Concerned about the danger posed by the wooden bridge linking the Ayobo and Igando communities and also in line with its communities’ interconnectivity initiative, the Lagos State government is perfecting plans to replace the makeshift bridge with a proper conventional one.
The state government’s plan was disclosed at an interactive session with the media by Obafemi Hamzat, the state commissioner for works and infrastructure, who said the state government was aware of the challenges posed by road infrastructure in the state.
According to him, it is a deliberate policy of the state government to ensure the interconnectivity of communities and has engaged itself with providing such a link.
“We have undertaken the Okota-Itire Link Bridge. We are working on Ajao-Ejigbo Bridge. Even the Lekki-Ikoyi Bridge is to address the issue of communal linkage and reduction in travel time across the state”, he said.
The commissioner noted that the Igando-Ayobo situation is not peculiar, adding that no comparison should be drawn in terms of the situation of the bridge.
Read also: Nigeria records N270bn trade deficit with China
“No government has all the resources to undertake the rehabilitation and provision of all roads and bridges in any jurisdiction instantly; a process of prioritising is put in place to determine where to undertake any project.
He explained that the traffic demand and population of communities, the benefit cost analysis of the roads, bridges (or any other project) and the expected impact of the project are all considerations that come to play during project prioritising processes.
Hamzat dismissed the insinuation the state government has anti-poor disposition, noting that since the inception of the Fashola administration, Alimosho area has been a beneficiary of over 19 percent of the total road project portfolio of the state.
“Trying to pin an elitist tag on the administration bellies the facts; all projects are strategies for creating jobs, boosting property values and generally improving the aesthetics of communities. With the number of road projects skewed in favour of the non-elite communities, the impacts are felt appropriately”.
