To say that most roads in Nigeria are in deplorable states is an understatement. One road that is critical to the socio-economic development but is in deplorable condition is the Abeokuta-Ota-Lagos Expressway.
For a very long time, this road has been in bad shape despite the fact that it provides a thoroughfare for people commuting between Ogun, Lagos and Oyo states, and even neighbouring Benin Republic. The road also provides an alternative route for industries, particularly in the Ota and Agbara axis, to move their finished goods to other parts of the country using the Papalanto-Sagamu interchange or the Abeokuta-Siun Road.
The poor condition of the road has led to complaints by motorists, pedestrians, and even members of the communities along the road about the need for the owner (the Federal Government) to fix it, to no avail.
At some point, it became impassable, and motorists and commuters had no choice but to divert to the part that was still passable, thereby rendering a dual carriage road into a single lane.
For Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, who constantly uses the road, there was an urgent need to salvage the situation, leading to the turning of sod and the official flag-off on Friday, August 23, heralding the reconstruction of the road.
Recall that Governor Abiodun’s attempt to reconstruct the road was first conceived in 2019, but all efforts to convince the Federal Government to release the road to the Ogun State Government proved abortive.
Abiodun noted that the excuse then was that there was a sitting contractor on the road. The state reopened the appeal to reconstruct the road upon the inauguration of President Bola Tinubu, who, through the Minister of Works, handed over the reconstruction of the road to Ogun State.
One is happy that five reconstruction teams will be involved to fast-track the reconstruction of the road. The project is expected to be completed in 18 months.
Now that Governor Abiodun has finally broken the jinx and the reconstruction of the expressway has started, it is hoped that the hardship and the low economic activities experienced by communities along the road will end.
- Elijah Udofia, Laderin, Abeokuta
READ ALSO: UPDATED: Two more govs ready to pay N70,000 new minimum wage
