LAGOS -Residents of Olaoluwa Community Development Association under the Igando-Ikotun Local Council Development Area of Lagos State have lamented the deplorable condition of their road, which they said had remained in disrepair for more than 30 years, leaving commuters stranded, businesses struggling and schoolchildren exposed to danger.
When our correspondent visited the community on Thursday, residents said the road had become impassable during rainfall, making transportation difficult and forcing people to trek from the nearest bus stop to their homes.
They also lamented that commercial motorcycles and tricycles could no longer access the area.
The chairman of the community, Moses Adeola, said residents had made several efforts to get the authorities to repair the road, including writing letters, recording videos of its condition and appealing through radio stations, but their efforts had yielded no results.
“For over 30 years, we have been making efforts and appealing to the authorities to come and assist us, but nothing has been done,” Adeola said.
He explained that the road served as a major route linking several communities, adding that its deplorable condition had caused accidents involving residents being transported to the hospital.
“Pregnant women being taken to the nearest general hospital across the road often fall off motorcycles because of its deplorable condition. People with medical emergencies being transported to the hospital also experience similar incidents, including women in labour,” he said.
Adeola added that schoolchildren struggled to get to school whenever it rained, noting that rainfall a few days earlier had rendered the road impassable and left residents without an alternative route.
He said the community had written several letters to the authorities and sent videos of the road to the local government, while appeals had also been made through radio stations.
“We are now helpless and need the government to come to our rescue,” he added.
The CDA chairman also accused local government officials of prioritising the collection of shop permit fees over addressing the hardship caused by the road, saying some businesses had been locked up despite the difficulty traders faced in attracting customers.
“People open their shops, but customers hardly come because of the state of the road. Despite this situation, officials still come to lock up their businesses over shop permits,” he said.
Similarly, the former chairman of Prestige Community Development Association, now known as Ultimate CDA, under the Olaoluwa CDA, Oluwokiti Ephraim, said residents and individuals had made efforts to repair the road for about three decades without success.
He said the road led to a general hospital, making its poor condition particularly dangerous for pregnant women, people with asthma and children during the rainy season.
“The state and local governments have visited the area, recorded videos of the road and left, but we have yet to see any intervention,” Ephraim said.
