer park built by the state government but it is already filled up. The government is constructing another one but before the completion of that, we have to ensure that those on the sides of the road are sent away.”

She however explained that towing the long vehicles without the presence of policemen was difficult as the drivers would not allow them and some even threatened to stab them.

”We don’t always tow the vehicles everytime, it is only when we have police officers that we tow them,” she said.

At the trailer park, Midweek Tribune discovered that there were many vehicles which had been there for months. It was further learnt that their failure to move out of the park contributed to the plight of the drivers who could not secure spaces inside the park.

The secretary of the Hausa community in Ogere, Alhaji Yusuf Ahmed while speaking with Midweek Tribune said that the parking of the long vehicles on the sides of the road was as a result of problem.

“Most of the trailers outside could not secure spaces in the park because some of them had been parked inside for two or three months but if we can have another park, the traffic will be eased,” he said.

He debunked the claim that the drivers had refused to use the park because the government was charging much money.

“It is not true that the government charges too much. Here, in Ogere, we pay N500 while in Lagos we pay between N700 and N1,000,” he said.

Alhaji Ahmed explained that trailer drivers stay in the park for months because of the delay in getting products from Lagos.” “They have to stay in the park until they are called for their market,” he said.

While commending the state governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel for constructing the trailer park which he described as first of its kind in Nigeria, he stated that with the completion of the second trailer park, things would normalise and there would be free flow of traffic along Lagos - Ibadan expressway.

The supevisor of the trailer park who identified himself as James told Midweek Tribune that there had never been problem between the management of the park and the drivers.

Speaking on the charges, he said they pay N500 for as long as stay inside the park without demurrage.

He also attributed the parking along the road to non-availability of space in the park as vehicles stay there for months. “They pay N500 to remain there until they are called but if they pay demurrage, they will not want to stay too long in the park. After two or three days they will want to move for others to come in but, since there is no demurrage, they remain for months,” he said.

Speaking, the Serikin Hausawa of Ogere, Alhaji Abdullahu Abubakar, commended the state governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel for constructing the trailer park. According to him, the construction of another trailer park will no doubt improve the flow of traffic along the road.

The Managing Director, Gateway Trailer Park and Motel, Ogere,. Otunba Leke Adesanya, identified two reasons for the continuous parking of trailers on the sides of the road.

These, he said are the high number of trailers plying the road, especially those coming from the northern part of the country, thereby stopping over at Ogere park and the ineffective rail trasportation system in the country.

Otunba Adesanya in a telephone interview with Midweek Tribune said the federal government needs to put the rail transport system to work with a view to reducing the movement of long vehicles on the roads.

“The long vehicles are just too many and people rely on them for the transportation of goods to various parts of the country,” he said.

While noting that there was no serious enforcement on the part of the federal government on the usage of the park, he stated that the state government was just trying to educate and encourage the drivers on the use of the park to ensure free flow of traffic along the road.

According to him, the management of the park was charging N500 without demurrage unlike in Lagos where they charge N1,000 daily. “We have to encourage them, we have not started collecting demurrage from them,” he said.