The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, says the contractors handling the Lagos-Ibadan expressway construction would be held accountable for accidents on the road for failing to provide safety signs.

Abiodun, while conducting an on-the-spot assessment of the Ogere toll gate end of the reconstruction work on Wednesday, read the riot acts, saying the failure of the contractors to put safety signs on the road had in recent times led to the unfortunate but preventable loss of lives and carnage of the country’s busiest route.

The road, which witnessed another accident in the early hours of Wednesday, claimed five lives. Another accident a few hours later also claimed three lives while 15 persons sustained varying degrees of injuries.

Abiodun commiserated with the affected families and said he would take the issue up with the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, to ensure expeditious completion of the rehabilitation works that has been on for decades.

He said, “I am going to take this up with the Minister of Works. This contractor has to be held accountable; we cannot continue to pussyfoot around a project that is so important, particularly around this corridor.

“I want to call on the contractor handling this project to expedite action. We cannot take any more excuses on this project. We are going to be holding them responsible for any accident because safety measures are not in place; no safety signs and this is just an unnecessary loss of lives for us.

“We have had too many of these types of sad days on our major highways in Ogun State, but of particular note is the recurrence of this type of incidents around this corridor of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.”

Abiodun, while noting that the drivers of the trucks involved in the accident could not be totally blamed for the accident as a result of the inability of the contractor to provide all the necessary safety signs, added that the construction had “been too protracted.”

He added “These people (drivers alone) cannot be faulted; construction is ongoing, there are no proper safety signs. Anywhere in the world, there would be enough signs that would tell whoever it is that is on the road that the road is now a dual carriageway.

“Obviously, the man coming from Ibadan assumed that he was the only one headed in the direction and was not expecting the tanker that pulled out of the fuel station.”

Abiodun further urged road users around the corridor to take their time while driving through the area.

Baawaa:
This useless,senseless governor is too dull for my likeness

Prophet777:
Julius Berger is the main problem of that road. Exactly what you see when an unserious govt is engaging an unserious contractor. JB have been on that road since 2013 doing nothing. Just how many kilometers of road for God's sake? They have turned themselves to politicians. I am now doubting the quality of their job.

We the residents of that areas have suffered enough. Traffic day and night, commercial motorcylists and drivers usually capitalized on that milk us dry.

Cantonese:
You can hold the contractors responsible on one part but do not forget that bus drivers get reckless and irresponsible too. Who knows, the driver could have seen the tanker emerging and wanted to make a quick dash, so the tanker would either not obstruct his movement or delay him.

Many years ago in this country it was a standard requirement for drivers to read, understand and have good knowledge of road signs. Unfortunately that no longer obtains. We have a very huge percentage of drivers who are very illiterate and irresponsible. Even the educated ones do not know road signs. I can bet that same governor may not know road signs. Ogun state has roads that are very disgraceful and yet the governor has failed to attend to them. Those who go to equity must have clean hands. He needs to attend to the terrible road in his state before judging the contractors fixing other roads.

That said, some transport drivers think it is proper to “shine their eyes” with either igbo or paraga or both before embarking on long journeys. Some get to areas where even common sense should get them to be patient, yet they try to circumvent it quickly. Some think driving at a particular speed makes their movements too slow. Some are encouraged by their passengers to drive at great speeds. Some think other slow moving road users “no sabi drive”.

Everything is just wrong with Nigeria. When will we ever get it right?