Like America, Lagos refreshes herself with a regular inflow of migrants . It is said that about fifty people migrate to Lagos every hour and they hardly return to their ‘huts’ to use the words of President Trump.
This is not to diminish anybody for seeking more verdant pastures as the lack of economic opportunities in the rural areas is the main reason for the movement to urban areas .
The author is also a migrant in Lagos. My grand parents migrated from Ijebu Imushin and we have not given it a thought to return to our ‘hut’.
The implication of the mass movement to Lagos is that there is continuous pressure on the state’s infrastructure mainly roads , housing and so on
Moving from one place to another is like corporal punishment as the roads are littered with axle breaking potholes and congested. Besides the use of ‘okadas’ as a means of transportation has suddenly become a conveyor to most destinations. The water ways, especially from Ajah to Ikorodu has also become busy.
Complications however have set in due to the poor driving habits mostly caused by the frustration of road users. Driving on one way and other nefarious vices have become the order of the day thereby making worse an already bad problems.
For those who can afford it , they get licenses to blow their sirens for other people to gracefully give them priority to use the road. Such a policy is abnormal in civilized societies and should be abolished .
Thankfully, Governor Babajide Sanwo- Olu has hit the ground running by imposing heavy penalties on recalcitrant road users with the hope that the driving culture will reduce the traffic jam on our roads.
But this is not enough, the government acting in concert with the local government must embark of massive rehabilitation of roads state wide.
Equally too, the rightful return of the monthly environmental exercise will help to keep drains free and in turn reduce the rate of running water on our roads.
The completion of all on going road projects is also a step in the right direction.
What is required now in the state is a workable mass transit scheme, a functional rail and water ways , good motorable roads and the enforcement of traffic regulations.
On top of this, is the need for a proactive traffic system that must run ahead of the astonishing population growth.
