SANWO-OLU URGES FG TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR LAGOS-BADAGRY EXPRESSWAY

SANWO-OLU URGES FG TO PROVIDE FUNDING FOR
LAGOS-BADAGRY EXPRESSWAY
… Lagos State Is Very Important, Critical To Nigeria
Economy – Reps
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has urged
the Federal Government to provide adequate funding for
the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, an international gateway
to West African countries.
He said Lagos State Government has taken a leap to start
a 10-lane highway on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway and
it has already done almost 18 kilometers of the road. He
therefore appealed to the Federal Ministry of Works to
push it further and take it to Badagry.
Governor Sanwo-Olu while receiving the House of Reps
Committee on Works led by its chairman, Hon. Abubakar
Kabir Abubakar, during a courtesy visit at the Lagos House,
Ikeja on Monday also tasked the Federal Government to
speed up the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan
Expressway.
The Governor, who commended the House of
Representatives members for coming to Lagos for on-the-
spot assessment of the works carried out in the State by
the Federal Ministry of Works, said urgent action should
be taken to work on the Otedola Bridge area of the Lagos-
Ibadan Expressway, to prevent regular accidents on the
axis.
He said: “We are happy with the level of work that has
been done on Apapa-Oshodi Road but we need to go back
to do a lot of clean-up. There is still a side road that has
not been completed”
“We know this is a special dispensation given the Order 8
that has been used but we can still go back and clean up
the areas, especially around the Tin-Can Port and Apapa
Port, so that we can free the traffic in all those areas and
take it up to Ijora”.
“Lagos-Badagry Expressway is one that I am aware of
that doesn’t have sufficient funding.
“Lagos-Badagry Expressway is an international gateway”
“We heard that Ghana, Republic of Benin and Togo have
done their own; it is trans-West Africa corridor which five
countries pass through. But it is only the Nigerian part of
it that has not been fully fixed, which is from Seme
boarder into Lagos and go straight to the port”.
“But Lagos on its own has taken leap to start something.
So, we are doing a 10-lane highway and we have done
almost 18 kilometers of that and we are taking it to a
place called Okokomaiko”.
“We have been expecting the Federal Government and the
Federal Ministry of Works to push it and take it to
Badagry. Our desire is for them to make it 10-lane
highway. We are building for the future and we can put a
rail in the middle of the corridor”.
“When we are building for a future, we should not be
scared. It is an international road and it has capacity to
take high level of traffic. That is one place we believe you
will look into.”
Governor @jidesanwoolu while commending the Federal
Ministry of Works’ intervention on some of the federal
roads in Lagos State urged FG to speedily consider the
major failed portions of the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Road and
other Class A federal roads that are important in
decongesting traffic out of Lagos.
He said: “We are not living everything to Federal
Government. We are also taking up the responsibility of
trying to build the Fourth Mainland Bridge.
“We will work and collaborate with Federal Government at
some point. It is a 37-kilometer ring road that is going to
exit finally on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. It is audacious
but we are looking to use PPP model to be able to build
it”.
“We believe that you should be able to see the Phase One
of it coming out before the end of this administration. We
are not leaving anything to chance. We are doing 18-
kilometer six-lane, rigid pavement in Lekki-Epe
Expressway”
“We are doing 10 kilometers six-lane regional roads and
several others. We are doing bridges and other
constructions on our own. That is what can open up and
free a city”.
“We are not just only doing that, we are pushing movement
on our waterways. We are doing our rails so that we can
have integrated mass transportation using rail, waterways
and road connectivity in Lagos”.
“We want everybody to come here to see that it is
comparable to any city in the world. That is our plan.”
Speaking earlier, Hon. Abubakar said his committee has
reached out to the contractor in charge of the Marine and
Eko Bridge and they promised that the project will be
completed in four weeks’ time, adding that the committee
is also working on a new project in Lagos, which is Isolo-
Mushin Road.
He said the Committee will also work tirelessly toward the
completion of the Ikorodu-Sagamu Road for the project to
be ready before the end of the President Muhammadu
Buhari administration.
“Lagos State is very important and critical to Nigeria’s
economy. Lagos is important to us and that is why road
construction is very critical for Lagos State. We have
important roads in Lagos State”.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon.
Femi Gbajabiamila has directed our committee to give
Lagos special attention because of the importance of the
state to the federation.
“We have to support the efforts Lagos State Government
and Federal Government in making sure that Lagos has
best roads so that people will not be stuck in traffic for
four to five hours.
We have to do what we can to make sure that Lagosians
have the best roads. We will do our best to make that
happens,” he promised.