Expdonaloaded News; Unending anguish on Oshodi/Apapa Expressway

For motorists and commuters ply­ing the usually busy Oshodi-Apapa Expressway in Lagos, these are certainly not the best of times. In the past few days, fuel tankers have totally taken over the stretch of the road from Ijesha Bus Stop through Mile Two to the Tin Can Island Port, leaving other motor­ists and road users to gnash their teeth in agony.

Since the beginning of this week, it has been total chaos and frustration on this road. Vehicular movement has remained at a standstill, with hopelessness visibly written on the faces of all whose vehicles are trapped in-between articulated vehicles on the road. The agony is simply indescribable.
Though the axis has always been known for traffic congestion due to the high level of business activities going on at the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, it has escalated into a nightmare since the fuel scarcity began some weeks ago. It started gradually and has steadily increased into an uncontrollable scenario.
Tankers waiting to load petrol at the ports have been on the queue for days on the main road. The queue has now stretched from Apapa to Ijesha Bus Stop in Ijeshatedo. Some of the tankers veer off into Kirikiri where some tank farms are located. Tanker drivers, commercial bus drivers, car owners and commuters are all complaining of the traffic jam, calling on governments – both state and federal – to quickly do something about the menace so that normalcy could return.
At the early stage of the fuel scarcity ordeal, the trailers queued on one lane of the expressway. But as the ugly situation bites harder, the vehicles started forming double lanes and more, thereby preventing other users from making use of the road.
Pathetically, some of the tankers have been on the queue for as long as ten days, and hopes that they might soon get to the farm tanks to load fuel are not in sight.
Drivers of the tankers and trailers and their assistants have practically turned the road into their homes. They eat, sleep, bathe and defecate by the roadside. Decaying food and wrappings as well as used water sachets litter the area, even as pedestrians walk carefully to avoid stepping on human excrement that ‘adorn’ every nook and cranny of the road, especially around Kirikiri.
Most commercial buses have been avoiding the route, while others that still manage to ply it now take the wrong lane, hardly bothered by the threats of arrest from the police and traffic management personnel. Private car owners have also joined the danfo drivers to violate traffic rules by taking the opposite lane.
In fact, on this road in Lagos, utter lawlessness is being displayed. As a result, many accidents are being recorded, almost on a daily basis, leading to loss of lives and limbs. Drivers of the yellow-painted danfo buses, like demons on an assignment to maim and kill, veer off their lane at Cele Bus Stop and face oncoming vehicles. They are usually on high speed, throwing caution to the wind and endangering the lives of commuters. Transportation fares on this route have been increased by 100 per cent.
Independent marketers of petroleum products are holding the government by the jugular, insisting that they must be paid all they are being owed. On the other hand, the Federal Government said it has recently paid the independent marketers substantial amount of money running into billions of naira. Accusations and counter accusations have continued between the two parties. And the Nigerian masses are being forced to bear the brunt.
Nurudeen Nasiri, who works at a new generation bank at Coconut, Apapa lamented: “We have been experiencing traffic on this road for many years, but this very one that started some days ago is like living in hell fire. I have been trekking several kilometres to and from my office.
“Some people board buses that are taking the opposite lane but I can’t risk it because accidents on the wrong lane are usually too terrible and the victims hardly survive. I have seen such fatal accidents even on this Apapa road. I would rather be queried at work for coming late than for my corpse to land in the mortuary.”
Another user of the road, Mr. Dike said he had been taking buses that ply the wrong lane, arguing that he had no choice but to get to the office to perform his duty. His greatest concern, he said, was that those drivers facing oncoming vehicles on the expressway were also speeding like devils.
“I don’t know why both the federal and state governments cannot do something about the situation. It is unfortunate because people are suffering here on daily basis. I don’t like boarding vehicles plying one lane. But in this case, I don’t have other options that will get me to my office on time. Those bus drivers are so reckless,” Dike said.
Another user of the road said: “A lot of precious hours are being wasted here on the road. On Tuesday, I spent close to six hours here. How can I account for those wasted hours? This is the only part of the world where we don’t attach any importance to time. But I can’t really understand why government can’t solve this problem once and for all. Though it is much now, it has been on for years.
“Another thing you need to observe on this road is that the tanker drivers believe they are the rightful owners of the road. There are different businesses around here, including some houses. And a group of people would just colonise the road? It is absurd and irrational.”post by expdonaloaded.blogspot.com..Abubakar Imam, a tanker driver who came from Maiduguri, Borno State, told our correspondent that he has so far spent 10 days on the queue without hope of getting to load fuel anytime soon. He said the waiting had been frustrating, lamenting that he had never experienced such agony for the past 30 years that he has been working as a tanker driver.
Complaining about his ordeal, he said in smattering English: “I never eat better food, I never bathe very well and no better sleep for here since ten days. I don tire.”
His colleague, Jibrin Abubakar said he came from Nassarawa State nine days ago to load fuel from Ascon farm tank at Coconut. He complained that mosquitoes have become his companions both day and night since he has been on the queue. He said he had no clue when he was going to return to his state with the petroleum product.
“I am tired of the problem here. I joined the queue around Rainbow bus stop, after nine days, I am still at Mile 2. I am still going to spend some days if the problem continues,” he said.
Also lamenting, Mohammed Rabiu accused some of his colleagues of indiscriminate parking on the expressway, thereby causing confusion and delay for fellow tanker drivers. He said he was told that fuel was available but lamented that getting to the farm tanks was a major challenge.
Mrs. Adegbite, who works at Kirikiri Town, said: “I took a motorcycle to beat the traffic on Monday, but my experience made me to vow not to ever try it again. We were around Berger Cement bus stop and a particular trailer obstructed the way, but moving slowly. To my surprise, the motorcycle rider wanted to quickly pass right under the trailer. I screamed and jumped down from the motorcycle. He later told me that I was just afraid for nothing, saying that was the way the okada operators manoeuvre their ways to get to their destinations.”