Angry motorists and residents of Lagos have expressed displeasure over the bad condition of roads and are calling on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to fulfill his campaign promisess by implementing his THEMES Agenda.
Those who spoke with QUEST TIMES said the governor has been embarking on many elephant projects while basic things such as fixing of roads are ignored.
Shortly after he was sworn-in for second term in May, Sanwo-Olu, whose first term agenda was anchored on T.H.E.M.E.S agenda, said he has taken it to the next level and will now be known as “THEMES PLUS”.
The acronymn stands for Transportation and Traffic Management; Health and Environment; Education and Technology; Making Lagos State a 21st Century Megacity, Entertainment & Tourism; and Security & Governance.
“Henceforth, it will be known as “T.H.E.M.E.S+,” the “plus ” representing the incorporation of an intensified focus, in these next four years, on Social Inclusion, Gender Equality and Youth,” he said.
The Governor also directed the Lagos State Public Works Corporation to commence patching and rehabilitation of bad roads in the metropolis with immediate effect but that has failed to yield any positive result.
Frustrates taxpayers who ply the roads everyday are increasingly angry with the proliferation of dilapidated roads across the length and breadth of the state, even in Ikeja, the state capital.
Recently, a journalist, Olayinka Oyegbile in a post on his Facebook page shared a picture of a dilapidated road in the Ogba area of Lagos. According to him, “THIS IS LAGOS
The Centre of Excellence is where you see this kind of a road. This is Ogba in the heart of Ikeja, the capital city. It is on this road that we drive our vehicles that we are compelled to have a road worthiness certificate for”.
“After driving on this road every day for a week, how can your vehicle be in good condition? Anyway the mechanics and spare parts dealers must chop,abi?”.
“If this is on Ogba, what about all those far-flung places? Ajangbadi, Agbado etc. This is Lagos, not unlucky Ogun State, that has continuously been blessed with….fill in the gap. Please help the state by adding your own ‘good’ roads in Lagos”.
Responding to Oyegbile’s post, another journalist, Wale Fatade wrote “Our governor is sleeping, we need to wake him up. I just paid for shock absorbers today after a trip to Egan early this month. Apart from Apapa-Oshodi expressway, all the roads I drive on daily are bad, no, terrible and our governor seems to have lost his way. Busy doing nothing”.
Speaking with our correspondent, a human rights activist, Ben Ukwungwu said before and after his reelection, the governor appears to have abandoned governance in the state.
” The state of the roads in Lagos are terrible and the governor needs to do something urgent about it. This doesn’t speak well for a Megacity at all and a state that is called the Centre of Excellence”.
“To me, Governor Sanwo-Olu seems to have abandoned governance in the state and has been embarking on frivolities. Before the election, he was busy following President Bola Tinubu all over the place for electoral campaigns”.
“Now that he has been reelected, instead of doing more as he has promised, he has been going for fashion shows and I saw him on TV the other day in London at a carnival, he said they are showcasing Lagos to the world so that investors can come in. Is it on these bad roads the investors will drive on? To whom much is given, much is expected” he said.