Lagos-Seme road: Highway of death, distress

 

 

Echoes filtering from the Lagos-Seme dual carriage road are not musical to the ears. Anger, distress and sadness Daily Sun learnt are resonating in the air following the myriad of problems many that use the road have been left to deal with on daily basis. Commuters, traders, businessmen and women and even officials of the Nigerian Custom Service and other nationals using the road are complain about the deplorable state the facility lately. They are united in their will and words that the state of things on the road is sending trans border trade between the country and other members of the ECOWAS sub region crashing down hill. Many failed portions of the road are increasing by the day. And with the increasing presence of bandits waylaying unsuspecting commuters at the bad spots, traveling on the road has become nothing but a nightmare. Now, some stakeholders are saying that unless the Federal government begins to rehabilitate the road, businesses that depend on it to thrive will die off and that may not be long.
Some of such businesses Daily Sun gathered are mainly transport services and cross border trading. And there is no forgetting the revenue officials of the Customs Service operating at the border post collect on dutiable goods. The later can increase or decrease depending on if the safety and condition of the road. Daily Sun gathered that in the past months, the Customs command’s revenue profile in the third quarter of 2012 shows a steady decline apparently due to many traders shunning to use the road because of its worsening situation.
According to the Public Relations Officer, (PRO) Nigerian Customs Service, Seme Border Command, DSC Olota Ernest, the nature of the road taken a drastic toll on the revenue returns of the command in the last couple of months. He said the month of August was particularly affected when the ECOWAS trans border, Cargoes Truck Drivers’ Union, down tools in protest against the deteriorating nature of the road.