By Emmanuel Daniji

For residents of Olowu Street in Lagos Island East, getting through their own neighbourhood has become a daily battle.

For more than five years, residents say the street has been left in a deplorable condition, forcing pedestrians, motorists, traders and other road users to navigate its worsening state every day.

What makes the situation particularly frustrating for residents is the location of the street. Olowu Street is said to be just a short distance from the Lagos Island East Local Council Development Area (LCDA) secretariat, yet residents say they have continued to live with the consequences of a neglected road.

The complaint comes amid growing concerns over the condition of infrastructure across the area, with residents questioning why a road within the immediate vicinity of the council headquarters has remained in such poor condition for so long.

For the people who use Olowu Street regularly, this is not simply about a bad road.

It affects how they get to work, how traders move their goods, how residents access businesses and services and how easily people can move around their community.

Motorists have to manoeuvre through bad portions of the road, while pedestrians are left to contend with the same difficult conditions. During periods of heavy rain, residents say movement can become even more challenging.

Some residents have also questioned whether the increase in government allocations in recent years is translating into visible improvements at the grassroots.

Their argument is simple: if more resources are reaching local governments, they want to see some of that money reflected in roads, drainage, sanitation and other basic infrastructure that directly affects their daily lives.

The concerns are particularly significant because the Lagos Island East LCDA administration, led by Chairman Hon. Muibi Alade Folawiyo, has previously identified accessible roads as a priority for the council.

In 2024, Folawiyo said his administration planned to rehabilitate several roads within the LCDA, describing accessible road networks as important to easing movement and improving economic activities. The administration has also undertaken and commissioned other infrastructure projects within the council.

Residents now want that attention extended to Olowu Street.

They say they are less interested in promises than in seeing construction workers arrive, the road fixed and the daily hardship reduced.

For a community surrounded by some of Lagos Island’s busiest commercial and residential areas, residents argue that basic road infrastructure should not remain a distant expectation.

Their frustration is therefore not simply that Olowu Street is bad. It is that they have watched it remain bad for years while having to use it every day.

And with the Lagos Island East council secretariat so close, residents say they find it difficult to understand why their cries for attention have seemingly taken so long to receive a response.

They are now calling on the council and relevant authorities to inspect the street and take urgent steps towards its rehabilitation.

For the people of Olowu Street, fixing the road would mean more than another infrastructure project on paper. It would mean making everyday movement safer, easier and less frustrating for the residents who have had to live with the problem for years.