Lagos, Ogun Seek to Take over Collapsed Lagos-Abeokuta Road
The governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun and his Lagos State counterpart, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, have asked the federal government to transfer the dilapidated Lagos-Abeokuta road to the two states for reconstruction.
Speaking with journalists after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in the State House, Abiodun said he met with the president to submit a letter seeking for a transfer of this federal road, which he said is in a deplorable state, to both states.
According to him, if the request is granted, both Lagos and Ogun states will commercialise the road and take the burden of reconstruction off the federal government.
“I also shared with him the pains on the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road as well. I came with a letter that I have written earlier on and pictures, to show him the deplorable state of this road.
‘’The Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road is probably the second busiest road in this country. This road is in such a deplorable condition and we understand that the federal government cannot afford to build all the roads at the same time, but as a state government, Lagos
State government and I have written to Mr. President, asking Mr. President to transfer that road to us.
“It’s a commercial road and we’ll commercialise it so that we can take that burden off the federal government,” he said.
Abiodun also said the road connecting the Lagos port to Agbara, which he described as the biggest industrial centre in the country, is an eyesore.
According to him, the road has completely collapsed to the extent that trucks conveying raw materials and finished goods between Agbara and the port often get involved in accident because of its deplorable state.
He said the situation had become so frustrating to multinational companies operating in the hub to the extent that they had threatened to leave the country.
He said it was against this background that he came to put the president on notice about the decision of his administration to take up the responsibility of reconstructing this federal road.
According to him, he wanted the president to inform the Ministry of Works and Housing about the development so that money expended on the reconstruction could be refunded to Ogun State later.