Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has spent N1.62 trillion on infrastructure in four years, but the deplorable state of roads in the south-west state ridicules that expenditure.
Sanwo-Olu came to power in 2019 but implemented the budget of his predecessor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, that year. Between 2020 and 2023, however, he has implemented his own budget worth N1.62 trillion to revivify Lagos’ decaying infrastructure.
But his efforts are like water off the duck’s back as Lagos roads have continued to go from bad to worse. Last week, a video surfaced on the social media showing the flooded Lekki-Epe Road with vehicles stuck in heavy jam that clogged into the major city as early as 8am.
Our correspondent found that roads from Ejigbo to Ikotun, down to Iba and Iyana-Ipaja, are broken and have been worsened by heavy rains. At Ejigbo, which seems to have been abandoned by the governor, a businesswoman, Ms Bola Aiyegbeni, said she was disappointed with the state of infrastructure in her area.
Nurudeen Obe Street, Ejigbo, Lagos
“If you are coming here in the evening, you may spend two to three hours to get home due to the state of the roads,” she said.
“This is not the Lagos of our dream,” she added.
Governor Sanwo-Olu spent N115 billion on road infrastructure in 2020, increasing it to N697 billion in 2021. However, his road war chest fell to N325 billionin 2022 but rose to N482.86 billion in 2023. But many people are beginning to worry that the spending is making little or no impact.
At Ojo area of Lagos, roads are as bad as they are at Iyana-Ipaja. Passengers spend hours to get to their places of work or business due to the poor state of roads which makes traffic gridlock inevitable.
At Oshodi area of Lagos, roads are also as bad as they are at Ajegunle. A resident of Oshodi Local Government Area, Mr Chima Nduaguba, said the area made mockery of Sanwo-Olu’s infrastructure renewal claim.
“Lagos State infrastructure is wearing away by the day. Understandably, this is due to the population and high number of vehicles in the state. But the truth is that it does not look like the government has spent anything to improve several parts of the state,” he said.
A resident of Ajegunle, which is often regarded as a slum, Ms Ene Ibrima, said she sometimes spent double to go to work or return any time it rained in the state.
“I often spend N2,600 each day, but once it rains I spend nearly double and remain in traffic for several hours. This is as a result of the poor state of roads in the state.”
Infrastructure spend lower than peers
Lagos State’s gross domestic product is estimated at $33.68 billion, making it Nigeria’s richest state. Its population is estimated at over 20 million, and the government has spent $4.050 billion (using a conservative exchange rate of N400/$) on infrastructure, particularly roads. This is an average of $1.01 billion annually.
Two other economic capitals of emerging African markets have spent a little more. The city of Johannesburg spends an average of $1.9 billion on infrastructure while the Nairobi Metropolitan Area Infrastructure Note says the political and capital capital has spent an equivalent of $6.682 billion on infrastructure in four years, averaging $1.68 billion annually. 
But Sanwo-Olu is constructing red and blue rail lines and has promised that the former will be ready by end of 2023.
The first two lines of the Red Line will cost $1.4 billion while the 27 km Blue Line connecting Okokomaiko to Marina is estimated to cost $1.2 billion.
Impact of vehicles
Though Sanwo-Olu is yet to convince many in terms of his road renewal vision, Lagos State is home to millions of vehicles. It is believed that nearly half of 12 million vehicles in Nigeria are in Lagos. Apapa and Tin Can have played host to long vehicles and containers ferrying goods and oil from the seaport. They stay on bridges for weeks.
The number of people coming into Lagos is also putting pressure on Lagos, which is Nigeria’s smallest state by land mass (3,345km²). About 86 persons enter Lagos every minute and they have no plan to leave, according to former Governor Ambode.
“Lagos is such a rich state. All the governor needs to do is to spend five percent of the state’s GDP each year. Sanwo-Olu should be deliberate about this,” said a United Kingdom-based economist, Prof Kayode Omobola.
“Also, development should get to all places without discrimination. I do not like the way past and present governors have handled road rehabilitation in places dominated by people of other ethnic groups in Lagos. If you punish anyone because of where they are from or their lack of support for your political ideology, Lagos will be the ultimate loser – as is the case now,” he added.
Sanwo-Olu says infrastructure needs exceed $15bn
However, Sanwo-Olu has said that Lagos State’s rising population and limited geography were putting pressure on the infrastructure. He noted that the infrastructure needs of the state exceeded $15 billion annually – five times more than the annual state budget.
“We must find solutions to all of these problems urgently, but all of these solutions must be paid for. Investors are the partners and vehicles who will deploy the capital and the financial mechanisms that will underwrite the solutions to all of the challenges and problems that we face, as sub-national and national entities, and as a planet,” he said recently at the Lagos State Investment Roundtable (LSIR)
(Economy Post)
