Iyana Ejigbo. Ever heard of the popular junction in Lagos State? It is
an important junction that connects many highly populated communities,
such as Ejigbo, Egbe, Ikotun, Igando, Egbeda, Ijegun, Idimu, Igando,
Jakande Estate, Okota, Ijedodo, Abaranje, Isolo and many others.
This junction, which is between Cele Express and Ikotun, has become a thorn in the flesh of millions of Lagosians that use the road. In fact, many are currently angry with Governor Babatunde Fashola over the abysmal state of Iyana Ejigbo.
A drive from Jakande Estate gate in Oke Afa to Ikotun that, in times past, took about 15 minutes, now takes over one hour due to the traffic bottleneck at the junction. Many wonder why one narrow road should serve so many communities without access roads.
They argued that due to the large community of people on that route, the road ought to have been expanded and made motorable, with easy access routes through Bucknor to Jakande and Okota and Ejigbo and Ajao Estate where a contract to construct a bridge across the infamous Oke Afa canal has been slow.
Residents of the communities said the gruelling experience they usually have at the intersection has forced them to rechristen the place ‘Dreadful Junction.’
Early in the morning when people are going to their different offices, and in the evening when they are returning home, there is a nerve-wracking gridlock at the junction. The logjam is usually caused by the intersection. But for the efforts of traffic control agents, the intersection would have become a no-go area for motorists.
On many occasions, the traffic hold up from the junction usually extends to Ile Iwe in Ikotun area. And in the evening, the logjam from Iyana Ejigbo usually extends to Jakande Estate gate.
Some motorists that want to avoid spending over one hour in traffic would pass through several bumpy roads within the Ejigbo hinterland. Drivers of commercial buses would abandon their vehicles and disappear with their conductors after collecting money from the passengers, leaving the commuters stranded.
When Daily Sun visited Iyana Ejigbo recently, it was discovered that the intersection has a peculiar topography. After rainfall, water from Ejigbo community would find its way to the busy intersection. As gathered, there is no drainage channel to divert the flow into a canal, some 400 metres away.
In 2012, users of the road were happy when earth-moving equipment was moved to Iyana Ejigbo to commence work on the channelisation of the water that usually converges at the intersection whenever there is a downpour. The contractor dug huge troughs but the project was said to have been abandoned thereafter.
However, another contractor is currently handling the construction of the drainage channels. One of the construction workers at the site gave the name of the contractor as Mafinco Construction Nigeria Limited.
But users of the road have expressed concern that the new contractor too could abandon the project just like the first one. They argued that the contractor did not dig the drainage channels to pass through the flood’s nature-ordained path. The proposed drainage, according to them, runs uphill. It was said that a bustling market purportedly owned by a traditional ruler sits on the natural path for the water to flow into the nearby canal.
During the visit, the correspondent observed that construction of the drainage had commenced from Iyana Ejigbo to Ikotun area. About one kilometre of the road from the junction towards Ikotun has been blocked by the contractor.
Work has not started on the other side of the dual carriageway from Ikotun side towards Jakande Estate gate. The ongoing work, however, has been dragging and for weeks nothing happened on the site, as commuters continued to suffer.
The traffic from Cele Express and Ejigbo was being diverted to the lane from Ikotun pending the time the construction would be completed. This situation now causes terrible logjam at Iyana Ejigbo. People moving from Ikotun to Cele Express, Jakande Estate gate to Ikotun or Ejigbo and motorists coming out of Ejigbo community usually runs into the traffic snarl.
A resident of Ejigbo, Mr. Sikiru Ayansola, told Daily Sun: “I am not happy with the Lagos State Government over the road that leads from Cele Express to Ikotun. Also, thousands of people in Ejigbo and other communities around this place are not happy. The road is too narrow. It must be fixed urgently. We are all tax payers.”
“Apart from this, we need an urgent intervention of the government over the heavy traffic at Iyana Ejigbo. We used to have a smooth ride on the road before the junction collapsed. If you were here about a decade ago, you will agree with me that the situation was not like this. As the population of people that are using the road increases, the difficult situation we encounter on the road becomes worse.”
