The residents of Sulaimon Shoderu Street, Powerline, Ikorodu have appealed to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to alleviate their sufferings by restoring work on their abandoned by pass road, which connect the street to Shagamu Road, near Sabo, Ikorodu, from Haruna Bus stop to other major highway.
They also want the state Governor to probe the contractor that abandoned the project, Eko-Akete Engineering Construction Company, owned by the present Director-General of the Lagos State Safety Commission, Mr. Fuad Oki.
During Oriwu Sun’s recent inspection of the road project on Tuesday, February 23, 2016, it seems the project has been totally abandoned with the bushy nature of the road, bad condition of the drainages and the contractor’s site office, which has turned to a sort of accommodation for some able bodied Hausa men.
One of the Hausa men told Oriwu Sun that some of them worked with the contractor on the project but since the work had been abandoned, they have moved to other project sites in Ikorodu. He said they only used Eko Akete site office as their dwelling place.
According to him, if the work starts again, he and others would be happy to work as far as they would get paid for their services. While also speaking with Oriwu Sun, the CDA Chairman, Olojomehin Community Development Association, Elder Ogedengbe, said that he did not know why the road project was abandoned.
He also stated that series of correspondence sent to the administration of former Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, yielded nothing. The CDA Chairman said that the community, through the Community Development Association (CDA) wrote several letters to the state government calling attention to the plight of the residents on the poor condition of the road and the shoddy job done by the contractor. Yet, nothing positive came from the effort.
Elder Ogedengbe, who pointed out that the community had been suffering due to prevailing dusty environment, said that the situation would get worse during the rainy season. He appealed to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to intervene and save them from this ugly situation.
“It would have been better if they left the road the way it was instead of turning it to a dusty one like this. When it comes to rainy season, you would pity the residents of this area. We have written letters to the government on different occasions but we have not any response.
“We want Governor Ambode to help us by re-awarding the contractor as it would relieve the residents from much stress. The road would also ease congestion on the major road. This was the view of a landlord in the area, Mr. Nurudeen Kazeem.
In other residents’ view,, who showed their ugly experiences with Oriwu Sun, Governor Ambode must investigate and communicate to them why the project was abandoned for too long.
They appealed to the Governor to realise that the residents are also Lagosians, who voted him into power due to their love for his personality and his political party (APC). They stressed the need for the project to be completed this year in order to improve the economic condition of the area.
Sulaimon Shoderu street road is a by-pass, which the immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, awarded for construction in the year 2012 with a view to decongest traffic gridlock on the Lagos road, especially Ikorodu round about.
Motorists going towards Shagamu road, Ikorodu and those coming from there to Lagos road can easily do so by passing through the street, which made the project more important. When the road project was awarded, it was meant to be completed within a period of eight months, but since then, it had been abandoned several times. The contractor used to work intermittently on the project throughout the second term of the last administration in the state.
Oriwu Sun, along with other media, have published reports on the project to hasten its completion. There was a time the project was abandoned for too long and Oriwu Sun gathered from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Eko Akete Engineering Construction Company, Mr. Fuad Oki, that inadequate fund was responsible but that work proper would soon commence.
According to him, he was about receiving more money for the continuation of the project. Work actually started on the project few weeks later but it was short lived as the project was later abandoned again.