Olufemi Ajewole (An ex-President, Road Transport Employers’ Association of Nigeria)
On the tanker fire incident on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, I give the government 60 per cent in their management of the situation. Compared to what we used to have, the handling this time was not poor.
If not for the quick response, the casualty figure could have been higher than what was recorded.
The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is one of the busiest roads, if not the busiest, in the country and even in West Africa. Thus, there are some basic facilities which should conform with international standards that are missing on the expressway.
One, apart from the Lagos end which has mobile emergency hospitals, there should also be same mobile hospital units at the Sapade end and also at the Ibadan end. This will be needful in case of accidents, when you have to rush victims to get quick medical attention.
This will be a life-saving strategy. Also, the security patrols at different ends of the expressway need to be improved upon. The Federal Government should have a highway patrol on the road and the state governments should also not be left behind.
The expressway also needs constant maintenance. During the Olusegun Obasanjo years, we had the Federal Emergency Management Agency; they did their own bit. If they are not in existence, they need to be revived. The agency is solely responsible for monitoring our expressways.
I went through a study last week on transportation in Nigeria and found out that out of seven million vehicles in the country, two million are in Lagos State alone. This is why there is huge traffic in the state and along that expressway, which serves as a major entrance to the state.
The road goes to about three geo-political zones; North-Central, South-South and South-East. This tells you why it is an expressway which should not be neglected. The government needs to pay adequate attention to the expressway. The operations of motorists on this road go round the clock and therefore, demand that there should be traffic lights on the expressway.
This will make travellers at night to to have a sense of security. This is also a strategy to reduce accidents on the road.
Olawale Akinwande (Motorist/CEO Better Nigeria Advocates, Lagos)
The response of the government is commendable. The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is a major road plied by a lot of people on a daily basis. Considering this fact, the reconstruction of that road must be given top priority.
The contractor assigned to that task must speed up work in a way that the project can be completed within the shortest possible time. It is observed that the contractor working on this road has not really been financially mobilised, as it should be. Hence, this has resulted in a slow pace of work on the expressway. And it is motorists that are bearing the brunt.
The contractor working on this expressway should be able to work both day and night, and the best time to work on that road is at night. This is when you have lesser number of people plying the expressway. The contractor and its workers are not expected to be working at a time when a large number of people use the road.
Government should also provide adequate security on the expressway. The ongoing project has affected us in many ways and this project should be monitored and completed promptly.
Can you imagine that the two sides of the expressway experienced gridlocks at the same time. That was what we experienced on Wednesday.
I advise that the government speeds up work on that expressway. There should be also be the provision of an alternative route.
Alhaji Lateef Akinborode (A social commentator)
The government’s response to the tanker fire was not bad. My concern is that the Federal and state governments ought to have made an alternative route while doing rehabilitation on the expressway.
The governments should realise that this is a very significant route and they should provide an alternative. The alternative route could go through Shimawa and Mowe areas into Ikorodu, Lagos State, and that would ease traffic from the expressway.
Also, the government has to put security measures in place. Apart from soldiers and policemen, we also need traffic officers, who can manage the situation well.
We do not want policemen who will sit down in their vans and do nothing during traffic hours. This road is a significant route, and it must be handled with caution.
The government should have many agencies in place to enforce rules and regulations.
The government can also use the idea of number plates to ease off traffic on the expressway.
That system means that people can know that today, it is their turn or not to bring out their vehicles to ply the roads.
Mrs. Ajibola Odedeji (A public servant/motorist)
Concerning the tanker fire incident, I want to commend the Lagos State Government for its efforts. As of the time I passed the scene of the accident, several state officials including the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency and the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, and state Fire Service were on the ground.
The response of the state government was commendable. It was a hard time but their equipment deployed helped to alleviate the pains. They cleared off all the burnt trucks.
Five vehicles were involved in the fire disaster. We had a tanker, three trucks and a car. As of the time I passed, one of the trucks was still burning. I learnt that the truck carried flour.
Generally, there are certain things that the government should put in place.
One, the Federal Government should work on the rail system so that all heavy- duty goods do not have to be moved on the roads.
If the rail system can work, movement of goods will be a lot much easier.
The traffic was also worse due to the construction being done. I understand that work is being done on the road to make it better for road users. But the government should have worked on an alternative route, like the parallel road along the long bridge.
That is the road on the side of Warewa area. If there are alternative route for road users, the accident will not affect such a number of vehicles.
I think something also has to be done to about divider on that expressway. I understand that a passenger was trying to escape from the fire, but fell into the ditch. I think trees and flowers should be planted there, so that we don’t have ditches all around.
Ayoola Sadiku (Deputy President, Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners)
There was a pothole at that portion, where the accident took place. The government agencies tried their best in the handling of the evacuation. We cannot say that they did not work.
The government’s response to that fire incident was prompt. They removed the truck and traffic eased off gradually.
Generally, what the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway needs is maintenance. We, on our part, encourage our drivers to be patient and avoid accidents as much as they can. We tell them to drive safely and slowly. When the rehabilitation is completed, we hope accidents will reduce drastically.
Another challenge is the issue of armed robbery on the expressway. Most people who are jobless lurk around the expressway and attack motorists. The government should ask the security agencies to also look into this aspect. Robbery, in a way, is connected to bad roads.
The robbers take advantage of bad portions of the expressway to rob people. They stay around potholes, knowing that their victims cannot speed past the spot. When the expressway was good, we did not have a high amount of robbery cases.
There was also a time when the Federal Roads Safety Corps introduced some devices such as speed limiters to our buses to ensure that speeding is checked. That was a good effort. Some of our companies also have gadgets through which we monitor and ensure that our trucks do not engage in speeding.
Damilare Ajayi (An undergraduate/motorist)
I think the response of government to emergencies on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway needs to be improved.
We all know that the tanker fire incident, like several others, occurred in the night, and that made the response teams to move faster.
I want to advise the construction company working on the expressway to do much work in the night than in the day, so that we can have less pressure on the road.
Two weeks ago when I was coming from Ibadan, Oyo State, in the afternoon, petrol was leaking from a tanker packed by the roadside. This is a careless and dangerous attitude by truck drivers which should be checked by the appropriate government agencies.
Compiled by Olaleye Aluko and Opeyemi Soyoye
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