Iyana Ejigbo, according to Ayansola, is always flooded anytime it rains. The flood, he noted, is always knee deep. Road users are faced, repeatedly, with the daunting challenge of crossing the flood.
“When the junction is flooded, many vehicles usually break down in the water. You will see many people walking like chameleons in the flood. Why? It is because Iyana Ejigbo is a confluence for the flood coming from Ikotun, Ejigbo and Oke-Afa.
“If the flood can be channelled to the canal at the Bucknor area of Jakande Estate in Ejigbo here, the problem will be solved. Also, potholes and craters that now dot the junction must be fixed for the problem to go. If the potholes and craters are fixed without channelling the flood to the canal, the junction will soon collapse again,” Ayansola said.
A middle-aged man, who did not want his name in print, also told Daily Sun that Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) started the construction of the drainage on both sides of the road sometime ago. He said the state government later took over the job from the LCDA and awarded the contract to another firm.
His words: “I don’t know why the project was taken over by the state government but we residents of this community have not been able to get an answer to a question agitating our minds. The first contractor dug some sand from the road and we don’t know the whereabouts of the sand now.
“Though the new contractor has mobilised to the site, the project is being executed at a snail speed. For instance, the contractor is using one caterpillar and labourers and the caterpillar has been parked at a particular spot for the past one week. But I doubt if the project would be completed in the next three years if we should go by the tempo of work there now.”
Some commercial motorists described the road as the worst in Alimosho Local Government Area of the state. They lamented that there is no viable link road. The alternative route in Jakande Estate, according to them, has become impassable.
One of the commercial drivers, Mr. Philip Akande, said: “This road cannot be handled by the local government. It is only the state government that can really fix it. Can you imagine that some people now resort to walking from Cele Bus Stop along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Mushin and Oshodi to Iyana Ejigbo because of the traffic situation on the road?
“People do trek this way in order to get home on time. Otherwise, they would get home around 1:00a.m. Some private car owners would also park their cars somewhere and join the pedestrians to walk because this road is terrible.”
In an interview with some journalists in Lagos, one of the project engineers at the site, who refused to disclose his name said: “The construction, this time around, will be good. Just give us some months and see what is going to happen here. We are working on the drainage alone. We have the contract to do the drainage and let the water flow freely.
This junction, which is between Cele Express and Ikotun, has become a thorn in the flesh of millions of Lagosians that use the road. In fact, many are currently angry with Governor Babatunde Fashola over the abysmal state of Iyana Ejigbo.
A drive from Jakande Estate gate in Oke Afa to Ikotun that, in times past, took about 15 minutes, now takes over one hour due to the traffic bottleneck at the junction. Many wonder why one narrow road should serve so many communities without access roads.
They argued that due to the large community of people on that route, the road ought to have been expanded and made motorable, with easy access routes through Bucknor to Jakande and Okota and Ejigbo and Ajao Estate where a contract to construct a bridge across the infamous Oke Afa canal has been slow.
Residents of the communities said the gruelling experience they usually have at the intersection has forced them to rechristen the place ‘Dreadful Junction.’
Early in the morning when people are going to their different offices, and in the evening when they are returning home, there is a nerve-wracking gridlock at the junction. The logjam is usually caused by the intersection. But for the efforts of traffic control agents, the intersection would have become a no-go area for motorists.
On many occasions, the traffic hold up from the junction usually extends to Ile Iwe in Ikotun area. And in the evening, the logjam from Iyana Ejigbo usually extends to Jakande Estate gate.
Some motorists that want to avoid spending over one hour in traffic would pass through several bumpy roads within the Ejigbo hinterland. Drivers of commercial buses would abandon their vehicles and disappear with their conductors after collecting money from the passengers, leaving the commuters stranded.
When Daily Sun visited Iyana Ejigbo recently, it was discovered that the intersection has a peculiar topography. After rainfall, water from Ejigbo community would find its way to the busy intersection. As gathered, there is no drainage channel to divert the flow into a canal, some 400 metres away.
In 2012, users of the road were happy when earth-moving equipment was moved to Iyana Ejigbo to commence work on the channelisation of the water that usually converges at the intersection whenever there is a downpour. The contractor dug huge troughs but the project was said to have been abandoned thereafter.
