A lawmaker in Lagos State, Mr Setonji David (Badagry Constituency II), on Sunday decried the deplorable state of the Lagos-Badagry Expressway in the last six years.
The second-term member of the state’s House of Assembly told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the deplorable state of the highway had continued to affect residents, businesses and tourists negatively.
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The lawmaker, also Chairman, House Committee on Information, Strategy and Security said constituents had not ceased calling on the federal and state governments to end their sufferings and nightmares on the road.
He said that Badagry was the most disadvantaged place in Lagos State because the only road that connects it with the rest of Lagos had long been abandoned by the Federal Government.
“That road has terribly been in its worst state for the past five or six years. It is a Federal Government road and we have been appealing to the government to come to our aid on a road that was opened in 1974.
“Initially, the maximum time one would spend traveling on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway was 40 minutes, but now one would spend between five hours to six hours to go through the road. This has really affected economic activities.
“Badagry is a place for tourists’ attractions and it served that purpose when the road was good, but today, no tourist dares ventures into that trip because it will end in regrets.
“What we have today cannot encourage anyone to go for tourism in Badagry,’’ he said.
David said a tourist with the knowledge that it would take up to six hours to get to Badagry instead of 40 minutes would not dare as the journey would be tasking and stressful.
“Tourists traffic mostly from Lagos and other parts of Nigeria and outside has seized because of the bad road. Nobody is coming again.
“It has affected our businesses and tourism generally. People are going through harrowing experiences because of the conditions of our road. The road has failed totally,’’ he said.
The lawmaker, an engineer by training said Badagry Expressway could no longer be repaired but needed complete reconstruction.
He appealed to the Federal Government to expedite action on the road to ameliorate the sufferings of the people.
“Even though there is a contractor working on the road for about two years, the pace of work is very slow. Our people are suffering in Badagry.
“The oncoming rainy season will aggravate the suffering of the people. It is a terrible thing. We can only plead with the Federal Government to expedite action on the road and pay the contractor.’’ David said.