Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has asked the Federal Government to transfer its ownership of Shagamu-Ikorodu road, Epe to Ijebu-Ode, and Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta roads to the State Government.
He made the request on Thursday when he, accompanied on the visit by former governor of the State, Segun Osoba, met with President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Aso Rock.
The State Government plans to rehabilitate, reconstruct and upgrade the roads, and financing facility has been secured for that, said the governor.
He also stated that the State was seeking the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the federal government in its agriculture programme.
According to him: “Our state today is the closest state to the biggest economy in this country. It is important that people can move between our state and Lagos state and also to the hinterland.
“Today, the busiest highway in this country passes through our state. You cannot travel between Lagos and the rest of the country without passing through our state.
“So we came and told the President that there are alternative routes apart from Lagos- Ibadan Expressway, the truth is that even the construction is completed, that highway does not have the capability to accommodate the traffic that has now completely gone beyond what was anticipated.
“That highway cannot carry that traffic. So we must begin to look for alternative routes, what come to mind is the Shagamu to Ikorodu road, the Epe to Ijebu-Ode road, the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road these are alternative roads that would allow for us to efficiently move people from Ogun to Lagos and vice versa the rest of the country”.
Explaining further, he said that “to achieve all these, “we need to have the right infrastructure, so we came to the president to help us in allowing the Federal ministry of works to transfer these roads to us we would be commercializing them – they are commercial roads anyway.
“The Shagamu to Ikorodu road was the old Ibadan road, it is in that road that we have the biggest NNPC depot on that road. There are so many factories on that road and most of these factories have gone moribund.
“Trucks drivers are also refusing to go and load on that road. If that road is transfer to both Lagos and Ogun state, we will commercialize it we will have these road rehabilitated, constructed and upgraded. We have already secured the financing for this purpose.
“On the 26 of this month by the grace of God, we will be turning the sod on the Ijebu-Ode to Epe road. This is a state road, Lagos state has done it to their border, we are completing the fourteen kilometers between that border and Ogun state and that road will be completed in one year.
“But I believe that when that road is completed, people coming from the east, Ondo, Ijebu, Ibadan will have an option, they don’t have to go to Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
“This will ease the ability to do business in Ogun State. These are one of the things we came to discuss with Mr President about. We also came to discuss with the President what we are doing in agriculture and the support that we need for that.”
