By Enitan Olukotun
Traffic snarl is nobody's friend. I understand the frustration of many Nigerians on the roads occasioned by failed portion or reconstruction activities.
However, some of the rage and outburst like the one expressed by one Niran Adedokun in the Punch Newspaper, Thursday edition drifted off tangent just to denigrate Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola.
The caption of his article was disingenuously crafted to bring Fashola into an unrelated fray.
What has Fashola got to do with gridlock and attendant hiccups that are resultants of construction activities?
Whilst I sympathize with fellow Nigerians that commute on the critical Lagos/ Ibadan Expressway, the fact must be stated that an Omelet can't be made without breaking an egg.
Fashola has over time intervened to ameliorate the temporal discomfort by instructing the contractors to either suspend work during Yuletide periods or open blocked section when citizens complained.
Contrary to Mr Adedokun's labelling, Fashola never has never held the Nigerian people with contempt or suppress their demand for better life.
Again, Fashola from his days in Lagos has often demonstrated that public thrust should taken seriously by public servants.
Ironically for the name calling Mr Adedokun, the gridlock being referenced was actually caused by a trailer which spilled its content occupying almost the entire stretch of the road. Yet, traffic managers including Federal Road Safety Corps officials were not standing akimbo while the chaotic situation lasted.
Mr Adedokun sounded academic when he suggested that 'all' alternative roads should have been fixed before embarking on Lagos/ Ibadan Expressway construction.
Yet, Mr Adedokun was already an adult in 1999 when Olusegun Obasanjo administration mulled the reconstruction but never started.
I still remember the Wale Babalakin's Bi-Courteny's war with Umaru Musa Yah-Adua government over same road.
Nigeria cannot wait for a state of utopia before embarking on that critical project. Government deserves kudos on this score.
Perhaps maybe Mr Adedokun is one of the opinion writers who don't move around but depend and garner materials from biased sources...
Mr Adedokun should have known that Arab Contractors, the construction firm handling Ikorodu, Ita-Oluwo, Ogijo, Gbaga enroute Sagamu is on site.
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