Sanwo-Olu inaugurates 2.5km Oba Sekumade, TOS Benson Roads in Ikorodu

Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday, inaugurated the 2.5 kilometres reconstructed Oba Sekumade Road, Ipakodo, in Ikorodu Local Government Area (LGA).

Governor Sanwo-Olu equally inaugurated the strategic sectional reconstructed TOS Benson Road, Ipakodo in the same council area.

Speaking during the inauguration, Sanwo-Olu said the inauguration of the roads indicated what true democracy was all about, noting that his administration was not about cheap politics, as it had been fulfilling the promises made to the residents of the state.

The governor further noted that Ikorodu had continued to remain a reference point in the state, saying that it had remained peaceful and accommodating to visitors.

He commended the residents for giving him a second term, by voting for him during the just- concluded Gubernatorial Election, promising that delivery of projects in his second term would be speedy and bigger in scope.

According to him, his second term will make records of iconic projects far better than the record of his first term in office, assuring that his administration, in the next four years, committed to ensuring accelerated development across the nook and cranny of the state.

Speaking further, Governor Sanwo-Olu said the state government would, in few weeks’ time, perform the ground breaking ceremony of the Fourth Mainland Bridge, while completing ongoing projects, for the people to enjoy the dividends of democracy.

Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Mrs. Aramide Adeyoye, in her welcome address, said that public outcry and perennial flooding on the axis moved the present administration to take bold steps to award the project, after resolving all issues to ensure durable construction.

”This was after extensive engineering investigations and tests of the underlying soil by adopting a more expensive but more enduring option of a Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP) for the reconstruction and upgrade of the road as against the option of an asphaltic flexible pavement that was not sustainable.

”It is worthwhile to mention that the goal of the project was also to resolve the perennial flooding issues around Ogolonto, Omologede, Ipakodo and environs,” Adeyoye said.

She said the project was awarded to Messrs Arab Contractors O.A.O Nig. Ltd in September 2020 while physical construction began in Jan. 2021.

According to her, the project was conceived in the 80s by the Federal Government to provide access to the Ikorodu lighter terminal, Ebute-lpakodo, Ikorodu town, Ibeshe, Igbogbo and several other communities within Ikorodu division, saying that the first intervention was in July 2004 through the Federal Government, while the state government stepped in, in December 2004.

Adeyoye said conversion of the Ikorodu Lighter Terminal to a container terminal had increased truck volume and axle loads, occasioning rapid damage to the road and drainage system because of the the low lying nature of the project alignment.

She added that second part was the completion of TOS Benson Road, which had the inputs of local engineers from the Lagos State Public Works Corporation, as a way of promoting local content.

In his remark, the Chairman, Ikorodu West Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Hon. Olanrewaju Kazeem, said that the people of Ikorodu would continue to support Sanwo-Olu’s good governance, as was reflected in the last election which witnessed massive vote for him.

Kazeem, who was represented by the Vice Chairman, Hon. Adesegun Aluko, assured that the road would be put to proper use.

The Sekunmade of Ipakodo, Oba Bashir Shotonwa, in his remark, said that Governor Sanwo-Olu made history happened with the historic inauguration of the road named after him.

According to him, the pressure on the road brought troubles to the communities, but Sanwo-Olu’s led administration responded to the cries of the residents for the reconstruction of the road, declaring that the governor and his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Kadir Hamzat, has written their names in gold in the history of Ipakodo, Ikorodu.