I must express the lingering frustrations of the Edo people over the neglect and condition of federal roads across the state, and the absence of political will to fix them during the nine years of the APC-led federal government. The APC-led federal government has marginalised the people of Edo State by allowing all federal roads in Edo State to collapse. On September 21, 2024, the people of Edo State will pass the first verdict by removing the APC-led federal government from Aso Rock, Abuja, in 2027. The Edo 2024 governorship election is crucial for voting out the APC in 2027, and the process will start on September 21 in Edo State. The agony of Edo federal roads for close to ten years is shaping the minds of Edo people to vote against the APC on September 21. The ongoing protest to end bad governance in Nigeria is a protest against the APC in Edo State.
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I must lament that Edo’s economy has been suffering due to the deliberate policy of the APC-led federal government to leave all federal roads in Edo State in poor condition. The dilapidated expressways have dealt a deadly blow to the markets across Edo State, and Governor Obaseki has on several occasions engaged top-notch construction firms to do some palliative works and make the carriageways passable. Governor Obaseki’s administration has created an alternate road from Benin to Auchi since the federal government could not fix its roads in the state, ensuring smooth movement of goods and services across the state. Governor Obaseki wrote a letter to the federal government requesting all federal roads in Edo State be handed over to the Edo State government for rehabilitation under President Buhari, but the federal government refused. Governor Obaseki expressed his readiness to reconstruct the Sobe-Sabongida Road and disclosed that the state government received approval from the former Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, to reconstruct the road. Governor Obaseki has completed the Sobe-Sabongida road project, which today is transforming Edo’s infrastructure. Today, travelling from Benin to Auchi via the Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi route takes motorists seven hours, but via the Benin-Sobe-Sabongida-Auchi route, it takes less than two hours. Currently, construction work is being carried out by the Edo State government on the Benin-Abraka road, which is a federal road.
Nobody mentions Governor Obaseki when the federal government is collecting revenue from Edo State, but people insult Governor Obaseki when federal roads and projects are abandoned in Edo State. Governor Obaseki is facing a double dilemma in the face of failed federal projects in Edo State.
Today, there is a crisis of development in our country. What is hurting Edo the most is the advantage we have in terms of our location at the core of the country and being connected by many roads owned by the federal government. The federal government, as you know, today lacks the capacity to manage itself, let alone rebuild its roads, so it could take a while, if ever, for them to be able to build those roads.
Since assuming office, Governor Obaseki has demonstrated unwavering commitment to revitalising Edo State, focusing particularly on extensive road projects that are reshaping the state’s infrastructure. Contractors have been swiftly mobilised to various sites, leading to a surge in road and bridge construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance activities.
For more than nine years, all federal roads have remained in deplorable condition and on life support, even though contracts for their reconstruction have been awarded. Driving through most of the federal roads that crisscross the Edo geopolitical zone has become very agonising. The Benin-Auchi road, Benin-Asaba road, Benin-Abraka road, and Benin-Sapele road, among many others, are in deplorable condition, which will shape the Edo 2024 election. I am worried about the conduct and collation of election results of the Edo 2024 election in Orhionmwon Local Government, Uhumnwode Local Government, Edo North Senatorial Zone, and the entire Edo Central Senatorial Zone by INEC because all federal roads in Edo State are presently on life support.
The people of Edo State are wondering why President Tinubu could not take similar action on Edo federal roads, just like the action he took on the Lagos-Calabar coastal road. The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is such an ‘urgent’ project that work commenced before it was announced to the public. Quite a feat and highly unusual for any government project in this part of the world. Typically, such projects are slow to take off and are riddled with delays. In this case, it’s so very different. What’s the great hurry, and why on the Lagos-Calabar coastal road? The Benin-Sapele Highway and Benin-Auchi-Okene-Lokoja Road remain a nightmare for motorists, who perennially block them in protest. The Benin-Sagamu Expressway rehabilitation, started by the Jonathan administration, is still unfinished.
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For instance, the journey from Benin to Auchi, which in the good old days used to take not more than one hour, now takes about seven hours. The same goes for Benin-Abudu and Benin-Ekpoma.
My take is that the Federal Government should come and fix this road and many other federal roads across the country. It is their duty. The state government has an obligation to the citizens in the state, and if they start fixing federal roads, how will they accomplish this task?
I want to urge the Federal Government to live up to its responsibility, as the state cannot repair the road. Federal roads in the state are in bad shape, and the Federal Government does not care about the state. The state government cannot intervene in fixing the Benin-Auchi and Benin-Sapele roads because the Federal Government has already awarded contracts for their repair.
Governor Obaseki has done everything in his power to appeal to the Federal Government to look into the repair of the wide span of damaged roads in the state, and Edo people have drawn their attention to the failed portions of the Benin-Auchi Road, Benin-Sapele Road, and the Benin-Lagos Road, particularly the Ovia River Bridge, but nothing has been done yet.
According to Governor Obaseki, what is going on along the Benin-Sapele Road is scandalous. Obaseki does not think that any region where the oil resources that sustain the country come from should be neglected in such a manner. We have done everything possible. We don’t know what to do again to draw the attention of the Federal Government to these roads.
Inwalomhe Donald writes via [email protected]
