For obvious reasons, the Ogun State governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has been in the eyes of the storm over roads. In another state, with some 600 km of roads already constructed/rehabilitated, there would be no question about commitment to road construction.
But not in Ogun State, where opposition elements angling for power have always suborned hack and hired writers to pillory the governor. Second, the immediate past administration had done a great disservice in many areas, demolishing houses at will. It scraped asphalt off the roads, promising eight-lane roads, ‘beheading’ houses for roads that never came. People whose houses had been demolished had no homes, yet the roads they were previously using had all but vanished. Bridges were started where not needed, then abandoned.
The third factor is the most salient: Ogun, a gateway to climes beyond Nigeria, has more federal roads than most states, and they almost always present a picture of abandonment. The FG, which rushes to repair its roads in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, gives a short shrift to roads in Ogun.
Take the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road, for instance. When, moved by the pains of Ogun residents and Nigerians in general, the Ogun State helmsman, in July 2022, gave the FG an ultimatum to begin constructing the road or he would begin work on it within two weeks, Babatunde Fashola, then Minister of Works, gave him a stern warning to steer clear of federal roads. Abiodun had spoken shortly after inspecting some bad portions of the 52.5 kilometre road in Ewekoro axis. Fashola even said derisively: “I am still waiting for the governor response on where he intends to fund the project.” That was completely uncharitable, because the Ogun governor and his Lagos State counterpart had written a letter on a single letterhead, pleading with President Muhammadu Buhari to let them reconstruct the road!
Of course, with the FG’s refusal, the governor had to back down and sadly, the FG which objected to state repair of the road failed to reconstruct it. But hope is on the horizon now. Said Governor Abiodun recently, while inspecting the Agbara-Lusada-Atan road currently under construction: “Because of the suffering our people passed through on the road, I and my counterpart in Lagos jointly wrote a letter, using a single letterhead to the Federal Executive Council, seeking the transfer of that road for us to reconstruct. After waiting for a month without reply, we wrote a reminder. That road was not handed over to us until the present Federal Government came on board. The contract for the road has since been awarded in May this year.” Now, the long-suffering people of the area will have cause for cheer.
The hard-working government of Oyo State recently celebrated its construction of over 300km of roads, but do you know that the statistic for Ogun is almost double that figure? Yet, Governor Abiodun is accused of doing nothing by people who use, say, the Mojoda-Ijebu-Ode-Epe road and the Shagamu Interchange-Abeokuta road, which are some of the federal roads he built. Happily, though, the people’s governor is unfazed by the mischief couched in criticism.
Barely two days after he visited the Denro-Ishasi road in Ojodu Abiodun community in Ifo LG and gave a marching order to the contractor handling the project, asphalt laying commenced in earnest. The community’s royal father, Oba Salisu Abiodun, commended him for being a man of his word and for displaying the heart of a good leader. He was joined by the secretary of the community, Mr Afunsho Jimoh, who lauded the governor for coming to the community’s aid after decades of governmental abandonment, and by a resident, Mr Adegboye Oluwaseun, who said the people were overwhelmed with the show of love and care displayed by the governor. A business owner in the area, Mr Abiola Olarinloye, also appreciated the government for the infrastructure development springing up across the state. Said the governor: “Following our inspection visit today, we have set a two-week deadline for the completion of the Denro/Ishasi/Akute Road and have issued a directive to the contractors to ensure timely completion.”
The Agbara-Lusada-Atan road currently under construction is scheduled for completion in September. Before Abiodun took office, the road was in a terrible condition, leading to trailers and other articulated vehicles falling on their sides, and his administration decided not to wait for the Federal Government before commencing its reconstruction.
The road, with a width of 10 metres, is being built to standard, and will be dualised from the Lagos-Badagry road end to the Agbara Estate gate, with a single lane constructed to Atan to aid movement. It is a 20 km double-lane road. Hear the governor: “I have said to the contractors that they must ensure that from the Lagos-Badagry end, the dual carriageway is completed to the entrance of the industrial estate, the OPIC entrance, so that trucks and trailers that are coming from the port can enjoy the dual carriageway easily going in and out effortlessly, so we can increase productivity and enhance their operations. We will now focus on one lane beyond the OPIC entrance to Atan first. Let’s finish that so our people can enjoy the driving pleasure from Lagos-Badagry to Atan on one side. One side is 4.75 wide. It will take at least four vehicles.”
Work is scheduled to begin on the Alagbole-Ajuwon and Akute-Ajuwon roads in Ifo LG, followed by Hercules Giwa (Oke Aro Rd) and some sections of the Akute-Ijoko road, and the road leading to Yakoyo. Next week, active construction will start on Alagbole-Ajuwon and Akute-Ajuwon roads. The Olusegun Osoba-Toyin Street is already done. The governor himself put things in perspective when he said: “When I assumed office on May 29, 2019, the deficit that we met was such that we began to wonder what the previous administration was doing. In some instances, they appear to have good intentions, they went to the roads, demolished houses. Roads that should not be more than a single carriageway, they turned to dual carriageways. By so doing, they removed all the asphalt that was there serving the people and abandoned these roads. We inherited quite a lot of these roads. Some of those roads are federal roads, and you know our people cannot differentiate between federal and state. They will geo-locate their pains where and when they are feeling it.”
That, precisely, is the crux of the matter. But since there is a listening governor one who wants development across the state, the story is changing, and it is a marvelous one.
• Funmi Branco contributes this piece through funmibranco@naver.com
