"To start with, not only is the concept of tolling on this road a bit worrisome to the people of Lekki who have since inception of the project made their grievances known to the government, but the implementation strategy is very offensive to the people here. The road comes with a perimeter fence which runs the entire length of the road, hence, walls-in all businesses and other independent interests on either side of the road. The only two openings on the road are to The Oriental Hotel and Black Diamond Apartments, which are properties and investments linked to the former governor of the State and chieftain of the ruling party and his associates.
Secondly, the road construction was awarded to Hi-Tech Construction Company, a firm with little or no experience on the job. Over the following years, up until present day, this company, Hi-Tech, has subjected the residents of Lekki-Ajah and users to untold hardship on the road due to their glaring incompetentence. The construction pattern makes road very accident-prone, with lanes not defined. There are roundabouts so huge, that within the first 2 months not less than 20 accidents were recorded. The road was constructed without well-planned drainage system and flooding to communities adjacent to the road has reached unprecedented levels. Generally the road is poorly finished and is a disaster waiting to happen.
In December 2010, the government announced that tolling of the road will be commenced on January 3, 2011. At this time, the road reconstruction had not been finished. It has even not been finished NOW, a year later. Travel on the road was a nightmare during which a commuters often spent a about 4hours on the road for a journey of 15minutes.
I was once on the road between 7:30pm and 2:45am (the following day), going from my office back home, which is a distance of less than 15kilometers!"
- Diekola Onaolapo
- Ikhide
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