Bankole Taiwo, Abeokuta
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Mr Segun Showunmi has said that President Buhari must use the opportunity of his one-day official visit to the state on Thursday to help resolve some nagging challenges confronting the Gateway State.
One of these challenges is the calamitous state of Lagos-Sango-Abeokuta, Ota-Agbara road as well as the impassable Sagamu-Ogijo-Ikorodu road maintaining that it would have been height of insensitivity to the unimaginable suffering the users of these roads are daily subjected to if the President would bid farewell to the residents of the state today without a concrete assurance that these two roads would begin to receive special attention before he even gets back to Abuja.
The PDP stalwart who is also eyeing the governorship seat of the state come 2023 said, if the federal government would consider fixing these major roads as mission impossible, it should hand them over to the state governments of Ogun and Lagos to find a creative way around this challenge
Showunmi said “Mr President, as a gateway state, we have too many federal government roads that are in a calamitous state. The Lagos-Abeokuta road passing through Ota which is a national industrial hub is really bad. I believe that if the federal government cannot help with this all important road, please use your authority to get it handed over to the dual states of Lagos and Ogun for us to take it over and fix it”.
“The Ota-Agbara road linking Badagry is in a very sorry state, and this is a road that connects us to Benin Republic. Mr President that road is not befitting of our status. The Sagamu-Ogijo-Ikorodu road is another road I wish to bring to the attention of the federal government. Mr President, please instruct your Minister of Works to give you a full and comprehensive briefing on the state of the federal roads in Ogun and you will agree with me that our state needs special consideration when it come to federal roads”.
Segun Showunmi equally beckoned on President Buhari to help checkmate the attitude of some alleged trigger-happy Customs officers maiming and killing innocent citizens in border towns of Ogun West axis of Idiroko, Ilaro, Owode, Ayetoro, Imeko-Afon and Ipokia corridor under the guise of chasing smugglers and looking for smuggled goods.
Showunmi said “Meanwhile, in connivance they (Customs officers) allow known smugglers escape and get into the country while they run riots in our town and villages chasing shadows at the expense of my people.
“Mr President please read them the riot act that their responsibilities must be carried out with regard to human lives and peace of the citizens of the country.
The PDP stalwart also urged President Buhari to give the state support for “ecological reclamation and re-stabilization of our soil as a result of erosion and mining both of which naturally demand that help should come from the federal government. I will be grateful if you send down a team to do impact assessment with a view remedial activities”.
While thanking the President for the Lagos-Ibadan rail line which passes by Abeokuta, Showunmi also begged the nation’s helmsman to help achieve the dream Airport at Wasinmi, Abeokuta describing it as very viable project with lot of economical gains to the state and country at large