FASHOLA HANDS OVER IBESHE ROAD, WARNS AGAINST MISUSE, ABUSE OF - TopicsExpress

FASHOLA HANDS OVER IBESHE ROAD, WARNS AGAINST MISUSE, ABUSE OF ROADS, OTHER PUBLIC UTILITIES · Urges the citizenry to keep faith with a Party that keeps promises Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Tuesday handed over the completed seven kilometres long, 20 metres wide Ibeshe Road in Ikorodu with an appeal to members of the public not to misuse or abuse the roads and other public utilities built across the State for their use. Addressing members of the community, including Traditional and Religious leaders, Market women and men as well as the youths who came out in their numbers to welcome him, Governor Fashola also appealed to members of the Ikorodu community to fulfill their part of the Social Contract by paying their taxes promptly to enable Government carry out its developmental initiatives in the State. The Governor who noted with pride that the Ibeshe Road has brought relief to the community declared, “I remember then that this Ibeshe Road was an electoral issue. In fact I was brought to this road of seven kilometres or thereabouts and it took us 45 minutes to travel through it. We have done that journey today in less than 10 minutes”. Expressing joy that commercial activities have picked up in the area as a result of the road, Governor Fashola declared, “The road was broken and there was virtually no commercial activities here. We made a promise to you as Action Congress of Nigeria now APC that if you vote we would deliver”. “I have come here very proudly today to redeem our promise, to tell you once again that you have chosen to keep faith with a Party of promise keepers, we will keep promises that we make to you. I am happy as I drove here that the textile factory is now picking up, to see new petrol stations springing up, to see Kith’n Kin School expanding, to see that all your children can now walk on decent and motorable road to school, and seeing all other businesses springing up”, he said. The Governor, who described Ikorodu as a strategic town and economic centre, however, expressed dismay at the elements of abuse and misuse already emerging on the Mile-12 - Ikorodu Road still undergoing expansion warning that such an abuse would neither advance the work nor allow the road deliver its full service. He told the people, “You will see that we have made a lot of progress in the Mile 12 – Ikorodu Road and that is a 13.3 kilometre road which we are rebuilding from four lanes to six lanes with a BRT Corridor. But as I travelled here today, I see that just as we are setting out the drains, our people have started trading on the drains”. “They have opened furniture shops on the drains. There are new wheel barrow communities already setting up”, the Governor noted adding, “Let me advise; we will do our job but that road will not deliver on the promise if it is misused, if it is abused”. According to him, “Highways are not the places to operate wheel barrows. All of the foods you want to transport, your tomatoes, your meat, can be transported by using proper vehicles. It is an opportunity to build proper decent transport businesses which your children can inherit. Your children cannot inherit wheel barrow from you”. Continuing, the Governor advocated attitudinal change on the part of the citizens saying, “So this is the time for you to start to change. The good life that you want is in your hands and we must make the positive choices to reach to that good life. We will deliver on that road. It is up to you how you choose to use it. But I advise that it is not the best way to use that road”, the Governor said. Governor Fashola, who listed the many projects already completed in Ikorodu by his administration since inception and those on-going, also urged the community members to pay their taxes as the fulfillment of their part of the Social Contract in a democracy. “We have given you the first of the Maternal and Child Care Centres that we have built across the State, the first Drivers’ Institute was located here, the Ipakodo Jetty which was the first to be built in the State was built here”, the Governor said adding that Government was also planning to bring a new High Court and a new Magistrate Court to the area. Other projects already completed, the Governor also said, include a Rice Mill in Imota, a poultry farm in Erikorodo, while LASPOTECH is being renovated. He also disclosed that Government has just signed an agreement with makers of Blackberry to set up an academy inside LASPOTECH adding, “We are building a new Palace for His Royal Majesty”. On the on-going projects in Ikorodu and those at an advanced stage of planning for the area, the Governor disclosed, “Very soon the contractors will move back to this site and start work on the ferry terminal and jetty. Very soon we will also move here and start a new housing estate that will deliver 720 flats. But all of these are in addition to ten other road projects we are committed to in this community”, adding, “Hold me to those promises because we intend to keep them”. Urging the community members to pay their tax, Governor Fashola declared, “I have taken time to read this list of developmental initiatives because we are not seeing the corresponding tax returns from Ikorodu. In terms of development, your part of that Social Contract is to contribute to that common wealth. This is the only way that all of us can benefit. So, I expect that we will see a change”. Governor Fashola thanked members of the Ikorodu community, especially those who gave up land and other properties to make way for the expansion of the Ibeshe and Mile 12 – Ikorodu Roads saying, “This is the spirit that is necessary in all parts of our State; if people want development, they must make the sacrifice and the sacrifice comes in various forms”. “We commend the people of Ibeshe for showing leadership here. It shows that our democracy is working. People understand the sacrifices and the commitments that come with expectations. When we make them, ultimately we get the reward”, the Governor said noting that as a result of the cooperation the people gave to the contractors, the road was expanded from initial eight metres to about 20 metres wide. He particularly singled out the members of the State House of Assembly for their diligence in carrying out their oversight functions and also their year-on-year approval of the budgets that facilitate the execution of the developmental projects across the State. He also thanked the Party members and personalities in the State who projected the course of the Action Congress of Nigeria (now All Progressive Congress) in the community. On the on-going Mile 12 _ Ikorodu Road expansion project, Governor Fashola said, “We are conscious of the pressures that you face coming from and going back to Ikorodu, but we assure you that very soon it will be a thing of the past. The pain you have will have silver lining in the end and Ikorodu can only witness prosperity when that road is finished”. In their goodwill messages, the Onibeshe of Ibeshe, Oba Abayomi Odusanya, the former Secretary to the State Government, Asiwaju Olorunfunmi Bashorun and Chief Benson thanked the Governor on behalf of the Ibeshe Community while the Managing Director of Arab Contractors pledged that his company would complete all contracts under it to the highest acceptable international standard Earlier in his welcome address, the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr. Olufemi Hamzat, said the Ibeshe Road was conceived in line with the present administration’s commitment to open up rural communities as a way of preventing rural- urban migration in the State adding that the road would complement the on-going Mile 12 – Ikorodu Road. Pointing out that the road was built up to international standard by the contractors, Arab Contractors, to include service ducts and other modern features, the Commissioner urged the community to take ownership of the road and protect it from being cut or abused by telecom companies and other such people. Also present at the occasion were the Onibeshe of Ibeshe, Oba Abayomi Odunsanya, a former Commissioner in the State Government, Hon. Kaoli Olusanya, former Secretary to the State Government, Asiwaju Olorunfunmi Bashorun, members representing Ikorodu Constituencies in the State House of Assembly, Managing Director, Arab Contractors, Mr. Usama Mustapha, Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Engineer Ganiyu Johnson, other former and serving Government functionaries, religious leaders, dignitaries and members of the community who defied the midday showers and trooped out in their large numbers to witness the impressive handing over.