Our lame duck governor

The phrase “lame duck” is used cautiously in this piece. One, we don’t have a new governor yet in Lagos State as Akinwumi Ambode remains our governor until May 29, 2019. But, for many of us residents of the state, our dear governor is dozing; no, he’s actually sleeping.

It is apparent that Ambode has not fully recovered from the blow his godfathers gave his ambition to continue in office for another term of four years going by the ponderous way he’s attending to the affairs of the state. We have become a state of government-via-press releases complete with public appearances at different events. I watched with amusement as our governor joined the ‘super minister’ who, by the way, did not fail in asking Yoruba to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari so that one of us can become president come 2023, and businessman Aliko Dangote, with other dignitaries as they flagged off the construction of Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki-Ojota expressway. A good project no doubt, especially considering the horrors residents who ply whatever remains of the road. It, however, makes one to ask aloud: does our governor care about the state of other roads in the state?

Does he even go out to know the pain we go through trying to move around in this megacity with mega potholes and inevitably, mega pain? In an address over the weekend, Mr. Ambode told a gathering of Full Gospel Business Men Fellowship that Lagos remains the gateway to wealth and the state welcomes as many who are out to seek their fortune legitimately in the state. He conveniently forgot to tell his hosts about the pain of those of us who are here already. One wonders too if there is a conspiracy of silence among those of us charged with reporting what goes on as journalists. The distressful stories from different parts of Lagos due to bad inner city roads and the mountains of refuse we are forced to cohabit with are enough to melt the stoniest of hearts but you rarely hear about them. Our governor is in love with mega projects, Pen Cinema Bridge, Oshodi Interchange and Airport Road, among others, but he forgets that little things matter as well.

I had shouted myself hoarse over the total neglect of inner roads by the Ambode government in a previous piece. Two press releases among the plethora the Ambode media machine assault my email with daily stood out recently. One was on the Oshodi Interchange and Airport Road, which the government claimed, will be completed in the first quarter of next year. I nearly did a somersault when I read this. The roads I pass daily? I’m no construction expert but with my untrained eyes, it will definitely require miracles for such to happen with the level of work and the speed on these two projects. The other release, which caught my attention, was the one by the chief executive of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) where he denied the accusation that LASTMA is no longer efficient as it was before. He claimed that 1, 200 vehicles are arrested monthly for traffic infractions.

But even neonates will confirm that the present LASTMA is not the LASTMA we used to know; they’ve simply absconded from their duty posts. Few are up and doing and that will be a starting point for Ambode to curtail the madness on Lagos roads. LASTMA men abandon their duty posts and with traffic lights malfunctioning, the resultant bedlam is better imagined than experienced. For instance on Saturday, the Mushin-Isolo road collapsed completely but the absence of LASTMA at major junctions compounded the problem. From Oke Afa where potholes have taken over to the frontage of Isolo General Hospital to Kogberegbe and Godwin Omonua Streets, movement is regularly impeded. Let’s not talk about Abimbola Way, Moshalshi, Lamina Lawal, Holy Saviour, Aderinto, Odebiyi, Mureni and James Oni Streets; they’re simply impassable. Remediation work on Osolo Way is getting bad again while the Ajao Estate link road is the only alternative left. The construction work ongoing on Chivita Avenue is commendable but because there are no traffic wardens to control the surging early morning traffic, more hours are wasted on the road. A quick question for Mr. Chris Olakpe, the LASTMA chief executive; when exactly are your men supposed to leave the roads? This is pertinent because some leave as early as 6pm when traffic is just building up.

Reports from other areas of the state speak of impassable roads as well. The collapse of our local government councils and development areas has not helped also. They have been emasculated that they cannot even fix roads in their domain. Yet, the same Ambode government implements the Code Lagos programme which seeks to make one million Lagosians learn to code by 2020, so it has never been short on ideas. It’s up to our governor to rouse himself from stupor and fix our roads, nothing is more important than that now. Over to you, Mr. Ambode, you’ve got at least 120 days more to make our lives better.