FG flags-off 222km Abuja-Makurdi road

The Federal Government has begun massive work on road infrastructure across the country with the flag-off and reconstruction of major highways.

The two recent road project flagged off are the Abuja to Makurdi road which stretches for about 222km and the Apapa to Ojota road in Lagos State.

The Abuja to Makurdi road project, which passes through the major towns of Keffi, Akwanga and Lafiya (state capital), all in Nasarawa State, was awarded to Messrs China Habour Engineering Company Limited by the Federal Government at the cost of $542m with a contract period of 36 months.

Speaking during the-flag off on the Keffi-Akwanga axis of the road in Nasarawa State, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, said the Federal Government was keen on connecting people through roads to open more avenues for employment opportunities.

Fashola said the dualisation of the road was a major project that would connect people from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with the people of Nasarawa and Benue states, adding that employment and businesses would also be enhanced.

The FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, who was represented at the flag-off by the Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Administration (FCDA), Engr. Umar Gambo Jibril, said the project was very dear to the FCT Administration (FCTA) as it was in harmony with the administration’s strategy of completing the three major roads leading to the capital city, Abuja.

Mallam Bello said the completion would provide relief to workers and the people who ply the road daily.

The minister added that the dualisation would ease traffic, reduce travel time and eliminate stress associated with gridlock.

While expressing gratitude to the Federal Government, the Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura, said the project would open up the affected states.

Similarly, the Apapa-OshodiOworonshoki-Ojota road in Lagos State is to get a facelift 40 years after it was constructed.

The Federal Government recently flagged-off the total reconstruction of the expressway, using concrete, awarded to Dangote Construction Company.

The expressway is the major route to the country’s busiest seaport, Tin Can Island, Apapa, and the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja.

The expressway which was constructed in 1978 has been characterised by potholes and cracks that cause gridlock and pose security risk.

The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, pointed out that the expressway had not witnessed any major reconstruction despite several years of oil boom.

Fashola disclosed that the port at Apapa could no longer cope with business activities around the area which necessitated the speedy construction of new ports.

He said, “Apapa Port which was built for about 30 million metric tonnes per annum, but now managing a cargo of over 80 million tonnes per annum, calls for the construction of new ports. But while work is ongoing on the Lekki and Badagry ports, we have to recover the Apapa Road by reconstructing it through the Oworonshoki-Ojota Expressway so as to ease traffic.

“The construction is supposed to take two years, but Dangote promised us that in a period less than that the project would be completed.”

President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said the project, which would be the largest concrete road in West Africa, would be delivered ahead of the two years completion target.

Dangote said, “With the completion of this road, I’m positive that the revenue of not just only the port, but all the people around the port and Nigeria as a whole, will quadruple.

“This will open up the economy and boost ease of doing business and improve our ranking in annual global competitiveness.”