The National Coordinator of the Oodua Peoplesv Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams, has urged the Federal Government to work with the National Assembly “and ensure the completion of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway immediately”.
Adams, who lamented the lackadaisical attitude of some members of the Executive and Legislature “to the urgency that should be attached to fixing this important road”, declared that “the lack of seriousness is a reflectionof why things are not working in Nigeria”.
Adams, who just returned from Sweden where he presided over the third Summit of Oodua Progressives Union (OPU), said it was unfortunate that while leaders in other countries see infrastructure as an avenue of alleviating the suffering of the masses, “leaders in Nigeria play politics with everything. In fact, the only thing they don’t play politics with is the air we breathe and that is because it is beyond their power”.
Describing the expressway as “the major artery that carries the lifeblood of Nigeria’s economy”, Adams said “the fact that many administrations have not been able to fix this road is an embarrassment”.
“This is a road that leads Lagos to the West, East and North. Completed in 1978 as a four-lane highway, it is the busiest highway in West Africa and one of the busiest in
Africa. About 300,000 vehicles ply this road every day and it is a shame that successive administrations did not show signs of seriousness about fixing the road.
“In Sweden and other western countries, you cannot differentiate Day from Night because of the smoothness of their roads and effective lighting but reverse is the case in Nigeria.
“Recently, Power, Works and Housing Minister, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, raised the alarm on how budget for this expressway was cut and lawmakers, instead of addressing the problem, started playing politics with it. Hundreds of thousands of Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and other ethnic nationalities ply this road every day. So, the road is not for Yoruba but for Nigerians.
“Any serious government would have fixed the road a long time ago. This is 2017 and we are still playing politics with this reconstruction. Now, the two contractors, Julius Berger and Reynolds Construction Company (RCC), have threatened to abandon the road due to delay in the payment of agreed contract fees on work already done. How did we get to this level of apathy in matters bordering on development?
“We in the OPC are of the opinion that if some principal officers in the government are suffering from short-sightedness, millions of Nigerians can clearly see how the lack of seriousness in government is squeezing the economy and inflicting agony on businesses. The neglect of this road is an example in this regard.
“The apparent neglect of this road for decades is not without grave consequences. No serious country jokes with the welfare of its citizens. The reconstruction of this road should be a priority because of its importance to the economic growth of our country.
“We, in OPC, call on Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to do the needful immediately. Enough of politicking and irresponsibility on the part of government officials. We demand that this road is fixed TODAY”.
