Project, generally, is about solving a problem. House is built in order to solve shelter problem, bridges are constructed in order to allow for easy passage of human and water, drainage are built in order to eliminate or minimize flooding challenge. It doesn’t matter whether the aim of the project is to make money; you have to solve a problem before people buy into your venture.
Project, generally, is about solving a problem. House is built in order to solve shelter problem, bridges are constructed in order to allow for easy passage of human and water, drainage are built in order to eliminate or minimize flooding challenge. It doesn’t matter whether the aim of the project is to make money; you have to solve a problem before people buy into your venture.
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For us residents of Ajah axis of Lagos, our worst nightmare in the last one decade has been the Lekki-Epe expressway, the road that connects us to other parts of Lagos. It was therefore a relief of sort, when in 2006, the Lekki Concession Company (LCC), the concessionaire of the Lekki expressway reconstruction project, rolled their equipment to the highway to commence the project. Many things were wrong with the project, and toll collection, to me, is even the least. Although I wrote an article during the toll gate commencement debacle of December 2010, making case for reduction of toll fees, I was realistic enough to admit that the toll was inevitable, and private-public sector partnership is not a bad model for the development of our infrastructure. My initial grudge was about the manner diversions were managed. The bad handling of detours made using the route while the project was going on, hellish.
There are also the Olympic-size roundabouts which, though serve as speed breakers, are too big, leading to preventable traffic gridlocks at spots like Jakande estate, Igbo-Efon and Ajah. Then, the manner the adjoining roads are connected to the expressway calls for concern. For instance, we were not experiencing traffic on Ajah-Addo-Badore road before the construction of Ajah roundabout. Now, connecting Ajah through Addo road takes up to one hour during peak periods (6-9am). This is something that should not take more than 10 minutes, as was the case before the construction of that roundabout. This is the ‘gift’ LCC has given to us. Common wisdom calls for construction of a route that connects that the expressway, not at the roundabout, but further down. That is if flyover is beyond the project budget.
What’s more, this project that started seven years ago is not looking like it will be completed within the next two years. I have never seen an intra-city road project take so long. As a professional, one is hesitant to declare another professional incompetent, but with the confusion and cluelessness we have witnessed in the last six years in the construction of this road, one struggles to find a nicer word to sum the execution of this project.
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The result of all these inadequacies is returning to the problem: traffic headache. Driving from Badore to Victoria Island, as it was six years ago, is still two hours. So, I ask: what exactly has LCC achieved? What problem has LCC solved with this project? Perhaps, I should state their positive, which is evacuating traffic incidents on the highway with speed. My car had broken on the road in the past, and their service, which was pro bono, was commendable. Their response to traffic incidents, from vehicle breakdown to accident, is the only positive I see.
Traffic now starts from Chevron roundabout, all the way to Oniru junction in VI, every morning. You find it difficult to meet appointments, to get to your place of work before resumption time, and other consequences. Many people have been forced to take bank loans to buy houses at Lekki which is closer to their place of work, just as those of us tenants are also are pondering moving closer to Victoria Island, where rental fee for two-bedroom apartment costs northwards one million naira per annum. We cannot continue to live like this. Something must done, and fast too.
Oyewale, a chartered accountant and public analyst, blogs at jarushub.com. He can be reached via [email protected]
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