SULAIMON OLANREWAJU, who was on the trail of Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State during his inspection of ongoing projects in various parts of the state, reports his findings.
FUNCTIONAL infrastructure. Urban renewal. Rural development. Improved standard of living for the people. All of these must have taken firm root in the mind of Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State as he went around the state ahead of the April 2011 governorship election, listening to the lamentation of the people about decrepit infrastructure and unfulfilled promises as he solicited their support for his candidature. The obvious gap between the people’s expectations and their realities must have formed the basis of the governor’s mission to rebuild the state. So, on assumption of office, he hit the ground running, determined to change the experience of the people of the state for the better.
The first proof of Amosun’s resolve to transform the state into a modern one is the six-lane Ita-Eko-Sokori-Totoro road and grade separation (flyover) bridge at Ibara Roundabout in the state capital, Abeokuta. The beauty of that road is accentuated by street lights and walkways and it has become a source of pride for many Ogun Sate indigenes. However, the flyover bridge, the first in the state, also became a source of complaints by many people who were of the opinion that the rebuilding efforts of the current administration were concentrated in Abeokuta. In his attempt to drive it home to all indigenes that every part of the state is his constituency, the governor seized the occasion of the second anniversary of his administration to embark on an inspection tour of ongoing projects in the state with invitation to major stakeholders in the state.
The turnout was massive throughout the three days that the tour lasted. Every segment of the society was represented; traditional rulers, Christian and Muslim clerics, civil society organisations, labour unions, women associations and student bodies all joined the governor and other state functionaries to inspect the projects.
The tour revealed the government’s grasp of the unique position of the state as the closest neighbour to Lagos State. Determined to reap maximally from this proximity, the government has embarked on massive road rehabilitation and expansion to lure the business community in Lagos State into Ogun. One of such roads is the Ilo Awela Road, which connects the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway at the toll-gate area with Idiroko Road, Agbara Industrial Estate and Badagry. The two-lane road, which is currently being expanded into six lanes, was so bad before the current construction work started that commercial motorbike operators refused to ply it. The road, according to the governor, will be ready before year end.
Work has also reached advance stage on Isheri Road, another end of the state that borders with Lagos.
The government has also taken the cosmopolitan nature of some of the major towns in the state into consideration and that indubitably determined its resolve to construct fly over bridges over them. Ijebu Ode is a major beneficiary of this as Folagbade Road in the town, a four-lane road, is currently being expanded into six lanes with a flyover at the Lagos Garage intersection. Less than three kilometres away from this spot, there is another flyover, which is at Mobalufon Junction along the Sagamu–Benin Expressway. During the inspection of the projects, the state governor promised to ensure their completion before the celebration of the next annual Ojude Oba festival in the town.
According to him, “By the benevolence of God and the good people of Ogun State, this Folagbade Bridge and the one at Mobalufon junction would be ready before the next Ojude Oba.
“What we are trying to do in our road projects across the state are things that will outlive us, such that would be motorable for the next 50 years.
“I am sure that we are on track. We will have milestones to showcase to our people that we mean business and we will run round every week to make sure that every part of the state takes advantage of what we are doing.”
Speaking on the change the Mobalufon flyover would effect, a resident of Ijebu Ode, Musiliu Oguntola, said it would greatly reduce accidents along the road.
“This intervention by the state government is an answer to the prayers of many people in Ijebu Ode. For years, passing through the expressway to the other side from Mobalufon had caused accidents, which resulted in the loss of many precious lives. Our cries to those in authority to do something about the place had no effect for many years. So, seeing that the Ibikunle Amosun-led administration has taken it upon itself to put an end to the unnecessary loss of lives is a thing of joy to many of us in Ijebu Ode. This is a gesture we shall not forget for long. We, however, call on the governor to keep his promise of completing the project before the celebration of Ojude Oba,” Oguntola, a plank merchant, said.
Oguntola added that the construction of the two flyover bridges in Ijebu Ode would greatly transform it and secure for it a place in the comity of 21st century towns.
Perhaps the most ambitious of all the road projects embarked upon by Amosun’s government is the OGTV-Brewery Junction Road. It is a 10-lane road with a light rail in the middle. The 8.7-kilometre stretch will have overhead bridges at Itoku, Sapon and Mortuary Junction.
