An abandoned road project recently rewarded by Oyo state government would change a lot of narratives in the state when completed as BAYO AGBOOLA reports.
There is little or no doubt in the fact that the present administration in Oyo state under the leadership of Gov Seyi Makinde is committed to building a new Oyo state with its on-going infrastructural drive in and across the state.
One of this is the on going Ibadan Circular Road which is aimed at easing the traffic logjam which has become regular occurrence in areas especially the major entries to Ibadan in Ife – Ibadan road at the Iwo road interchange axis.
Benefits of the project
It is no longer news that Gov Makinde in his first term tenure in office embraced series of people-oriented projects which no doubt touched many lives via the creation of enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the state resulting in investors coming to invest their money in one business or the other. This has helped in creating more opportunities for the state and its residents. The gesture resulted in the people particularly youths becoming employed through direct and indirect job opportunities, with the state witnessing increase in its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
The idea of having the Ibadan Circular Road comprising 110 kilometres was said to be conceived during the tenure of High Chief Rasidi Ladoja as governor of the state only for the actualisation of the road to come into reality barely 15 years after under Gov Makinde who among others considered it necessary to actualise the dreams of having the circular road by awarding the contract to a construction firm in the year 2022 and named it after High Chief Ladoja as a mark of honour to the former governor who conceived the project when he was governor.
Governor Makinde while re-awarding the Ibadan Circular Road project in September 2022 emphasized, among others, that his administration is giving new life to the road and that the project when completed, would solve the problem of traffic congestion in Ibadan and improve the economic well-being of the people.
Ibadan circular road is made up of four sections, namely the South-East(32.2km); North-East(20.8km); North-West(33.0km) and South-West(24.0km) a by-pass for travellers, goods and freight commuting through Ibadan along the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway linking Ibadan/Ife Expressway, Oyo, Ogbomoso, Ilorin geographically situated within Ibadan via Egbeda, Ona-Ara, Lagelu, Akinyele, Ido and Oluyole local government areas. It means travellers coming from Lagos going to other states like Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Abuja and others would no longer pass through Ibadan Iwo Road axis, but will rather boycott the entire Iwo Road traffic congestion by passing through the state owned Technical University along Lagos/Ibadan Expressway and come out few Kilometres to Asejire Bridge on Ibadan/Ife road.
The Ibadan Circular Road when completed would in addition to easing the age-long traffic logjam usher in more development to Oyo state when completed and as well project Ibadan and the state in general on the global map of developed states in the West Africa sub-region. It would as well become a haven for prospective foreign and local investors and further enhance the ease of doing business in the state particularly Ibadan as its main purpose is to ease the traffic flow in Ibadan and open up another corridors for economic activities in the state.
Assurances of early completion
The project engineer with the firm handling the road construction, (Craneberg Construction), Engineer Fadi Khalil minced no words in telling journalists during a visit to the site that the quality and specification of the road will make it different from other roads, saying, “Our project is six bridges and interchanges, the bridges are found on Lagos/Ibadan expressway end and Ibadan/Ife express end. We are trying our best to ensure the bridges are of international standard. Four bridges have been completed while two other ones are 90 percent completed. In one and half months, the remaining two would be completed.
“Nothing is delaying us; the next step is for us to give the final touch and the next step is for the government to commence work on the construction of the road after the completion of the bridges. The most important thing is that the road is linking Ibadan to the Lagos expressway and Ibadan to Ife express way faster than plying through the major road within Ibadan city and will decongest traffic in the city. This circular road will enhance fast movement. The six bridges are required because it’s a new road which had nothing on it before. These bridges are needed because they would provide easy access to motorists to cross the rivers and streets where the road passes through. By the grace of God, we are going to deliver these projects (bridges and interchanges) by December this year, I’m not talking about the road itself. The road is a different project on it own. The bridges of quality standard, we don’t do sub-standard jobs, the bridges do not require any maintenance after completion. We thank Oyo state government for their support and cooperation; we should work together, if we don’t work together, we can’t deliver anything. They awarded the contract and our duty is to execute the project. But generally, if we didn’t get the needed support from the government and from our supervisor which is the Ministry of Public Works, Infrastructure and Transport, we cannot deliver anything. We have been working together and without their cooperation, we can’t deliver anything,” Fadi said.
Giving further insight
The state immediate past commissioner for works, Prof Sangodoyin while giving update on the road project said the 110-kilometers circular road project is a concession which has evolved after three attempts spanning many administrations since 2003. He said, “The current approach guarantees Oyo state government counterpart funding to the tune of N35.97 billion. This counterpart funding, seeded into the project to show Oyo state government’s commitment to improving investor/concessionaire confidence, is currently being used to execute the interchange and bridges scope the 32-kilometres South-east segment of the road at about 30 per cent progress to date.”
Gov Makinde too
Governor Makinde while fielding questions from the newsmen on the ongoing Ibadan circular road earlier July said, “So far so good, we are making progress as far as this project is concerned. We now have interested investors coming around to say what exactly are we projecting in terms of opportunities in the state. To our people, I will say we have many opportunities around here especially for our young folks; they should not ‘japa’ because if they are hardworking, they can contribute and get their rewards. So I will say we are creating opportunities across the spectrum and people are paying attention to what we are doing.”
Others
Commenting on the road, Oyo state NULGE president, Comrade Ayobami Olusegun Adeogun said, “This second term will be greater than the first term. Our hope is rising and we believe that this second term will be more greater than the first term. I strongly believe that this circular road project will be accomplished before the end of this administration; we all strongly believe that before the end of this second term the project will be completed.
“If you’re coming from Lagos, you don’t need to get to toll gate or get to Iwo road; so we are applauding him for what he has commenced and we are praying for him on the successful completion of the project. The road will no doubt bring development to Ibadan and most especially the local government areas it passes. It will enhance the economic status of that area and the state at large and with this more investors will be coming to invest in the state and this will be a plus for the state as the internally generated revenue will be boosted.”
Commending Gov Makinde for the commencement of work and the naming of the road after High Chief Ladoja, Comrade Adeogun said, “The circular roads is domiciled in some wards, local government and whatever goodness that the road will bring for the state, the residents of that local government areas will be the direct beneficiaries; so it is a good development for the state.”
To social commentators, the people of Oyo state apparently in appreciation of the lofty projects on-going in the state in the March 18th governorship election voted massively for Gov Makinde to ensure continuity of the projects embarked upon. With his reelection into office winning in 31 local government areas of the 33 councils in the state after polling over 560,000 votes to defeat the APC governorship candidate, Senator Teslim Folarin who polled 256,685 votes, with over 300, 000 votes, Makinde is the man to beat as far as project is concerned.