However, another contractor is currently handling the construction of the drainage channels. One of the construction workers at the site gave the name of the contractor as Mafinco Construction Nigeria Limited.
But users of the road have expressed concern that the new contractor too could abandon the project just like the first one. They argued that the contractor did not dig the drainage channels to pass through the flood’s nature-ordained path. The proposed drainage, according to them, runs uphill. It was said that a bustling market purportedly owned by a traditional ruler sits on the natural path for the water to flow into the nearby canal.
During the visit, the correspondent observed that construction of the drainage had commenced from Iyana Ejigbo to Ikotun area. About one kilometre of the road from the junction towards Ikotun has been blocked by the contractor.
Work has not started on the other side of the dual carriageway from Ikotun side towards Jakande Estate gate. The ongoing work, however, has been dragging and for weeks nothing happened on the site, as commuters continued to suffer.
The traffic from Cele Express and Ejigbo was being diverted to the lane from Ikotun pending the time the construction would be completed. This situation now causes terrible logjam at Iyana Ejigbo. People moving from Ikotun to Cele Express, Jakande Estate gate to Ikotun or Ejigbo and motorists coming out of Ejigbo community usually runs into the traffic snarl.
A resident of Ejigbo, Mr. Sikiru Ayansola, told Daily Sun: “I am not happy with the Lagos State Government over the road that leads from Cele Express to Ikotun. Also, thousands of people in Ejigbo and other communities around this place are not happy. The road is too narrow. It must be fixed urgently. We are all tax payers.”
“Apart from this, we need an urgent intervention of the government over the heavy traffic at Iyana Ejigbo. We used to have a smooth ride on the road before the junction collapsed. If you were here about a decade ago, you will agree with me that the situation was not like this. As the population of people that are using the road increases, the difficult situation we encounter on the road becomes worse.”
Iyana Ejigbo, according to Ayansola, is always flooded anytime it rains. The flood, he noted, is always knee deep. Road users are faced, repeatedly, with the daunting challenge of crossing the flood.
“When the junction is flooded, many vehicles usually break down in the water. You will see many people walking like chameleons in the flood. Why? It is because Iyana Ejigbo is a confluence for the flood coming from Ikotun, Ejigbo and Oke-Afa.
“If the flood can be channelled to the canal at the Bucknor area of Jakande Estate in Ejigbo here, the problem will be solved. Also, potholes and craters that now dot the junction must be fixed for the problem to go. If the potholes and craters are fixed without channelling the flood to the canal, the junction will soon collapse again,” Ayansola said.
A middle-aged man, who did not want his name in print, also told Daily Sun that Ejigbo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) started the construction of the drainage on both sides of the road sometime ago. He said the state government later took over the job from the LCDA and awarded the contract to another firm.
His words: “I don’t know why the project was taken over by the state government but we residents of this community have not been able to get an answer to a question agitating our minds. The first contractor dug some sand from the road and we don’t know the whereabouts of the sand now.
“Though the new contractor has mobilised to the site, the project is being executed at a snail speed. For instance, the contractor is using one caterpillar and labourers and the caterpillar has been parked at a particular spot for the past one week. But I doubt if the project would be completed in the next three years if we should go by the tempo of work there now.”
Some commercial motorists described the road as the worst in Alimosho Local Government Area of the state. They lamented that there is no viable link road. The alternative route in Jakande Estate, according to them, has become impassable.
One of the commercial drivers, Mr. Philip Akande, said: “This road cannot be handled by the local government. It is only the state government that can really fix it. Can you imagine that some people now resort to walking from Cele Bus Stop along Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Mushin and Oshodi to Iyana Ejigbo because of the traffic situation on the road?
“People do trek this way in order to get home on time. Otherwise, they would get home around 1:00a.m. Some private car owners would also park their cars somewhere and join the pedestrians to walk because this road is terrible.”
In an interview with some journalists in Lagos, one of the project engineers at the site, who refused to disclose his name said: “The construction, this time around, will be good. Just give us some months and see what is going to happen here. We are working on the drainage alone. We have the contract to do the drainage and let the water flow freely.
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