I lived in Lagos for 20 years, less than five kilometres from the popular Mile 12 area in Lagos; but in those 20 years, I never went beyond Mile 12 more than two times. The reason was simple: Traffic. I simply avoided the Mile 12 traffic like a plaque. I ensured that I did not have to go to any place beyond Mile 12.
I had heard tales from office colleagues and friends who lived beyond Mile 12. Some of them even built houses in the Ikorodu area and were happy that they had finally become landlords. Everybody was happy for them. Then, they began to leave home by 3 or 4am. to come to work. At the close of work when everybody would be glad to go home, they would remain in the office until 10pm. If they left by 6pm, they would still spend up to five hours in the Mile 12 traffic lockdown. After bearing this harrowing experience for some months, most of the new landlords eventually had to abandon their home and rent an apartment somewhere before Mile 12, thereby becoming tenants again, all because of the notorious Mile 12 traffic.
Some others had to keep their families in their new homes in the Ikorodu neighbourhood and rent rooms somewhere before Mile 12. Five days of the week, they would become bachelors or “expatriate workers” working in distant lands. By the weekend, they would “travel home” from “Lagos” to Ikorodu to be with their families. By Monday morning, they returned to their Mile-12-traffic-imposed exile. Only God knows how many marriages the Mile 12 traffic has put asunder!
These were the reasons why for 20 years I never wanted to have anything to do with any mission that would take me beyond Mile 12. I always found a way around such a trip.
But last year, our son got admission in a boarding school after Ikorodu, and going through the Mike 12 traffic has become something I can’t avoid once in a while, even though I ensure that I make the journey at periods when the traffic is not dense. As much as I have tried, I have had to spend about three to five hours on a number of times, especially on my way back from Ikorodu. This is a 33-kilometre journey that ordinarily should take less than 45 minutes of cool driving. Aside from the Ikorodu roundabout area that can be problematic once in a while, the major culprit is always the Mile 12 traffic.
The two major acts of magic that the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr Babatunde Fashola, performed in Lagos were solving the traffic problem of Oshodi (Oke and Isale) and Nnamdi Azikiwe Street in Idumota. Nnamdi Azikiwe Street was a no-go road for private vehicles. I used to think that the Lagos State Government officially handed the road over to the ugly commercial buses called molue and those who displayed their goods right on the road. I never saw a private vehicle drive from the Tinubu Square through Nnamdi Azikiwe Street to Carter Bridge in Idumota. Around 2008 I heard that Fashola had performed a magic there, so I decided to confirm with my own eyes like Thomas if it was true. It was a on a working day about 2pm. I drove from Tinubu Square. Lo and behold! A street that was completely overtaken by molue, stationary and mobile sellers of goods, truck pushers, street urchins (known as area boys), and pickpockets was free in broad daylight! I could not believe my eyes. I got to Carter Bridge and continued towards Oyinbo, and then turned back and went through Nnamdi Azikiwe Street to Broad Street.
I was also surprised when I drove through Oshodi (oke) freely shortly after Fashola became the governor in 2007. After experiencing the smooth ride on the overhead bridge at Oshodi for some days, I decided to do something I had never done before: Go to Ikeja GRA from Oshodi (isale). It was surprisingly free. A trip that would usually take me through Anthony Village and the Maryland traffic took me just a few minutes to complete. Sometimes, I even had to avoid the Maryland traffic and go through the Airport Road and pay the N100 toll fee just to save time. But by making Oshodi free, Fashola saved us all that.
Looking closely at what Fashola did to solve the Oshodi and Idumota traffic, one could see that there was nothing magical about it: He simply got a combined team of police and soldiers stationed at those areas to ensure that commercial buses no longer stopped on those spots to drop off or pick up passengers. New areas were created for them to do so. A problem that had lasted for decades was solved by commonsense in a day.
Sadly, in his eight years in office, Fashola did not think that Mile 12 needed to feel his magic touch like Oshodi and Lagos Island did. It gave credence to the allegation against him that he focused more on the elite areas than areas where the hoi polloi lived. Ironically, Mile 12 is about five kilometres from Lagos State Government House. Even when Fashola decided to widen the road from Mike 12 to Ikorodu to create lanes for the Lagos BRT operators, he still did nothing to make the Mile 12 bottleneck disappear.
Governor Akinwumi Ambode has the age-long Mile 12 traffic as a problem to solve. He is from Epe which is a sister community to Ikorodu: both of which are in Lagos East. Nobody expects him to quickly construct the Fourth Mainland Bridge that will open up Ikorodu: the huge amount of money needed for that may not be available now. But if he considers those who live in the Ikorodu neighbourhood important, he needs to urgently clear the traffic at Mile 12 with security men stationed there to make sure that commercial buses don’t stop on the main lanes. Buses who want to pick up passengers or drop off passengers must use the service lane. A long bus stop needs to be created on both sides of Mile 12 for commercial buses. Currently, the efforts of the traffic wardens (made up of police and LASTMA officials) at Mile 12 is not enough to solve the traffic problem at Mile 12.
In the long run, Ambode should think of constructing a bridge that is about four times longer than the current Mile 12 Bridge. That will make those passing through Mile 12 to really fly over the area without having any business with the traffic.
There are countless communities in the Ikorodu vicinity. Ikorodu is one of the very few areas in Lagos where the soil is firm and people who want to build houses don’t need to spend a fortune to sand-fill the parcel of land and then erect underground pillars that will go up to 30 metres or more to ensure that their houses don’t sink, bend or collapse. If the roads to and from Ikorodu and Epe are made smooth and traffic-free, that area of Lagos will attract millions of Lagos residents, thereby decongesting Lagos. The area is also good for agriculture. The Ikorodu area also provides an alternative route to Ijebu Ode en route to Benin City or Onitsha, especially when the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is bad or has a terrible gridlock.
Ambode must not neglect the Mile 12 traffic. He must make solving of the Mile 12 traffic a top priority. If he achieves the feat, history will record it in his favour.
By Azuka Onwuka
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