Ogun to Reconstruct Ikenne Township Road, Says Abiodun

James Sowole in Abeokuta

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, at the weekend, said his administration would soon award the contract for the reconstruction of the Ikenne township road.

The road, according to him, would begin from Aiyepe junction.

Abiodun, who made this known during the 47th annual Ikenne Ereke Day celebration with the theme: ‘Divine Year of Accomplishment’, held at the Ereke Civic Centre, Ikenne, said the reconstruction of the township road would further complement the completion of the stretch of the road from Sagamu.

He also disclosed that the model school built and abandoned by the immediate-past administration in the state would soon be converted into a world-class Centre of Excellence by his administration.

He said: “I will soon be awarding the Ikenne township road contract, and that will start from the Aiyepe junction to Uren River. That will complete the stretch coming from Sagamu and it will give this town the beauty it deserves.

“We have completed the Sagamu-Ikenne road. I know some of our brothers and sisters in Ikenne would have wanted us to dualise it. As a government, our decisions are driven by data. That road does not enjoy enough traffic to be dualised. So, we looked at the cost-benefit and decided that we would complete one side of the road, and when that traffic justifies it, we will complete the other part.

“Also, we will soon convert the Model School in Ikenne to a world-class Centre of Excellence.”

The governor also reiterated that the Ogun State Agro Cargo Airport being constructed in the state would be unveiled with commercial activities commencing at the airport soon, noting that a dry port would also berth in the state.

Abiodun said: “That airport two years ago was nothing but a forest. The pessimists said we could not build it; some people called it a dump site. By the grace of the Almighty God, we will be unveiling that airport before the end of this year, and that airport will resume commercial operation. Planes will be departing from Ikenne Local Government Area of the state to Abuja.

“In our relentless efforts to make our state more accessible to business, we have unfolded our multi-model transport master plan, which included the construction of this airport.

“In furtherance of that implementation, we will soon establish the Ogun State Dry Port which is a port without a sea, at the Kajola-Papalanto axis, thereby facilitating our manufacturers to ship their raw materials from anywhere in the world or export their finished goods from Kajola in Ogun State to other parts of the world.”

The governor, while ascribing the rise of the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the state to the strong political will of his administration, said his government would continue to do everything within its capacity to soar higher.

“I remain very humble to be the governor of this great state; the state with the most improved internally generated revenue in the country according to Budgit, and by the grace of God, we are the third largest in IGR from the very back position that we occupied in the recent past.

“This has been possible because of our strong political will and dogged determination to change the old order and move the state towards sustainable growth and prosperity,” he added.