The Ogun State government has partnered with the World Bank and French Development Agency to build and renovate rural roads around the state.
The project aimed to assure the improvement of 125 km of rural roads, 200 km of rehabilitation/backlog maintenance, 450 km of spot improvements, 700 km of routine maintenance of rural roads, and 100 m of cross-drainage structures (culverts and bridges).
During a stakeholders’ workshop on the finalization of legislation on the establishment of the Rural Access Road Agency and the State Road Fund, held in Abeokuta, the State capital, Aminu Mohammed, the Project’s Lead Infrastructure Engineer for the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, revealed this.
In order to repair all of the state’s rural roads, Mohammed said the project is being carried out by the state’s Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project and the state Ministry of Rural Development.
He pledged that there would be no compromise when he indicated that the program’s strategy is quality assurance.
He clarified that the purpose of RAAMP, a third-generation rural access project, is to enhance agricultural marketing and rural access in the participating states.
He continued by saying that the project would also reinforce the institutional and financial foundation needed for efficient network development, upkeep, and administration.
He said, “We have developed specification for the rural roads, we have also developed a standard. In addition to that, also under this programme, we have what is called quality assurance plan and quality assurance manual, so be rest assured, the programme is going to provide all season road, and the quality is not going to be compromised.
“Sustainability, on the other hand, has to come through sustainable funding, and we are looking into that, how the private sector, the road users, can also come and play role in maintenance management and the development of the rural roads in Ogun State, so that at least, the embodiment of the road users and the private sectors can also raise hands.
“We are going to complement the effort of government because, we know that government now has an over stretched need that has to do with healthcare needs, and other basic amenities, they can even change policies, but by and large, the sustainable funding, also the private sector has to come in, that’s the thinking and part of the reform.”
Jamiu Odetoogun, the state’s commissioner for rural development, disclosed that the state will employ the initiatives he claimed would improve the rural towns’ transportation infrastructure.
He added that commendable initiatives and mercenaries would be used to swiftly address the problems caused by poor roads on rural routes.
He said, “it is no gainsaying that a larger percentage of our rural roads are such that could make use of different interventions that will alleviate challenges of our rural dwellers on roads and enhance the ease of transportation of agricultural produce from farms to the market and urban communities.”
Gbenga Dairo, the state’s commissioner for transportation, also spoke and said that the state’s rural roads should receive more attention since they are vital to the state’s economic development.
He continued by saying that the intervention is crucial to advancing the administration’s agenda.
He said, “So this programme is important, it’s interesting and it would key into the agenda of the administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun.”
