By Femi Ogbonnikan
Relief is right underway for motorists and commuters plying the Lagos/Sango-Ota/ Abeokuta Expressway. No more driving with tears. Many thanks to the Ogun State government for its timely intervention. On Friday, Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun graciously flagged off reconstruction work on the ever-busy road which had suffered 17 years of neglect and bulk-passing by successive governments at the federal level. The commissioning ceremony marked the end of a prolonged nightmare people have had to go through daily due to unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks, undue fussiness, and power contestation.
So much has been said about the story of how some cabals in the Federal Ministry of Works frustrated the earlier efforts made by Prince Abiodun and his counterpart in Lagos State under the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari administration to take over the joint responsibility of rehabilitating the road for the comfort of the people of citizens and to unleash its socio-economic benefits for all and sundry.
Nigeria is a country where impunity has become a way of life. For no reason, some people somewhere will deliberately abdicate their responsibilities and even hold others down. It sounds incredible how the Federal Ministry of Works constituted itself as a stumbling block in the collaborative effort to put the road back in shape years after it collapsed. In his recent public outing, the Governor had to vent his anger over the frustrating demeanour of the approval authorities in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory FCT.
He lamented his encounter thus: “The Lagos/Sango-Ota/ Abeokuta expressway is a federal government road and has been in a very bad shape for a long time. Because of the suffering our people pass through on the road, I and my counterpart in Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu jointly wrote a letter, using a single letterhead paper to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), seeking the transfer of that road for us to reconstruct.
“After waiting for a month without a reply, we wrote a reminder. That road was not handed over to us until the present Federal Government came on board.”
If things were okay, why would the approval be put on hold perpetually? While the terrible condition of the road lasted, so many lives were lost due to avoidable accidents. Apart from the wanton destruction of lives, commercial and economic activities also suffered unmitigated disaster as trailers and other articulated vehicles fell on their sides. No one can account for the quantum of human and material resources that had perished on the road in the last 17 years when the blame game started. If there were mechanisms for holding public servants accountable for their actions or inactions, some people should have been put behind bars. Regrettably, here we are in our country where you can do anything and get away with it.
However, despite the intrigues that characterised the delayed transfer of the responsibility for the rehabilitation of the road, Governor Abiodun doggedly fought the cabals to the end. And it speaks to his genuine commitment to serve. Otherwise, he could have latched on to the excuse, and turned a blind eye, while the people suffered endless hardship and agony on the road.
Therefore, the ceremony marking the official flag off of the reconstruction works is a further testament to the prodigious capacity of Prince Dapo Abiodun to break all forms of barriers that stand in his way in the course of service to the people.
According to him, the reconstruction work on the 70-kilometre highway will be completed in a good record time of 18 months. For mobilising resources under the current economic condition in the country, his name will be written in the sand of time.
The socio-economic importance of the Lagos/Sango-Ota/Abeokuta road cannot be over-emphasized. When completed, the road will guarantee the steady growth of Ogun State’s economy and act as a catalyst for its capacity as an increasingly expanding industrial and investment destination of choice in the country.
Over the years, due to its proximity to Lagos, the nation’s commercial nerve centre, the state has been under pressure to absorb the excess population of urban workers seeking for affordable accommodation along the corridor. This concern informed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) had earlier signed by Governor Abiodun with his counterpart in Lagos, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, leading to the inauguration of the Lagos-Ogun Joint Development Commission (LOJDC).
Today, the success of that policy can be seen in the rapidly growing population of Ota, Sango, Ifo, and other adjourning settlements in Ogun State. More than ever before, it is now stress-free for people to work in Lagos, while residing in Ogun.
Due to the combined effects of the ease-of-doing-business and the sustained effort to make the state attractive for investment, Ogun State has overtaken Lagos in terms of localization of industries. To sustain the feat, the Abiodun administration has continued to place priority attention on the development of infrastructure to create an enabling environment for the industrial growth of the state. The Lagos/Sango-Ota/Abeokuta Road is of critical importance to the realization of this objective. Apart from being the Gateway to the Ogun State, it is the busiest road in the Southwest, next to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, in terms of human and vehicular movements.
With the flag-off of the project, motorists can no heave a sigh of relief, while they look forward to stress-free driving after the completion. Speaking during the ceremony on Friday, August 23, 2024, Abiodun assured that the reconstruction of the 70-kilometre Expressway will be completed in 18 months.
The Governor, who performed the flag-off at Itori, Ewekoro Local Government Area, restated the significance of the road not only to Ogun State but also to Lagos State and the nation, noting that “it provides a thoroughfare for people going to the neighbouring country.”