However, the semi-urban and the rural areas have not been neglected with respect to road construction. The Oke–Oyinbo-Idagba-Olodo road is a six-lane road that links the heart of Ayetoro to the Abeokuta-Idi Emi road. The governor assured the people that the road would be completed before December this year.
In her comment, a resident of Ayetoro, Moriamo Adebisi, said the residents of the town could not wait for the completion of the road. “Before now, travelling on the road was a painful experience. We cannot thank Governor Ibikunle Amosun enough for coming to our aid to fix the road. If he had just fixed the road and left it at the two-lane it was we would have been glad. But he has gone beyond our expectation, he is making the road six-lane, our joy knows no bound and we continually pray for the governor that God will bless him.”
An entirely new road is the Ilara-Ijoun-Eggua-Oke Odan-Ilase Road. The 107 Km road cuts across four local governments in Ogun West Senatorial District; Imeko-Afon, Yewa-North, Yewa-South and Ipokia.
Explaining the essence of the four-lane road, the governor said it would make it easy for farmers to transport their farm produce from the hinterland to city centres. He added that opening up the road would make the place attractive to development as indigenes of the area would not have to go through any harrowing experience before visiting their ancestral home.
The crowd that had gathered to welcome the governor and his entourage responded with a deafening applause after the governor’s explanation.
Other ongoing road projects include the six-lane Sagamu-Benin Expressway Junction-Sabo Sagamu, the six-lane NNPC-Moshood Abiola Way, Ilishan-Ago Iwoye Road and Ejirin-Oluwalogbon Road, among others.
But the tour was not only about roads, it was also about schools. When the state government returned mission schools to their founders, school fees were jacked up by the school authorities with many indigent students, about 22,000 altogether, being unable to continue with their education. As a way of fulfilling its promise of affordable and qualitative education to the citizenry, the government announced its desire to build a total of 28 models secondary schools in the three senatorial districts in the state. Already, 15 of the schools are under construction.
While inspecting the extent of work done on the model school in Itele, Ijebu East, the governor promised that the school would be ready before the commencement of the next academic session.
Corroborating the governor’s submission, Mr Kazeem Adekoya, a trader in the town, said, “With the rate at which the work is progressing, there is no doubt that the school will be ready by September. All of us in Itele are happy with the governor for situating the school in our town; it is a thing of pride for us.”
To Amosun, the issue of education transcends brick and mortar; it is about building the individual, hence, the policy of the government to completely abolish fees and all forms of levies at both the primary and secondary level. The government also provides textbooks, exercise books as well as other instructional materials to pupils and students in all state-owned primary and secondary schools just as it provides running grants for all the schools. The effect of these efforts on students’ performance in public examinations has been astonishing. According to the governor during his broadcast to the people to mark the second anniversary of his government, “In 2010, 11.4 per cent of the total number of students presented for SSCE made five credits including English and Mathematics. That rose to 18.3 per cent in 2011 and 19 per cent in 2012.”
Senator Amosun also used the opportunity of the second anniversary broadcast to speak about his plans to ensure that the people of the state are both healthy and hearty.
He said, “We have shown more concentration in the area of preventive medi-care. Toward this end, we ensured that all our health facilities are provided with necessary equipment and drugs, while the personnel continue to undergo training and re-training. We have concentrated on re-building and equipping our primary health-care centres because they are the closest to majority of our people, 100 of them have so far been renovated. We are building new medium level hospitals.
We have just completed the first one which will serve as model in Abeokuta and this will be replicated in all the nine federal constituencies. A few weeks ago, we took delivery of medical equipment worth $2 Million (USD) and we have started installing them in our public health facilities. To address the deficit in manpower in the health sector, we have recently employed additional 780 medical workers.”
However, the question agitating the minds of many people who gathered to receive the governor and his entourage in all the places visited was whether the governor would live up to his promise of completing the projects on time.
Verbalising this concern, Mojeed Agbabiaka, a businessman who lives in Ijebu Ode, said, “We have seen politicians make promises and fail to fulfil them. We have seen governments embark on projects and abandon them. Though the governor has demonstrated commitment to the projects, we cannot overlook the fact that he is a politician and he may decide not to continue with the projects or some of them. So, we have our fears.”
But in what appears a response to those who might be expressing worries about his intention not to leave the state with abandoned projects, the governor during the tour said, “I’m sure that the little that we’ve seen, we are leaving nobody in doubt as to our genuine intention to rebuild Ogun State. I know governors will come and go, but it is whatever we do that people will remember us for.”
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