In the State of Osun: In modern road construction, the government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is in full throttle. There are many reasons why I remain fascinated to the candidature of Gov Rauf Aregbesola in the coming election in Osun. In this piece, I will dwell on what I call the uncommon road infrastructural development in the State Of Osun, Nigeria [1] The government of Ogbeni Rauf showed full appreciation for the importance of good road network. Unlike the PDP government before it, the present government has invested heavily on developing quality road network. [2] In less than 3 years, the government of Ogbeni Rauf has completed over 900 kilometers of both inter and intra city roads across the 30 local government areas of the state. [3] In view of the scale of construction work going on, Osun would soon be boast of best road networks in Nigeria [4] The government of Ogbeni Rauf has flag off the construction of an Interchange Bridge in Gbongan which would easy movement and reduce the risk of accident on the busy juction of Ibadan / Ibadan link road. This project is progressing and I have personally seen the scale of work going on there. [5] It is at indisputable fact that PDP government constructed 553 kilometres of roads in almost eight years of PDP in Osun. If compared to the effort of the government of Ogbeni Aregbesola, this pales into insignificance when compared with the 513 kilometres of high quality roads constructed in 24 months by the present government in the state. [6] The government of Ogbeni Rauf has continued to confronted the challenges of bad road. The governor was quoted as saying that “Our assault on bad roads therefore is massive. At the state level, work is ongoing at different road projects and at varying stages of completion. It is my own opinion that if the PDP is allowed back into government, these projects would be halted if we go by their past records. [7] I have spent the last 3 weeks in Nigeria and I have traveled across Osun. I have no doubt in the claim of the government of Ogbeni Rauf in the area of road infrastructural development. I can boldly say that government has consistently being working on rehabilitation of township roads which the PDP government has allowed to remain in disrepair. It is on record that the present government has carried out the rehabilitation of 21 Osogbo township roads ... the rehabilitation of 15 Ilesa township roads ... the rehabilitation of 14 Ede township roads. I have seen for myself, during my stay in Osun, true evidence of rehabilitation of Osogbo, Ilesa and Ile-Ife township roads which the opposition cannot refute the achievement of the present government in that area. [8] It was interesting to note that most of these rehabilitation works were carried out by direct labour which was prudent spending on the part of the government. [9] I was also informed of the incontestable statistics that “Twenty intercity roads totaling 319 kilometres, 13 intra-city roads, totalling 79.46 kilometres, rehabilitation of select roads in six zones totaling 74.1 kilometres, eight roads inherited from past administration totalling 144.29 kilometres, dualisation of Osogbo-Kwara boundary road totalling 43.37 kilometres and dualisation of Gbongan-Orileowu-Ijebu Igbo Road” were started and successfully executed. I am interested in what the opposition would have to say with regards to these claims. [10] The government also claimed that at the beginning of this year, the government of Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola commenced the construction of 229 kilometres local government roads spread across all the local governments in the state. I will leave the voters who are affected by this development to be the judge of this claim. [11] Finally, I must state that we have an uncommon style of governance in Ogbeni RAUF AREGBESOLA. Ogbeni have a sound mind and he has shown without doubt that he has the grip on the challenges of bad road. At the flag off of the Gbongan interchange, he was quoted as saying that “Bad roads also have health cost, besides the possibility of road accidents. People are loath to travel on bad roads because of the possible challenge to their health after the trip. Good roads on the other hand will enhance economic and social activities, bring down the cost of goods and services and reduce wear and tear on vehicles.” [12] It is on record that the heights that the present government attained in two years in the area of road infrastructure dwarf what the last PDP administration achieved in 90 months [13] The roads being constructed by the present government in Osun are of high quality engineering with 50 mm asphalt on stone base with concrete drainage which is a far cry from the old practice by the past PDP government in using cheap macadam overlay on weakly compacted earth and poor drainage provision. [14] Going by the prototype, the road projects when completed will improve the safety and comfort of both motorists and pedestrians because these roads are being constructed with quality materials that will enable them last for more than 30 years unlike washy washy road of the past. [15] The effort of the present government has not gone unrecognised from international partners including the World Bank. During a courtesy call, the senior infrastructure economist, Transport Sector Africa Region of RAMP, Mr. Nicolas Peltier, who led the delegation of World Bank and French Development Partners on a courtesy call to the governor of the state in Osogbo on a pre-approval mission on RAMP Phase Two, disclosed that the government of Osun has made significant steps being the first to implement the RAMP programme ahead of other states and commended the effort of the government in maintenance of access rural roads Importantly, Osun voters are reminded that during the 2011 presidential election campaign, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan promised to rehabilitate all the Federal roads in the Osun. But the question is, in what part of Osun has the federal government kept its promises to the people of Osun. We have heard on many occasion when the government of Osun has had to call on FERMA to wake up to their responsibility. For those who are asking for fact and figures, here are some for consideration and would ask those with contrary opinions to come forward and state where applicable. It is an incontestable fact that the present government has not disappointed the voters in Osun. The government of Ogbeni Aregbesola has worked hard to fulfill it promises in the area of road construction and rehabilitation and we cant put a brake to the on-going progress being made in this sector. OGBENI RAUF IS WORKING. OSUN IS PROGRESSING. ONE GOOD TERM DESERVES ANOTHER allafrica/stories/201408010528.html
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 15:52:06 +0000
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