Bankole Taiwo, Abeokuta
Commuters plying the ever busy toll gate section of the Lagos-Abeokuta road in Ado-Odo-Ota Local Government area of the state would soon heave a sigh of relief as the Toll-Gate stretch of the road is set to be completed in the next three weeks.
The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun made this known during an on-the-spot assessment of the ongoing rehabilitation work at some sections of the road.
Abiodun had announced that rehabilitation of some bad portions of the express road, grouped into five sections would be awarded for for rehabilitation.
Speaking during the visit, the Governor noted that the road would be rehabilitated to make life more suitable for the people.
“From toll gate to underneath the bridge, I am very confident that between two to three weeks, it would have completed the stretch of the road from Toll-Gate to the bridge.
“The last time I was here, I promised that this road will be reconstructed within two weeks and I have come back today to ensure that the promise we made to them has been kept.
“I also inspected the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road, starting from the old tollgate section, which is completely non existent, it failed. I have since awarded the contract for sectional rehabilitation of that road, all the way to Ewekoro. Work has started. I am not happy with the speed of work, I have called the contractor, he will double up from tomorrow.
“The road to Ijoko-Alagbole, we have divided it into five sections, the road will be reconstructed in sections. Presently, we will do between two to three sections at the same time,” he said.
Abiodun, however, disclosed that transformers would be given to communities within the Local Government to solve the issues they have with lack of electricity, adding that the state owned road maintenance team would immediately begin palliative works on roads in the local government.
“For those areas without electricity, I have called the Local Government, the CDC and CDA, I will release between fifteen to twenty transformers for them.
“I have told my Deputy and the Council Chairman to come up with the list of roads with pot holes. The immediate past administration constructed some roads which now have pot holes, once I get the list, between this week, our road maintenance team will be in Ota fully to cover the pot holes,” he said.
The Governor who noted that youths in the Local Government Area would benefit from a special programme, said that he has directed that about fifty-five youths should be picked from each ward depending on the number of polling units they have.
On the state of the Sango-Ota-Ijoko road, Abiodun noted that a section of the road would be completed all the way to Ifo, saying that the road which will be handled by a competent firm would be completed by the end of the year.
“This road is very bad, I have good news for you and the news is that the contract for this road was awarded two weeks ago to a first class contractor, I have only come here to see the state of the road before the contractor finally starts work.
“We will first ensure we complete one part of the road from the bridge to Ifo. After finishing that, we will now move to the other side, and by the time this year is coming to an end, you will begin to ply on a smooth road,” Abiodun submitted.