Abiodun made this statement on Monday during an on-the-spot assessment of roads in the Ifo Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
“I want to implore our people to be patient with us. We cannot reconstruct all the bad roads in three years. In fact, no administration can reconstruct all the roads in Ogun State, not even in 8 years.” Abiodun said this while speaking to journalists during the inspection.
The governor blamed his predecessors for abandoning projects, demolishing houses and roads, and converting single carriageways into dual carriageways, only to leave them unfinished.
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He noted the deplorable condition of the roads, stating that “when I assumed office on the 29th of May, 2019, the deficit that we met on assumption of office was such that we began to wonder what the previous administration was doing.”
“In some instances, they appear to have good intentions, they go to the roads, they demolish houses, roads that should not be more than a single carriageway, they turn them to dual carriageway. By so doing, they removed all the asphalt that was there serving the people and abandoned these roads.”
Abiodun added that his administration inherited a large number of these roads, some of which are federal roads, and that some people cannot tell the difference between federal and state roads and will “geo-locate their pains where and when they are feeling it.”
The governor’s comments come amid intense criticism on social media, with the hashtag #DapoFixOgunRoads trending on Twitter. Some residents have shared images and videos of potholed, flooded roads, and broken-down vehicles, demonstrating the urgency of the situation.
The governor, however, assured that his administration will ensure that road construction is evenly spread in the state.
He also disclosed that he has ordered the contractor handling the construction of the Denro-Isashi-Akute road to ensure the completion of the project within two weeks.
“My pledge is that I have come here today to see things for myself. Two roads are considerably important to our people. First of all, the Denro-Isashi-Akute road, I have given the contractor a marching order that the road must be completed in the next two weeks, asphalt and the bridge.”
Other road contracts to be awarded soon are Hercules Giwa (Oke Aro Rd), some sections of Akute-Ijoko road, and the road leading to Yakoyo. “Now, within the next two weeks, a maximum of three weeks, active construction will start on Alagbole-Ajuwon and Akute-Ajuwon roads.”
