Oke – Koto water debacle and the question of the needful, By Olajide Shuaib

It’s no longer a news that the descension of the Pen cinema Agege flyover at Oke-Koto Agunbiade end is undergoing a repair work barely a year after its commissioning. Prior the repair work, driving through the area to Ikeja, Oshodi or Iyana Ipaja particularly in the outgoing rainy season became excruciating as a result of the large failed portions of the road.

At the descension of the flyover, there is a vehicular turning point that was provided before the traffic light which enable vehicles to turn back to either the bridge inward Oba Ogunji road or Agege and Abule Egba through the access road beside it. During this current rainy season, the vehicular turning point became a water log with incessant stagnation of rain water which have rendered the portion to be completely deplorable. That have conditionally made the failed portion to be closed and have resulted to constant traffic logjams.

At the other side of the failed turning point, the access road at the departure curve to join ipaja road was too narrow and sharp, to the extent that lorries fell and spilled their contents almost on weekly basis. At that curve, there is a susceptible compromise at the time the road was originally constructed because it’s obvious that that side of the road can still be expanded up to 1.5 meters: the expansion is exactly what they are doing now as the repair work continues. Even a layman that is ignorant of road construction would fault the narrowness of the road and drainage.

Hence, the narrowness of the drainage have rendered the side too to be impassable due to the stagnation of the rain water and deplorable state of the road. Business along that road have suffered huge sale lost including a petrol station that belongs to a popular politician in Agege.

The underlying factor that have necessitated the objectionable repair work is that the construction company didn’t do it’s diligent pre-construction work or there is compromise somewhere.

Oke Koto have under it, a distributive water drainage that collected water coming from Agege Total and distributes it to Alfa-Nla, Ipaja road and a canal that passed through Adenle and Abimbola street up to Awori street. Awori street drainage supposed to be a dispatching point of the water to a canal at Dopemu and to Cement thereof. But unfortunately,

Awori street drainage was poorly constructed. The drainage is not well inclined to ensure free flow of water. To that extent, the drainage is filled with debris and refuse and with a little rainfall, even if the rain didn’t fell around Awori street, the street would be submerged with the water that looks very dirty and blackish. That has, albeit, rendered properties on that area worthless.

As at the time the construction of the flyover commenced then, the distributive underneath water channel at Oke-Koto was blocked for the reasons best known to the construction company. The water was channeled to Alfa-Nla drainage whereas, the drainage have blocked with debris and refuse due to lack of maintainance of clearing and evacuation at when due.

Though, Alfa-Nla drainage would have became a respite if it’s constantly maintained and evacuated. The blockage of the distributive water channel, was alleged to have ochestrated by some landlords who believes that channeling the water away from their areas will relieve them of water problems.

Aside the water problem, there is also a gridlock problem that also needs to be addressed. The road from Shofunde to Oke Koto allows two vehicles simultaneously up to the traffic light point at oke Koto. Surprisingly, the demarcation work that paved way for vehicles that goes to Alfa-Nla was so big that the two vehicles from Shofunde would have the narrow passage of one of them and thereby created a bottleneck for logjam.

The drainage inward Agege AP too needs to be reconstructed and Alfa-Nla drainage needs evacuation up to its base.

Penultimately, the power of community, if fully exerted would have prevented all these. The community under the aegis of Community Development Association (CDA) needs to be more proactive to problems in their areas. If the CDA was on ground and proactive, the alleged compromise would have been averted.

Agege is now the haven of drug addicts with all sort of criminal activities particularly in that same Oke Koto, but I haven’t seen the place of CDA in solving or mitigating the problem. The work of CDA should go beyond dues collection, they should be involved virtually in everything that concerns their community. Courageous people who would speak the truth irrespective of whose ox is gored should be the one that would be directing the affairs of the CDAs.

For instance, there is nothing stop the CDAs to hire private engineer to access the area before the construction and present their view to the government as the community people. I understand government fund them but telling the truth would have saved the taxpayers money that would be expended again on the repair work.

So my expectation is that the CDAs should monitor the ongoing repair work and raise alarm if there is a compromise of any sort again.

“T’omode ba s’oju misinmisin bi eni to fe s’ukun. Bi agbalagba ba se ipenpeju wuruye bi eniti o fe gb’eyan mi. To’ba j’ebi, ebi lama da”

-Shuaib, a public affairs commentator writes from Agege, Lagos