But for divine providence, the families of many pupils of a nursery and primary school in Okota area of Lagos State could have been thrown into mourning by now. A truck plying the pothole-riddled Ago Palace Way, Okota, lost control and hit a school bus that was conveying pupils to school. The incident happened during the week.

An eyewitness told Daily Sun that the truck was trying to avoid some other tankers that were parked along the road, thereby narrowing it to a single lane. In the process, the truck hit the school bus that was filled with children on their way to school.

According to him, as a result of the accident, all the doors of the bus became forcefully locked, leaving the terrified children screaming and weeping uncontrollably. They had to be rescued through the window.

Speaking with Daily Sun at the scene of the accident, Prince Nixon Okwara, Chairman of Ago Phase Two United Forum, the umbrella organisation of all the estates in the area on Ago-Okota Road said that was not the first time such was happening on the road.

He said the situation was worse at night when trucks and tankers were usually parked on both sides of the road, thereby reducing the road to one lane and causing accidents and serious traffic problem.

According to him, residents in the area had on several occasions, written to the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, to help them stop the trucks from parking on the Ago Palace Way.

He said that they had also sent a save-our-soul message to the new governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode to come to their aid.

Another resident of the area, Moses Onwughalu, said since the end of the tenure of former Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, the contractors handling the Ago Palace Way have withdrawn their services probably because they were not sure if his successor would want to continue with the road project.

According to him, this had worsened the state of the road as the graded parts had turned into craters.

He called on Governor Ambode to bring the contractors back, adding that the road was very important to residents of the area and the state in general.

He also appealed to the governor to exercise his powers in clearing the road of the menace of tanker drivers.

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