As hope grows for reconstruction of Lagos/Ota/Abeokuta road

SINCE he took office following the inauguration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's new cabinet a few weeks ago, the Minister of Works and Housing, Senator Dave Umahi, has been on a routine tour through the country to assess the state of the situation. infrastructure deficit in the states of the federation. The exercise recently took him to Ogun State where he promised to join forces with Governor Dapo Abiodun to rebuild the deplorable Lagos/Ota/Abeokuta road which has become a huge nightmare for locals as well as for motorists traveling the roads. The governor sealed the deal on August 31, 2023 when the minister paid him a courtesy call at his office in Oke-Mosan, the state capital, Abeokuta, while he was touring federal highways. of the State in the company of ministry officials. This partnership comes as a relief to the Ogun State government, which is suffering the socio-economic consequences of the rapid disrepair of the road. Over the years, due to its proximity to Lagos, the commercial hub of the country, the state has been under pressure to absorb the excess population of urban workers seeking affordable housing along the corridor.

This concern inspired the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) previously signed by Governor Abiodun with his Lagos counterpart, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, leading to the inauguration of the Lagos-Ogun Joint Development Commission (LOJDC ). The objective of the initiative is, among other things, to facilitate the development of neighboring municipal roads, aqueducts, public transport as well as the management of revenues and taxes. Today, the success of this policy is visible in the rapid population growth of Ota, Sango, Ifo and other adjourned settlements in Ogun State. More than ever, it is now easier for people to work in Lagos while residing in Ogun. Great men think the same thing. We look forward to seeing a rehabilitated 77 kilometer Lagos/Ota/Abeokuta highway. This is part of the Renewed Hope agenda of the current administration of President Tinubu. And it should have been done a long time ago. It gave a glimmer of hope. Once completed, the road will not only ensure the steady growth of Ogun State's economy, but will also act as a catalyst for its capacity as a growing industrial and investment destination of choice in the country . With the combined effects of ease of doing business and sustained efforts to make the state attractive for investments, Ogun State has overtaken Lagos in terms of location of industries. To sustain this feat, the Abiodun administration has continued to give priority attention to infrastructure development to create an enabling environment for industrial growth in the state. The Lagos/Ota/Abeokuta road is of crucial importance in achieving this objective. Apart from being the gateway to Ogun State, it is the busiest road in the southwest, next to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, in terms of human and vehicular movements.

It is therefore gratifying to note that the new Minister of Works has agreed to work in synergy with Governor Abiodun to restore the road to good condition. This is contrary to the stubbornness and intransigent attitude of his immediate predecessor, Mr. Raji Babatunde Fashola (SAN), who had turned a deaf ear to all the Governor's calls for a concession to return to the road during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari. Speaking with Umahi, the governor recounted the frustration he experienced in trying to get support from Fashola, his compatriot, for the reconstruction of the road. He explained how he and Governor Sanwo-Olu had asked the Federal Government for permission to resume the road so that they could jointly finance its reconstruction, but to no avail. According to him, about N70 billion was required at the time to reconstruct the road and they were ready to take responsibility for financing it because of its commercial value to both states. But bureaucratic bottlenecks have thwarted these efforts.

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From the president to the permanent secretary and later to the minister, he said, every step taken to obtain the necessary approval met with a brick wall. It is this discriminatory policy that has led to the rapid degeneration of the road. Even when Julius Berger was finally recruited to repair the bad sections of the road, it was found that the company would work for a month, disappear and reappear. The rollout of SUKUK funding hasn’t gone any better either. When the budget planned for the road was barely enough to cover the palliative works. Thus, the entrepreneur could hardly cover one or two kilometers before the arrival of another rain...