Some residents of Magboro have decried hardship caused by drainage channelled to empty directly on the road leading to their community by the contractor handling the ongoing Lagos-Ibadan Lagos-Ibadan Expressway reconstruction/rehabilitation project.
Magboro is a border community between Lagos State and Ogun. It is among communities along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
A NAN Correspondent who visited the area reports that the drainage was constructed to take storm water from nearby Arepo to terminate at the entrance of Magboro community.
NAN observed that there was no provision for any outfall to accommodate the storm waters and the runoffs flow freely onto the community entrance, thereby compounding flooding making it difficult for motorists to navigate.
The residents who spoke with NAN on Tuesday in separate interviews appealed for urgent measures to curb the flooding, almost cutting them off.
A community leader, Adesina Adetoye told NAN that the storm waters from the drainage had almost cut off their road and several people had to look for alternative roads.
Adetoye said the rainy season had worsened hardship caused by the abandoned drainage and begged for urgent measures to relieve stress on residents.
He said he did not know why the construction company had to terminate the drainage system on the community p road without consideration to the motorists.
“The drainage that we are talking about has been there since 2020 after the COVID-19 when that side of the road was completed,” he said, wondering why the company had yet to finish the drainage.
“Worse still, the waters coming out of the drainage are collected from another community and allowed to flow on our roads,” he said.
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A motorist, Florence Adenuga, said her car got stuck in the flooded road several times because of the volume of water from the drainage that flows directly to the roads and gathers under the bridge
She said there was the need for relevant authorities to help speak with the company to finish up the drainage and channel it appropriately.
“This is a community road managed by us without government intervention,” she said, wondering why the road handled by the contractor should cause them more havoc.
Another resident, Oluseyi Ayoola, also said that the construction company did not consider the plight of Magboro dwellers while planning the drainage project, as alternative routes were also blocked.
“We know we are almost helpless in this situation, so we are appealing to the government to intervene.
“Government needs to come and inspect this road to see the amount of damages caused to the community through the shoddy job,” he said.
Another community leader, Dotun Okunnowo, said that the Magboro Community Development Committee among others had been solely responsible for the maintenance of the road damaged by the contractor.
Okunnowo said the community does not receive any support from the government on maintenance and resorts to self help, adding that it was unfair to be treated badly.
Flooded road occasioned by the flooding from abandoned drainage
Responding, the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Olukorede Kesha, told NAN that several other communities were affected and the government was planning a holistic solution that would capture Magboro.
Kesha said the government was speeding up construction to finish work on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway main carriageway and then move over to tackle the drainage challenges in affected communities.
“We are waiting for these pavement works (ongoing Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project) to be concluded, then we’ll take a trip, not only in Magboro, there are other communities that have written to complain about the channelisation of the storm water to their communities.
“So, we are going to give it a comprehensive assessment and thereafter, we would proffer solutions.
“So, all hands are on deck now, the main issue now is to get out of the way of the main pavement,” she said.
She assured that efforts had been intensified towards completing the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway main carriageway project “within record time”. (
