Across many major roads and streets of Lagos are streetlight poles that do not illuminate roads and streets at night. This is a huge departure from what it used to be between 2015 and 2019, when the LightUp Project of the state government was launched.

When the project was very active, many motorists could drive across major roads without their headlamp on, while commuters at major bus stops and roads could walk seeing who is coming ahead of them a kilometre away.

All the benefits that come with a well-lit road including checking the activities of petty thieves have disappeared as many streetlights across the state are not functional or not being powered to provide light.

Some of the major roads and streets that were illuminated then but no longer lit include, Oshodi up to Mangoro, along Iyana Ipaja – Sango road; Ikeja through Isokoko Police Station to Pen-Cinema; Ikeja inside through Guinness to Pen-Cinema, among others.

When the incumbent governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, assumed duty, the hope of continuity of the laudable project was raised, though he noted that the cost of running and maintaining the project was on the high side.

A civil servant, Law Bolya, lamented the unpleasant nature of unwelcomed darkness at night across many locations in Lagos.

“By the nature of my work, I always drive at night. There was a time the long poles fitted in the middle of Apapa Oshodi expressway were with light, which brightened everywhere along the road.
“All of a sudden, the poles became moribund and the road has since been added to the list of roads where darkness is the order of the day every night.
“There are many dangerous spots along the road. Toyota Bus Stop is one of such dangerous spots, where a lot of people have been robbed of their phones and valuable items owing to darkness that pervades the area at night.
“Movement from Oshodi to Gbagada axis is another journey that is unpalatable at night where there are poles without light.
“There was a night that an unusual traffic occurred along the axis and it was a long stretch. Fear gripped many drivers who were at the mercy of hoodlums that night.
“I, therefore, call on the Lagos State government to change the narration of Lagos State, which is the commercial nerve centre of the federation by giving it a befitting status with functional streetlights dotting its roads. It is a shame that any part of the city of Lagos should be in darkness with the type of revenue being generated in Lagos.
“There is no excuse to keep Lagos in darkness, no excuse at all and posterity would not forgive those in charge of Lagos, keeping a city like this in darkness that has everything it takes to look like New York in the United States of America” she said.

A trader, Mich Ade, who resides in Agege, lamented the condition of streetlights in that axis too.

“We enjoyed a serene environment with beautiful light at night just some years back. We enjoyed bright light from Mangoro, after leaving Ikeja, to Pen Cinema. Passing through Isokoko Police Station at night was without panic or fear.
“Since the beginning of this administration, the axis under reference has been left without light.  But for Zenith Bank and other hotels and offices along that road that have security light, the entire road would have been in constant stark darkness.
“The poles were suddenly removed with false hope to the residents in the area that better things were in the offing. Since then, nothing had been done to bring back the light, making the area to look as if it is no longer part of Lagos State.
“The situation is so bad that after Isokoko Police Station, the road is very dangerous to navigate at night. On one occasion, I was going home and was compelled to pass the road.
“Shortly after Isokoko Police station, close to AP Filling Station, two hoodlums waiting for prey shouted that I should take another direction contrary to where I was going.
“God immediately came to my aid, and I shouted Blood of Jesus and immediately, they ran back.
“The second time I was compelled to pass the road again, I was stopped by a concerned Policeman at Isokoko Police Station who warned me of the activities of hoodlums along the road at night.  He later asked a policeman who was passing with his motorcycle to assist me, who did and I paid him.
“To me, security of the governed should be the priority of any leader of a state. Everybody knows that hoodlums would always operate under the cover of darkness and since every leader would not want to endanger himself or herself or members of his family moving in the dark, it behooves leaders to have concern for their fellow citizens and no amount is too much to spend on security.
“It is when one is secured that one can live.  If anything happens to anyone in the dark, and the person becomes incapacitated, what is life to that person again?

“Those in authority should empathise and know that citizens are human beings too who voted them to power and expecting that they would make everything convenient for them. It is not that they and their families would be under protection and make the people that voted them into offices prone to danger.
“The axis in question has been left without light since the beginning of this administration and there is no language to describe this action more than ‘inhuman’,”he said.

A worker, Are Edun, who plies Ikeja – Guinness – Pen-Cinema axis, also decried the situation of the road at night.

“In the last administration, the light from Ikeja to Pen-Cinema via Guinness was not just bright but a kind of beauty to behold. But overtime the light became non-functional. After a long time, this administration made available solar energy light from Pen Cinema to the roundabout before getting to Guinness.
“It was later solar energy poles were also erected from Ikeja to somewhere around Guinness but the light was a shadow of the past in terms of brightness. But for the offices along that road with security light, it would be difficult to know at some point if there were streetlights along the road.
“At some point, the poles with their dim light are erected on one side of the dual carriage road, neglecting the other side,” he said.

A civil servant, whose office is not far from Oshodi, but pleaded anonymity, said it is a shame to pass through Oshodi at night.
“From under the bridge to Bolade and to Mongoro Bus Stop, which used to be very bright with streetlights on at night is now in darkness every night.
“Of note is that when the streetlights were functional, they provided a measure of security from Oshodi to Bolade Bus Stop, helping to boost the confidence of commuters as they navigate the corridor, while walking or waiting to board buses.  The nauseating thing is that the moribund poles are there.
“And the darkness and un-functional streetlights extends to as far as Abule Egba and beyond. Also, the new overhead bridge at Ikeja commissioned recently was inaugurated without streetlights.”

When Lagos Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotosho was contacted, he agreed that some areas were truly in darkness and that the government was aware, but there are plans to gradually address the issues of non-functional streetlights.

His words: “You are not wrong about some areas in Lagos still in darkness. There are so many places without light. And in some places the streetlights are not bright. What we are trying to do is to carry out some retrofitting to have bulbs that do not consume too much energy. It can be seen that where we are having light, it is white and bright. This is just to say that we are yet to complete the exercise. It is not economically viable to power streetlights the way we used to do in the past.

“Everybody knows what the price of diesel is now. It is not easy at all to use diesel and generator to power streetlights these days. It is very expensive and does not make any economic sense, spending that kind of money to power streetlights.
“What we are trying to do is to change the system to the streetlights being powered by discos, Eko Electricity or Ikeja Electricity Company. Another thing we can do is to change to gas. It is, however, taking a little bit of time for some of them that are being changed to gas.

Very soon, many of those areas in darkness will have light again. Also, the life span of some of the generators we are using are overstretched.”