Commercial activities came to a total halt at Iganmu, Costain Roundabout, Ijora, Funsho Williams Avenue and other areas on the Lagos Mainland as trucks blocked highways, forcing commercial vehicle operators to increase fares by a record 100 per cent.
The situation was a bedlam, especially at Iganmu on Monday as articulated vehicles and other motorists drove against traffic, causing logjam on various roads.
Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub, has been in traffic chaos in recent years, caused by lawlessness on highways and an apparent inability by traffic managers to enforce rules to check lawlessness.
Analysts blame the situation on what they describe as poor governance in a mega city dotted by poor roads and bubbling with human activities.
Some commuters lamented the inability of the Lagos State government to find a lasting solution to the problem.
Mr. Olakunle Ajayi described his driving from Costain to Orile as a nightmare because of motorists driving against traffic.
“I’m sick and tired of Lagos. Do we still have government in this state?’’ he asked, even as social miscreants extorted money to allow him passage.
“I don’t like driving against traffic because sometimes it can be fatal but with no other road to my destination, l’m forced to do one-way,” Ajayi said.
Another motorist, lsmaila Ahmadu, who plies the Ojuelegba-ljora route, said the gridlock had ruined the business of many commercial motorists because their daily trips had been reduced.
“My tricycle is on hire purchase. I have to pay off to own it but with this gridlock, l don’t know what to do. I am tired of this hardship.”
A trader, Mrs. Angela Abumeri, said she endured a long wait at Fadeyi Bus stop in her bid to get a bus to Orile.
“I woke up around 4 am to buy fruits from Ketu. Going home is now difficult because transporters are breaking the journey to collect double fare,” Abumeri said.
A truck driver, who simply gave his name as Danjuma said his colleagues resorted to blocking the roads because traffic managers were forcing them out of Lagos bridges.
“Traffic managers have gone tough on us. They chased us from parking on the bridges and since we have no alternative, we have to park on the middle of the roads.
Reacting to the development, the Chief Executive Officer of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Mr. Chris Olakpe, restated that LASTMA is on top of the situation.
He said that the agency had been working hard to tackle the gridlock.
- NAN