June 21, 2023

The Corps Commander, Corridor 1 of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Oseni Hamzat, says the Lagos-Ibadan expressway gridlock is not entirely about poor traffic management but also due to attitude of some road users.

Hamzat lamented the conduct of certain motorists, including commercial drivers and motorcades, plying the traffic-laden Lagos-Ibadan Expressway amid ongoing repairs.

The Commander speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday, attributed much of the bottlenecks that worsen the traffic situation to errant drivers on the wrong side of the road, driving in lanes facing oncoming traffic.

“There are some vehicles, especially these yellow buses and people who think they are high and mighty, driving against the flow of traffic,” he said.

“How do you relate with somebody who is carrying one moneybag and having armed men and they come in convoys, hitting both road safety, LASTMA, even the deployed police at different points?

“They are driving recklessly, they are ready to hit anybody, knock anybody down. And they would go forward to go and block other vehicles coming either in or out.”

The corps commander noted that the traffic congestion is not entirely about poor traffic management, but due to the attitude exhibited by road users.

He admitted that the bottlenecks are expected due to the ongoing construction, adding that patience was imperative for drivers to navigate certain portions of the road.

The corps commander noted that the FRSC and other sister agencies were making efforts to carry out “route lining” to ensure commercial drivers do not stop indiscriminately and obstruct the movement of traffic.

According to him, the road agencies had a meeting on Tuesday with the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos and Julius Berger to restrategise on how best the menace can be curbed.