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

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The Chairman, Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency (OYSROMA), Hon. Kamil Akinlabi  gave this hint on Tuesday in Ibadan after the first management meeting held in his office.

According Akinlabi, the present administration was poised to ensure good road networks across the state, noting that rehabilitation of roads within the state will commence in the shortest period as it was one of the major priority of the State governor to make all State roads passable and well maintained.

“Governor Seyi Makinde has the interest of the common people of this State in mind, hence the need to start the rehabilitation of the roads while we also maintain those in fairly good conditions so they will not degenerate.

“We promise our people to expect work in earnest. This government will not spare anything to make life comfortable for the residents of the State and good roads are important to other areas of government inputs like health, agriculture, lands and housing and even education.”

Akinlabi, also charged the management and staff of the agency to be up and doing in the discharge of their duties, while soliciting their support and cooperation for the success of the State government.

It would be recalled that Governor Seyi Makinde announced the appointment of Hon. Kamil Akinlabi Mudashiru as the Chairman, Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency (OYSROMA) on Friday, 13th September, 2019.

In her remarks, the General Manager, OYSROMA, Engr. Oduola Aderonke Modinat pledged the support and cooperation of the management and the entire staff of the agency and prayed for a successful tenure of office of the Chairman.

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The government also said that the Governor of the State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi would commission some completed projects.

The State Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Toye Arulogun stated that the Executive council reached the decision to rename the roads and institutions at its meeting held on Tuesday, May 14, 2019, stressing that the process for the amendment of the enabling laws for the institutions will commence immediately.

The Commissioner said that the decision of the Executive Council is in recognition of the individuals’ contributions to the development of Oyo State, their Chosen Career and the humanity.

Arulogun disclosed that the first flyover by a civilian administration in the state constructed at Mokola is named Transformation Flyover, Challenge – Efunsetan Road is to be known as Lam Adesina road, Ijokodo – Apete road is to be called Ambassador Olu Sanu road, The newly constructed Zonal Mediation Centre, Ogbomosho will be named Justice Atilade Ojo Mediation Centre, the Ilorin Express Junction-Ikoyi – Takie – Palace – Ogbomoso Grammar School road is now Soun Oyewumi Ajagungbade Road, while the Ibadan/Oyo Express/Iseyin-Owode with spur to Akesan-Palace and Old Ibadan-Oyo road is now Alaafin Lamidi Adeyemi III road. Eleyele-Dugbe ANCE Road is now Oba Saliu Adetunji road and Idi-Ape – Bashorun Akobo Road is now Abiola Ajimobi way.

The State spokesman added that Ibarapa Polytechnic Eruwa will now be called Adeseun Ogundoyin Polytechnic, Eruwa, College of Agriculture, Igboora will be Lam Adesina College of Agriculture, Igboora, Maternal &Peadiatric Centre, Olodo Ibadan is named Abiola Ajimobi Maternal &Paediaitric Centre, Elebu Road is now officially Alao-Akala Way, Monatan – Olodo Road now Rashidi Ladoja, Onireke-Agbarigo Road will now be known as Onikepo Akande Road and Festac Road, Mokola now Adebayo Faleti Road.

The Commissioner added that some of the projects that have been scheduled for commissioning include Oba Akinbiyi Model School, the Dualization of Challenge Roundabout-Efunsetan Roundabout (Phase II), the Rehabilitated/Constructed of the 3.6km Ijokodo-Apete Road and Associated Bridge Works, the Zonal Mediation Centre, Ogbomoso and Zonal Mediation Centre, Ogbomoso.

Arulogun noted that some of the other projects are Abiola Ajimobi Maternal &Paediaitric Centre, Olodo Ibadan, the Archive Management and Record Centre, Secretariat, Ibadan, Raw Materials Display Centre, Secretariat, Ibadan, Islamic Model School, Mini Water Scheme at Iganna Community in Oyo State and Ogunpa Market.

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Humanists have launched an awareness campaign to educate and enlighten the public and to help limit the number of accidents this year. This awareness campaign is important because in the past years, the Road Safety Commission had noted the role of superstitious beliefs in demons and witchcraft in the various road mishaps in the country.

Too often, Nigerians attribute road accidents to witches, demons and other occult forces, not to drunkenness, bad roads, careless driving or to road unworthy vehicles.

So it is important to let Nigerians understand that there is no connection between road accidents and supernatural entities such as gods, demons and witches. Humanists are urging all Nigerians to drive carefully and responsibly during these embers months because there are no witches, demons and gods on the roads.

Leo Igwe

Humanist Association of Nigeria

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The post Oyo approves rehabilitation of Ibadan-Iseyin road, others for 7bn first appeared on MegaIcon Magazine.

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The President said this through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina in a statement made available to newsman on Saturday in Abuja stressed, “President Buhari’s investment in infrastructure will see major facelifts across the country in power, rail and roads, which have been scheduled to come on stream in 2018.”

The Presidential spokesman added that it was appropriate to, at the twilight of 2017 and at the threshold of a New Year, recount some key achievements of the administration in the outgoing year.

He, however noted that despite global economic challenges and initial outlook of slow, or unlikely, recovery, the Nigerian economy trumped predictions and witnessed some remarkable changes in 2017.

Adesina listed the changes to include Nigeria’s exit from what he called the worst recession in decades and a gradual stabilisation of the naira.

The statement reads, “in our review of the economy based on facts and figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, we are pleased to note that the economy has been on the path of steady growth since the second quarter, after contracting for five consecutive quarters.

“President Muhammadu Buhari is hopeful that the exit from recession, stabilisation of the naira and robust harvest in the agricultural sector will continue to impact on the livelihood of Nigerians”.

He disclosed further that multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have already projected higher growth for the economy in 2018, saying that the government was hopeful that the gains of 2017 in agriculture would be further improved.

“The agricultural sector posted consistent growth levels throughout the recession, leading other sectors into positive growth rates.

“Accordingly, Nigeria saw bumper food harvests, especially in rice, whose local production continues to rise significantly with states like Ebonyi, Kebbi and Kano leading the pack, while Ogun joined the loop by the end of 2017.

“The price of a 50kg bag of rice – a staple in our country – has fallen by about 30 per cent since the beginning of 2017, as local production continues to rise. The price will keep falling, as production remains consistent and rises.

“The Food and Agriculture Organisation said the number of Nigerians facing food insecurity in the northeast dropped by half this year”, he submitted.

Adesina boasted that against all odds, 2017 has turned out the year of Nigeria’s agriculture revolution, embodied by the successes of the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative and the Anchor Borrowers Programme, adding that more than a dozen moribund fertilizer blending plants were revived under the PFI in 2017.

He added that inflation rate fell for 10 consecutive months in 2017, February to November, with the Central Bank of Nigeria projecting that it is likely going to drop to single digit by 2018.

The presidential spokesman added, “The Federal Government’s Social Investment Programme rolled out across the states and currently 5.2 million primary school children in 28,249 schools in 19 states are being fed daily, while 200,000 unemployed graduates were enlisted into the N-power Job Scheme.

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