Deborah Akinyosoye
President Bola Tinubu is expected today in Lagos State and as usual with such visits, motorists should look forward to significant traffic disruptions due to road closures and security mesures put in place by his protocol teams along some routes.
Any time the president visits Lagos, residents and motorists usually have a hectic time commuting from one point to another, especially on the routes and adjoining roads the president’s convoy will navigate through. The most impacted routes are those along the Airport road through Oshodi to the Third Mainland Bridge leading to Tinubu’s residence in Ikoyi. It also depends on whether the president will make a stop over at some location, like he did when he visited the Oba of Lagos recently.
In many instances, hours before the president arrives the airport in Lagos, the adjoining roads to his routes would have been closed leaving many held down at a spot until the president arrives in Lagos and his convoy speeds past.
It is after the president’s convoy has passed that the roads are re-opened for vehicular movement, resulting in a chaotic traffic as many motorists who had been bitter or frustrated by long lost hours hustle to quickly connect their location by driving with some level of impatience and road rage.
Also, a long these routes are battalion of security officers, army, police, navy, civil defence, among others who man roads while providing security checks including harassing motorists and pedestrians.
Tinubu has made several official visits to Lagos since his inauguration in May 2023.
These visits include June 27, 2023, when he visited Lagos upon returning from a seven-day trip abroad. He also visited Lagos on February 29, 2024, to unveil the Red Rail Line, and in December 2024, he was in Lagos after presenting the 2025 Budget before the National Assembly in Abuja.
In January 2025, he paid a visit to the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, at the Iga Idunganran palace in Lagos Island.