ROAD CONSTRUCTION, TRAFFIC AND SAFETY CONCERNS ON NIGERIAN ROADS

ROAD CONSTRUCTION, TRAFFIC AND SAFETY CONCERNS ON NIGERIAN ROADS

Traffic Gridlock on the Lagos Ibadan Expressway

The economic, social and political importance of roads to the commerce and well being of a society cannot be over-emphasized and this informs why governments at various levels must make it a priority in order to ameliorate the human condition.

However, one disturbing and negative trend that one has discovered about road construction in Nigeria is that there is little or no consideration for the health and safety of road users. By this I mean that, when governments are carrying out this societal and constitutional responsibility, the primary focus seems to be on the road while neglecting the convenience of the users which should not be the case.

Although, one’s observation on this matter can still be subjected to further analysis and debate, but from the way and manner construction companies conduct their affairs when undertaking repairs of our roads, it doesn’t seem as if they have any consideration for the economy and health of road users as their management of the roads has caused negligence or is it oversight that has resulted in avoidable accidents which have claimed lives, damaged limbs and destroyed properties inestimable in value.

What one observed is that the perennial gridlock on this road just like others undergoing reconstruction which is economically threatening and health damaging are in most cases caused by the measures of the construction company barricading the roads at the wrong points, stopping vehicles indiscriminately on the road for construction vehicles to move materials from one location to another and dangerous u turn points created. The questions that came to one’s mind were, is there no traffic and safety concerns on a road being reconstructed? In whose interest are the roads being reconstructed, is It for man or vice versa?

A recent instance that informed this write up was my experience on the Lagos Ibadan expressway which is undergoing reconstruction when I travelled out of Lagos. Infact, the psychological trauma one goes through when you think about the traffic gridlock that has become a regular occurrence on the road is better imagined. A journey from Lagos to Ibadan which normally takes 1 hour  30 minutes now extends to between 5 to 6 hours as a result of traffic gridlock caused by lack of considerations for economic  interest and health of the commuting public and vehicles by the untrained “emergency” traffic officers of the construction companies.

On about three occasions in the last one month, just like some other persons, I have had to make my journeys back into Lagos via the long distance and tortuous Sagamu Ikorodu road as a result of the traffic gridlock on Lagos Ibadan expressway which one noticed from the Sagamu interchange axis. Last week Thursday 17^th April 2014, I made a trip out of Lagos and my experience on this road was anything but harrowing both ways, I mean my going out of town and coming in. I spent over 4 hours commuting between Redeemed Christian Church of God camp ground and some 500 meters to Sagamu interchange as a result of the mismanagement and ignorance about traffic and safety issues by road construction company’s “traffic” workers.

It is in this vein that one would like to advocate that a national policy be put in place whereby state safety and traffic officers be assigned officially to road construction companies undertaken repairs of our roads at the federal, state and local government levels to take into consideration not only the road interest but also the health and economy of the people and society in the long run.

One would also like to advocate that this national policy should mandate road construction companies in Nigeria to have functional and resourceful safety and traffic departments whose personnel should be trained and updated regularly about modern traffic control and safety methods by statutory state agencies.