FG Flags –off Reconstruction Of N73bn Lagos Apapa-Ojota Expressway

FG Flags –off Reconstruction Of N73bn Lagos Apapa-Ojota Expressway

The federal government on Saturday flagged off the reconstruction of Apapa-Oshodi –Oworoshoki –Ojota expressway in Lagos which is expected to gulp N73 billion using a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.

The Federal Executive Council, (FEC) had in August this year approved N72.9billion for the reconstruction of the road from Apapa to the toll gate on Lagos-Ibadan expressway in Lagos State.

Speaking at a ceremony held in Lagos, the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola said the road  and Tin can Island port which were constructed between 1975 and 1978 had suffered neglect from successive governments in the country.

He lamented that forty years after the road was not rebuilt, expanded or reconstructed but always patched before its collapse despite the huge funds that accrued to the federal government through sale of crude oil during the period.

Fashola said,’’ in all of that years what has happened we made a lot of money selling crude oil but this road was not rebuild , expanded , Lagos Badagry started to deteriorate , Lagos, Ota – Abeokuta you could not pass, Ikorodu Sagamu you couldn’t pass . you have heard from the consultant here who said about ten years ago when we were earning over 100 dollars per a barrel of crude oil he made a proposal to the government of the day but nothing was done.

‘’Now oil is significantly lower in price yet it takes one man’s commitment , one man’s good heart, goodwill and determination to make the kind of investments that is now being made here, that man is President Muhammadu Buhari . So if you go the Lagos Badagry expressway the contract has been awarded. Those are the roads that are so critical to the economic survival of Lagos.’’

According to him, the decision to reconstruct the road was taken to provide a long term solution to the road, which had suffered a lot of gridlock in recent times, noting that the road was intended to evacuate cargo out of Lagos without running through the spine of the city.

He explained that the work will be done using a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model, adding that Dangote Group as the constructing firm for the road project would execute the project and the money would be recovered through the funding credit tax policy of government.

The minister in the ceremony that had the Lagos State Governor Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode , the richest man in Africa Alhaji Aliko Dangote , Chairman senate committee on works, Senator Kabiru Ibrahim Gaya , Senator Oluremi Tinubu , monarchs and other prominent Nigerians, said the construction of about 79.8 linear kilometers road also include drainage and use of extensive cement work and rehabilitation of bridges.

In his vote of thanks, the Chairman Dangote Group of Companies Alhaji Aliko Dangote said, ‘I want to assure you that this road is the first road that would be completed ahead of schedule in the country. It will be finished on budget and it will be the largest concrete road in West Africa.

‘’I promised you that it would be completed ahead of schedule by far. It will bear our signature as Dangote so our name is at stake. We will make sure that it is done properly.”

He said when completed the road will bring relief to the industries that contributes over 60 per cent of the Revenue accruing to the country, saying his company by this initiative advancing their resources to government.

In his address, Lagos State Governor Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode commended the federal government for the numerous projects being done in the state and recent refund it made to the state over money it spent on federal government projects.