by Chinedu Okafor
One stroll around Lagos mainland, and you begin to wonder if this state is truly governed. The problems of a commercial city as lucrative as Lagos, shouldn’t be this troubling, alas, it is. The metropolitan issues facing Lagos ranges from poor infrastructures like residential buildings collapsing on people and poorly managed market places, to poor institutions like schools and hospitals that barely serves its primary purpose.
In certain regions in the state, people feel so exhausted its no wonder they exert little effort in bettering their resident, they feel like things don’t work, and ultimately can’t work, and so they become more of a problem than a solution, littering where they see fit, carelessly setting up shops on the road side, and disregarding traffic laws.
Notwithstanding, everyone in the state who actively contributes to the state’s economic growth deserves better. They deserve a bit more security and assurance in their government, and maybe then they would be motivated to positively contribute to the development of the state.
Unfortunately, this reassurance in the government has been diminished a tad further with an arising problem in the state, especially in the Lagos Badagry express way, between FESTAC and Satellite town.
Tankers blocading the whole Abulado road
The new problem these residents are faced with is the problem of tanker congestion. Being a resident myself I can say boldly that this problem wasn’t always in existence, yes, Satellite town was far from a utopia and you certainly would not compare it to the likes of Manhattan, Orlando, or London, but one thing is certain: it was not always this bad.
It is hard to decide this problem’s source, perhaps its stems from the rise of new filling stations, the gas plant at Ijegun Egba, over crowded terminals, or the growing population and their need for fuel, to power their cars and generators. Whatever the problem is, a solution is needed quickly, before the problem becomes irreversible.
Already the rate of damaged cars is ascending, accidents happen more frequently, drivers grow more impatient and more violent by the day and there has been a fuel spill here and there, all of which the government, both local and state have decided to do nothing about.
Certain constituencies including the Oriade local government area, are in desperate need of a revamp. Laws need to be set in place and enforced, new infrastructures needs to be built and the new administration led by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, needs to step up and show the people that he is going to be better than its predecessors.