He recounted the endless efforts that climaxed the award of the contract for the reconstruction. According to him, the attempt to take over the responsibility of the road was first conceived in 2019, but all efforts to convince the federal government to release it to the Ogun State Government proved abortive.
His words: “The plan for the reconstruction of this road did not just start today because we have the interest of our people at heart. We know this is a Federal Government road, and the State had to follow the due process before getting the required approval to commence the reconstruction.
“This road was awarded in 2003, but since then, it has suffered insufficient funding, resulting in contractors working and many times abandoning the road at times for a year by when the roads would have suffered degradation. Our people have suffered too much travelling on this road, but today Hope is Renewed.
“I am glad to inform you that work is beginning on the road immediately. The excuse then was that there was a sitting contractor on the road. The best the State could do at that time was to carry out palliative works on the critical sections along the road axis. We re-opened our appeal to the Federal Government to reconstruct the road upon the inauguration of His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who graciously, through the Honourable Minister for Works, Sen (Engr) Dave Umahi handed over the reconstruction of the road to Ogun State.
He, therefore, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for conceding the request. This is even as he acknowledged the Minister of Works, Umahi, for his support and cooperation. “I want to use this medium, therefore, to express my heartfelt gratitude to the President of Nigeria, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for obliging our state’s request by granting the approval and releasing the Abeokuta/Ifo/Sango-Ota/Abule-Egba Road to us for reconstruction.
“My sincere appreciation also goes to the Federal Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi, for his support and cooperation in ensuring our State got the necessary approval to reconstruct the road,” the Governor said.
Prince Abiodun described the road as the second busiest in the country apart from the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. “Lagos/Ifo/Sango-Ota/Abeokuta Road has been adjudged to be the second busiest road in Nigeria and is vital to the economy of the people of Ogun State and Nigerians at large. It connects Abeokuta and its hinterlands to Lagos State, and links Ilaro in Ogun West to Sagamu in Ogun East through the Sagamu-Interchange-Papalanto-Ilaro road.
“On the Ota side, it also connects the Sango-Atan-Owode-Idi-Iroko road, leading to border towns and the Benin Republic. The road serves as a critical artery for numerous industrial hubs in Ota, including the Lafarge Cement Factory, Ile-Ise Awo, various schools, and higher institutions. The communities along this corridor are densely populated, and the road’s strategic location has a significant impact on trade and economic activities,” he added.
Abiodun disclosed that five construction gangs would be involved in the execution of the project for speedy completion.
“To fast-track the reconstruction of the road, five reconstruction teams will be involved, and each team will handle one of the following zones: Ota/Ifo, Papalanto, Ewekoro/Itori, Abeokuta, and the team allocated for palliative works to ensure smooth traffic along the project alignment during the construction.
“Each zone covers a distance of approximately 15 km. The Abeokuta/Ifo/Sango-Ota/Abule-Egba Road project is expected to be completed in eighteen months,” Prince Abiodun assured.
One of the immediate benefits of the project is the creation of jobs for both skilled and unskilled labour with the resultant multiplier effects on the economy. Other than job creation, the governor stated, it would also improve security along the axis and provide a conducive environment for factories and businesses in the communities to operate.
While calling on the people to take ownership of the project by cooperating with the contractor, Governor Abiodun urged the private sector to partner with the state government in its socio-economic development drive, assuring that his administration would continue to provide the required infrastructure to facilitate easy movement across the State.
In his welcome address, the state Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Ade Akinsanya, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Engr. Lateef Yusuf reiterated the commitment of the state government to the speedy completion of the project which cuts across four local government areas of the state to alleviate the suffering of motorists.
The Olu of Ilaro and Paramount Ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, in his goodwill message, noted the neglect of the road by successive administrations in the State but commended the Abiodun administration for deeming it fit to fix it for the good of all.
Also speaking in the same vein, the Olu of Itori, Oba Abdulfatai Akamo, said the road had been in bad condition for about 12 years, as previous administrations at both the federal and state levels did nothing to rehabilitate it, thereby exposing motorists to unnecessary hardship.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) State Chairman, Chief Yemi Sanusi, described the reconstruction of the road as a major dividend of democracy for the people, calling on the road users to make judicious use of it.
The representative of the Managing Director of Graneburg, the company handling the rehabilitation, Engr. Edmond Maalu, appreciated the government for entrusting the project to his company while assuring that it would execute quality work. He called for the cooperation of the people and traffic management for seamless operation.
For Governor Abiodun, the reconstruction of the road is another promise kept. And promise-keeping is a mark of honour.
Ogbonnikan writes from Abeokuta, Ogun State capital
