The residents, commuters and motorists plying Ikorodu-Shagamu road have expressed worries that the scheduled reconstruction of the road, which was listed among other federal roads to be rehabilitated in 2017 budget, may be delayed till 2018.
This was due to the recent statement credited to the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, that the federal government would be transferring about sixty percent (60%) of 2017 capital projects to the 2018 budget.
The minister, who appeared alongside her counterpart in the Budget and Planning Ministry, Victor Udo Udoma, stated that so far, her ministry has only been able to release a paltry twenty five percent (25%) funding for the 2017 appropriated capital projects, thereby making the release of fund for the remaining capital projects for the year very uncertain.
However, Hon. Babajimi Benson, Member Federal House of Representatives, representing Ikorodu Federal Constituency, in his reaction to the revelation by the Finance Minister, allayed the fears being expressed by the residents. According to him, Adeosun’s statement concerns the ongoing road project carried over from 2016 budget, noting that roads listed in the 2017 budget, especially those that work are yet to commence on them, like the Ikorodu-Shagamu road, were not affected.
Meanwhile, Hon. S.O.B Agundiade has promised to prevail on the state government to carry out a palliative measure on the road to relieve the resident of hardship being experienced on the road. He made this promise at the Lagos State House of Assembly Ikorodu Constituency 1 town hall meeting held at Lagos State Polytechnic Campus, Ikorodu recently.
In the same vein, some residents of Ikorodu division have urged the Federal government to hasten the proposed reconstruction of the road to ease the stress which motorists and commuters contend with on daily basis. They made this known in an interview with our reporter recently.
Mr. Adeola Mujeeb, a motorcyclist, who reside in the Odo-Nla area of Odonguyan, said that the road has been a death trap and also has affected his business and everyone staying in his area. He expressed disappointment over the failure of the government to repair the road since approving the reconstruction in April, this year, Mr. Mujeeb urged the federal government to hasten action on the road.
A trader, Mrs. Surajudeen Aishat, a resident of Ogijo, lamented about several innocent souls that have died in accidents due to the deplorable state of the road. She also flayed motorists for taking advantage of the bad condition of the road to hike transport fares.
Surajudeen also berated the federal government for their indifference to the sufferings of the people and called for urgent action to repair the road.
Another resident of Ita-Oluwo, Mr. Aregbeshola Abdulrazaq, said that he had never seen an improvement on the road since he relocated there fifteen years ago. He called on the Lagos State Government and Ikorodu L.G.A to join hands and repair the road since the Federal government was not showing any interest, stating that the two tiers of the government collect taxes from the people plying the road.
While explaining his own plight, Mr. Eze Okafor, a business man explained how the bad state of the road has been making it difficult for his children to go to school. He said they suffer untold hardship and traffic grid lock whenever it rains. Mr. Eze called on the government to come to their rescue.