Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Friday inaugurated the 2.5 kilometres reconstructed Oba Sekumade Road, Ipakodo, in Ikorodu Local Government Area.
The governor also inaugurated the strategic sectional reconstructed TOS Benson Road, Ipakodo, in the area.
Speaking during the inauguration, Sanwo-Olu said that his administration was not about cheap politics, as the government had been fulfilling the promises made to the residents of the state.
He said that the inauguration of the roads indicated what true democracy was all about.
According to him, Ikorodu has continued to remain a reference point in the state, and has remained peaceful and accommodating to visitors.
He commended the people of Ikorodu for giving him a second term, by voting for him, during the gubernatorial election, promising that delivery of projects in his second term would be speedy and bigger in scope.
According to him, his second term will make records of iconic projects far better than those of his first term in office.
Sanwo-Olu said that in the next four years, the government was committed to ensuring accelerated development across the nook and cranny of Lagos State.
He said that in few weeks, the government would perform the ground breaking ceremony of the fourth Mainland bridge, while completing ongoing projects, for the people to enjoy the dividends of democracy.
In her welcome address, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Mrs Aramide Adeyoye, said that public outcry and perennial flooding on the axis moved the present administration to take bold steps to award the project.
”This was after extensive engineering investigations and tests of the underlying soil by adopting a more expensive but more enduring option of a Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP) for the reconstruction and upgrade of the road as against the option of an asphaltic flexible pavement that was not sustainable.
”It is worthwhile to mention that the goal of the project was also to resolve the perennial flooding issues around Ogolonto, Omologede, Ipakodo and environs,” Adeyoye said.
She said the project was awarded to Messrs Arab Contractors O.A.O Nig. Ltd in September 2020 while physical construction began in January 2021.
The Special Adviser said that the project began in the 80s, when it was conceived by the Federal Government to provide access to the Ikorodu lighter terminal, Ebute-lpakodo, Ikorodu town, Ibeshe, Igbogbo and several other communities within Ikorodu division.
She said that the first intervention was in July 2004 through the Federal Government, while the state government stepped in in December 2004.
Adeyoye said conversion of the Ikorodu lighter terminal to a container terminal and increased truck volume and axle loads caused a rapid damage to the road and drainage system because of the the low lying nature of the project alignment.
She added that the second part was the completion of TOS Benson Road, which had the inputs of local engineers from the Lagos State Public Works Corporation, as a way of promoting local content.
In his remark, the Chairman, Ikorodu West Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Mr Olanrewaju Kazeem, said that the people of Ikorodu would continue to support Sanwo-Olu’s good governance.
He said such support was reflected in the last election which witnessed massive votes for him.
Kazeem, who was represented by the Vice Chairman, Mr Adesegun Aluko, assured the government officials that the road would be put to proper use.
The Sekunmade of Ipakodo, Oba Bashir Shotonwa, said that Sanwo-Olu made history happen with the historic inauguration of the road named after him
Shotonwa said that the pressure on the road brought troubles to the communities, but the Sanwo-Olu-led administration responded to the cries of the residents for its reconstruction.
According to him, Sanwo-Olu and the Deputy have written their names in gold, in the history of Ipakodo, Ikorodu. (NAN)
