Gani Adams to FG: Partner NASS to fix Lagos-Ibadan expressway

National Coordinator, Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Otunba Gani Adams, on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to collaborate with the National Assembly in order to immediately ensure completion of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

This was just as the OPC leader lamented what he termed the lackadaisical attitude of some members of the Executive and Legislature “to the urgency that should be attached to fixing this important road,” declaring that “the lack of seriousness is a reflection of why things are not working in Nigeria”.

“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,” Otunba Adams demanded.

Adams, who just returned from Sweden where he presided over the 3rd Summit of Oodua Progressives Union (OPU), further lamented that it was unfortunate that while leaders in other countries saw infrastructure as an avenue of alleviating the suffering of the masses, leaders in Nigeria played politics with every issue.

“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,” he said.

Describing the expressway as “the major artery that carries the lifeblood of Nigeria’s economy,” Adams said the fact that many administrations had been unable to fix the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was an embarrassment.

“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?” Adams lamented.

The OPC leader contended that the group was of the opinion that if some principal officers in the government were suffering from short-sightedness, millions of Nigerians could clearly see how the lack of seriousness in government was squeezing the economy and inflicting agony on businesses, declaring that, “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.”