President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday reiterated that the current religious and tribal challenges bedeviling the nation would have been a thing of the past if the late MKO Abiola, winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election had been allowed to run his tenure.
He said the late business mogul, being a bridge-builder, would have solved the problems if he had been allowed to enjoy his mandate.
The administration of military President, Gen Ibrahim Babangida annulled the results of the election locally and internationally adjudged Nigeria’s best-ever.
Buhari spoke when he hosted elders and leaders of thought from Ogun State at the State House, Abuja.
In a statement by his Special Advisers on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina, the President was quoted as saying: “If MKO Abiola was allowed to rule, the religious and tribal issues now in Nigeria would not have been as strong, because he ran on a Muslim-Muslim ticket, chose his deputy from the Kanuri, a minority tribe and because of his personality, he went across Nigeria and was accepted.
“He used his resources and energy to convince Nigerians that all he wanted was a solid Nigeria and nothing else.”
Buhari also said that he named the National Stadium, a national monument after the late politician because he knows that the youths would want to find out why such an important national institution was named after MKO Abiola in future.
He expressed appreciation to Governor Dapo Abiodun for mobilising such a strong delegation to thank him for the gesture towards their illustrious son.
Members of the delegation, led by the governor, were at the State House to thank the President for the honour done their kinsman (the late MKO Abiola), by conferring on him the highest national honour of the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) for the ultimate sacrifice he made to enthrone democracy.
The delegation, which presented a big talking drum to the President, also used the opportunity to solicit for the rehabilitation of some federal roads as well as other critical infrastructure in the state.
They said the roads, if rehabilitated, would decongest the gridlock occasioned by the movement of consignments on the Apapa – Oshodi Expressway and improve the standard of living along the corridor.
Speaking with State House reporters, Abiodun said: “Ogun is named the Gateway State for a reason; we are the gateway to one of the biggest economies on this continent, which is Lagos. You cannot go from Lagos to anywhere else without going through Ogun State.
“Consequently, we the gateway state stand to benefit from providing all the services that Lagos may need, that will also put us in a position where we should be the economic capital of this country.
“Today, we have the largest industrial hubs in Nigeria. Every for-trend 500 company today is in Ogun state, it is there for a reason. Our contiguousness to Lagos – the access, the connection, the connectivity between Ogun and Lagos.
“So, for us, our vision in this administration which is to provide focused and qualitative governance, whilst providing an enabling environment for a public, private sector partnership which we believe is fundamental to economic growth of the state and individual prosperity of the citizens.
“If we indeed we are to create that enabling environment, we must ensure that access, the connectivity , the ease with which people can move between Lagos, which has a primary port and Ogun which is a processing zone and Lagos which is also the market, people must be able to move with relative ease between Lagos and Ogun and between Ogun and other states.
“We border the Republic of Benin, Oyo, Ondo and Osun states. So, for us, when we realised that we were beginning to lose that relative ease, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway today remains the primary link between Lagos and the rest of the country.
“And yes, that road is under construction but you will notice that that corridor has far been developed in excess of what was anticipated when that contract was awarded.”
This, he said, has made the state to look at alternative roads.
He went on: “Shagamu to Ikorodu is one alternative road that is parallel to Lagos-Ibadan express road. Epe-Ijebu Ode is another alternative road, Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta is another alternative road. These are roads that lead to industrial corridor.
“Today, those roads, Shagamu to Ikorodu, Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta are federal roads. We appreciate what the federal government is doing particularly round the whole country but we know that there is limited funds available to put in all projects.”
Noting that the identified roads were grossly underfunded, the governor said: “For example, the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Expressway was contracted in 2001, this is 2019, that road is not completed. That road is on its fourth agendum, its vote in this year’s budget is about a billion naira. That road requires another N26 billion to complete and we know we cannot burden the Federal Government.
“So, we are graciously asking them, ditto for Shagamu-Ikorodu. Those roads are extremely important to us.
“If the Shagamu-Ikorodu road is given to us, it will ease the traffic that is going on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.“If we construct Epe-Ijebu Ode road, it means people coming from the East and from Ijebu no longer have to go through the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Also, if you look at the corridor that goes from Lagos-Abeokuta, if that road is completed, it means all these roads will suffer less wear and tear. That same road goes to Agbara which is one of our biggest industrial hub.”
Abiodun said that they are asking for the rehabilitation of the roads for purely economic reasons and also for the ease of connectivity and access for Nigerians.
He said: “Our people live in Ogun and work in Lagos, atimes they have to wake up at 4am to be able to make it to the office at 8am.
We need to improve this and this is the mandate that has been given to us.
“So, what we intend to do between my Lagos State counterpart and I, is to find alternative funding for the roads. That is why we said we are going to create an enabling environment for a public, private sector partnership. We have identified public, private sector partners who are willing to invest, because these roads are commercially viable roads.
“We can, through PPP, fund this road and we will immediately commence works on them and bring them completion in no time. Because, you can imagine if a billion naira is being budgeted yearly and there is N26 billion already on the table, which means it will probably be completed in 26 years, in the meantime wear and tear is continuous on that road, that road will probably not be finished under the current model.
“That is why Baba (Segun Osoba) has joined us in graciously asking Mr. President to commit that road to Lagos and Ogun State government.”
