As congestion hits Ojota pedestrian bridge, Herbert Macaulay bridges ‘cry’ for patronage

For the past few days, scores of passers-by have been held ‘hostage’ at the Ojota pedestrian bridge in Lagos as they queued  to  negotiate  their way from one end of the bridge to the other, mainly wanting to cross over from the UAC end  to the Ogudu end. This is even as the pedestrian bridges […]

For the past few days, scores of passers-by have been held ‘hostage’ at the Ojota pedestrian bridge in Lagos as they queued  to  negotiate  their way from one end of the bridge to the other, mainly wanting to cross over from the UAC end  to the Ogudu end. This is even as the pedestrian bridges on the Herbert Macaulay road in ‘nearby’ Yaba seemed to have been abandoned by both the government and residents and ‘cry’ for patronage.
The congestion at Ojota, which started on Saturday, came on the heels of the decision of the Lagos State government to strictly enforce the law restricting people from crossing the expressways in the state, particularly the Lagos-Ikorodu expressway. Security personnel from the Police Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) were on hand to ensure compliance as well as control human traffic on the bridge. Apparently, the size of the bridge and the need to forestall stampede and to curb the activities of pick-pockets must have resulted in the long queues which became unbearable to some users who complained that the exercise was time- wasting and strenuous.
“’I have lined up here for the past one hour and the queue does not appear to be moving. I don’t know what my fate would be in the office this morning because it is obvious that I will be late to work today,” a factory worker who pleaded for anonymity told our correspondent on Monday.
Seventy-year-old Madam Idayat Balogun, who also lined up to use the bridge, said it was a grueling experience for her that fateful day.
She said: “I was on the queue for several minutes, sweating profusely because of the heat. I have never witnessed such thing in my life. Government should provide more footbridges in Ojota for people to use as this place is densely populated and a high commercial centre.”
A trader in Ikeja, Saidi Akanbi, also lamented that  the queues were too long, adding that the state government should device alternative  friendly measures  to ensure compliance with the campaign to stop pedestrians from crossing the expressway.
 “Imagine the man-hour losses people would suffer due to the time spent in queuing to use the pedestrian bridge. It is definitely not wise to line up several kilometres just to climb pedestrian bridge,” he said.
Mrs Abiodun Owo, who sells telephone recharge cards near the Ojota footbridge, said the bridge was too narrow for the high number of people that need to use it daily. She noted that some hoodlums had taken advantage of the narrowness of the bridge to pick the pockets of users during the congestion.
“Besides, people with fragile health would not be able to use the bridge during congestion. So, government should increase the size of the bridge,” she stated.
The footbridges dotting the Herbert Macaulay road in Yaba, however, do not experience the ‘worries’ associated with the Ojota bridge. Unlike the latter, the bridges are ‘just there’; rarely used by the pedestrians they are meant for.
Herbert Macaulay road, one  of the oldest and longest roads in Lagos, is named after Nigeria’s acclaimed pan-Africanist and nationalist, late Herbert Heelas Macaulay. The road has over the years evolved as an enclave of both the intelligentsia and the ‘masses’ who either live or eke out a living in Yaba and the adjoining areas of Ebute Metta, Oyingbo, Ojuelegba and Jibowu, among others.
Perhaps, what strikes one most about Herbert Macaulay road is that it has the highest number of pedestrian bridges in Lagos. Most of the bridges were built with durable metals about 45 years ago to minimise the risk of accidents or prevent traffic as a result ofpedestrians crossing the road.
The pedestrian bridges, eight in number, are located at the following bus stops: Rowe Park, Sabo, Adekunle, Moleye, Marda Barracks, WAEC, INEC and Yaba College of Technology, all within short distances of one another, which leave pedestrians with no choice than to use the facilities.
But the purpose of erecting the bridges on the road had for several years been defeated because the facilities are either not used or under-utilised by the residents or pedestrians who prefer crossing the road. There are also no conscious efforts by government to enforce the use of the bridges by such people.
Our correspondent reports that the under-utilisation of the foot bridges has caused physical dysfunction to the facilities, a situation that has made the bridges desolate, with many of the rails of the bridges being in a rotten state.
The footbridge in Sabo appears to be the only one a bit utilised among the lot, mostly by students of nearby Reagan Secondary School and other schools, workers in the area as well as the elderly who patronise popular markets in the area.
The pedestrian bridge at WAEC bus stop is more used as a shield from scorching sun or heavy rain by passers-by and commercial tricycle drivers in the area. It also serves petty traders selling telephone recharge cards and writing materials to free them from the eagle eyes of law enforcement agents as well as provides ground for the safety of their trading tools.
The footbridges at Marda Military Barracks and INEC bus stops, on the other hand, look isolated and untidy at all times, while the bridge at Moleye bus stop, a few stretch to Sabo market, is more utilised as a ‘platform’ by advertisers and marketers to  conspicuously display their posters, banners and bill boards to customers who need their products.
The bridges at INEC, WAEC and Adekunle bus stops are  also not free  from  the ‘patronage’ of the advertisers and marketers whose posters, banners and billboards are now making impressive showing on the facilities meant for patronage by pedestrians.
Some of the residents of Herbert Macaulay road appeared to care less about the foot bridges in the area. A trader, Tairu Balogun, said that he had not used the facilities for the past 20 years that he had been living in the area.
“I obviously have no reason to use the pedestrian bridges because they serve no use to me. It is easy for me to cross to the other end of the road since there is traffic light that directs vehicular movement and allows passers-by to negotiate their ways briskly,” he said.
A student living at Moleye who pleaded for anonymity, said she does not use the footbridge in the area because of its current state of under-utilisation which had made the facility to be dirty and untidy.
“I don’t like dirty environments. The footbridge here is an example of a dirty and unkempt environment. The facility is old, decaying and sometimes smelly. I cannot use the footbridge because of this,” she said.
Our correspondent notes that some of the footbridges on Herbert Macaulay road have also been converted to ‘homes’ and ‘relaxation spots’ by some homeless citizens and lunatics who need little or nothing to show that they are the ‘caretakers’ of these ‘abandoned’ facilities.