Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday called on the Federal Government to provide adequate funding for the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, which he described as an international gateway to West African countries.
Sanwo-Olu made the call while receiving the House of Representatives Committee on Works led by its chairman, Hon. Abubakar Kabir Abubakar, during a courtesy visit at the Lagos House, Ikeja, saying the state government had taken a leap to start a 10-lanes highway on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway and had already done almost 18 kilometers of the road.
The governor, therefore, appealed to the Federal Ministry of Works to push it further and take it to Badagry, even as he also tasked the Federal Government to speed up the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Sanwo-Olu, who commended the House of Representatives members for coming to Lagos for on the spot assessment of the works carried out in the state by the Federal Ministry of Works, said urgent action should be taken to work on the Otedola Bridge area of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, to prevent regular accidents on the axis.
The governor also demanded that there was a need to go back to do a lot of clean-up on Apapa-Oshodi Road, there was still a side road that had not been completed.
“We are happy with the level of work that has been done on Apapa-Oshodi Road but we need to go back to do a lot of clean-up. There is still a side road that has not been completed. We know this is a special dispensation given the Order 8 that has been used but we can still go back and clean up the areas, especially around the Tin-Can Port and Apapa Port, so that we can free the traffic in all those areas and take it up to Ijora.
“Lagos-Badagry Expressway is one that I am aware of that doesn’t have sufficient funding.
“Lagos-Badagry Expressway is an international gateway. We heard that Ghana, the Republic of Benin and Togo have done their own; it is a trans-West Africa corridor that five countries pass through. But it is only the Nigerian part of it that has not been fully fixed, which is from the Seme border into Lagos and go straight to the port.
“But Lagos on its own has taken the leap to start something. So, we are doing a 10-lanes highway and we have done almost 18 kilometers of that and we are taking it to a place called Okokomaiko. We have been expecting the Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Works to push it and take it to Badagry.
“Our desire is for them to make it a 10-lanes highway. We are building for the future and we can put a rail in the middle of the corridor. When we are building for a future, we should not be scared. It is an international road and it has the capacity to take a high levels of traffic. That is one place we believe you will look into,” Governor Sanwo-Olu stated.
Sanwo-Olu while commending the Federal Ministry of Works’ intervention on some of the federal roads in Lagos State, urged Federal Government to speedily consider the major failed portions of the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Road and other Class A federal roads that are important in decongesting traffic out of Lagos.
“We are not living everything to Federal Government. We are also taking up the responsibility of trying to build the Fourth Mainland Bridge. We will work and collaborate with Federal Government at some point. It is a 37-kilometer ring road that is going to exit finally on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. It is audacious but we are looking to use the PPP model to be able to build it.
“We believe that you should be able to see Phase One of it coming out before the end of this administration. We are not leaving anything to chance. We are doing an 18-kilometer six-lane, rigid pavement in Lekki-Epe Expressway. We are doing 10 kilometers six-lane regional roads and several others. We are doing bridges and other constructions on our own. That is what can open up and free a city.
“We are not just only doing that, we are pushing movement on our waterways. We are doing our rails so that we can have integrated mass transportation using rail, waterways and road connectivity in Lagos. We want everybody to come here to see that it is comparable to any city in the world. That is our plan,” the governor said.
Abubakar said his committee had reached out to the contractor in charge of the Marine and Eko Bridge, who promised that the project would be completed in four weeks’ time, adding that the committee was also working on a new project in Lagos, which is Isolo-Mushin Road.
He said the Committee will also work tirelessly toward the completion of the Ikorodu-Sagamu Road for the project to be ready before the end of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
“Lagos State is very important and critical to Nigeria’s economy. Lagos is important to us and that is why road construction is very critical for Lagos State. We have important roads in Lagos State. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has directed our committee to give Lagos special attention because of the importance of the state to the federation.
“We have to support the efforts by Lagos State government and Federal Government in making sure that Lagos has best roads so that people will not be stuck in traffic for four to five hours. We have to do what we can to make sure that Lagosians have the best roads. We will do our best to make that happen,” he promised.
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