The work began in 2018, as part of a bargain between the company and the Federal Government to enjoy a 10-year tax rebate that accrues to N72.9 Billion. The road has been subject of heavy traffic flow. An initial attempt to work on the road fell apart, it was approved for N15 Billion in 2013, work on the road stopped after the 2015 general elections.

During the inspection, Fashola told members of the press, “The Federal Government is dedicated to the speedy completion of the highway to provide a lasting solution to the problems of bad roads, and gridlocks”

Previous efforts by both Federal and State governments to solve this bottleneck have been unsuccessful. Group President Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote during the inspection said;

“We expect that by the end of 2020, the entire road network will be finished, you will have a road that will last for 40 years.”

Speaking on Dangote Industries Limited’s struggles, Dangote complained about the congestions at the ports, the gridlock which cost the company about N25 billion in revenue between 2017 and 2019 financial year.

Praising the quality of the road been constructed, Dangote assured that it will revive commerce around the Apapa area.  “This road will actually open up the economy. It will bring a lot of jobs and a lot of factories that have moved out will be able to move back.”

The road is on track to be concluded before the end of 2020. This is the first attempt to rehabilitate the busy road since it was first completed in 1978. Fashola also spoke about the economic revival of the Apapa area,

“Businesses have started coming back on Liverpool Road because the road closed earlier is now back. You will see more of that.  All of the businesses that are shut on Creek Road will come back. We expect to see property redevelopment and property renewal once the road is completed.”

Fashola also explained that the project will be creating wealth around the surrounding areas as trucks will be needed to convey different materials to the site of the construction, and also labor to help with the process. The project has also seen over 600 people directly employed.

Speaking of how President Buhari plans to bring 100million people out of poverty, Fashola explains that the economy around the construction will provide jobs and opportunities for Nigerians.

“Once the economy of Apapa returns, all the clearing and forwarding, shipping, newspaper companies and all others doing business will resume fully and the economy will bounce back.’’

He lauded the private/public partnership scheme with Dangote and pointed out that section two of the project, which was not part of the original contract was already showing signs of failure, due to heavy traffic.

While inspecting the road around the Oshodi area, Fashola had this to say

“We are at the Oshodi area now and one side has been concluded and opened to traffic and this is how we intend to continue to complete and open until we finish the entire road,”

Dangote said:  “What I can also assure you is that this road will be finished before the end of next year.’’

The post Apapa-Oshodi road will last for 40 years when completed – Dangote first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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Fashola’s speech infelicity found a corollary in an earlier gaffe from the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sani Nanono. Nanono had said that there was no hunger in Nigeria, contrary to the claims of the people and that food was very cheap to buy in Nigeria.

“I think we are producing enough to feed ourselves. I think there is no hunger in Nigeria; there could be inconveniences. When people talk about hunger in this government, I just laugh. In this country, it is fairly cheap to buy food” he said.

That Fashola had joined this club of indiscretion is the most disheartening of the story. Lauded for his infrastructural strides as Lagos State governor for eight years, it was a big let-down that the minister could sound so removed, so insulated from the plight of the people. If he didn’t know, at a conservative estimate, 90 per cent of Nigerian roads are in very sorry states. That the roads are in very troubling states, becoming grooves where Nigerian blood are sacrificed almost every other hour, is not as worrisome as the fact that they have become veritable avenues for governors and ministers to siphon public money into indecipherable bottomless pits,some kind of Donald Trump’s quid pro quo, if you like. Roads are constructed today and in a few months, they become craters. Nobody carries the can, nobody is queried and society lives happily ever thereafter.

Methinks these statements from those who are supposed to serve us are manifestations of the low estimation of these men for us and the disconnect they suddenly feel from us the moment they become Honourable this and Honourable that. These men don’t go to the market to buy foods but feast on government largesse, seldom travel on Nigerian roads but fly in choppers and jets to their destinations; their children don’t go to public schools but join their contemporaries in Ivy League universities in Europe and America; how then can they feel our plights?

The truth is that Nigerians are hungry, more than they have ever been and Nigerian roads are horrible, killing citizens daily. The earlier Fashola reversed from this barren road trodden by David Mark during the Ibrahim Babangida regime, the better for him. It is a road filled with craters, potholes and leads to acrimony from the people.

Source:  Nigerian Tribune

The post Fashola and the quid prod quo of our roads | By Festus Adedayo first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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