Ten years after the commencement of the ten-lane Lagos-Badagry expressway, life is set to return to the axis as the Lagos State Government Tuesday flagged off the continuation of the construction of the road.
Performing the flag off, the Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat stated that the return to the road not only marks the fulfillment of a promise made during a recent visit on June 2, 2019 to the people of the state by the Sanwo-Olu Administration but is also designed to bring relief to commuters who daily experience hardship on the road, said a statement by Biola Fagunwa, Director, Public Affairs, Office of the Deputy Governor.
Speaking at the site office of the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) contractors to the project, the Deputy Governor noted that the Sanwo-Olu administration would honour all the promises made to Lagosians.
He further stated that the project covers specifically the Agboju to Trade Fair segment as well as the rehabilitation of the Eric Moore – Mile 2 stretch.
The Deputy Governor, who stopped to address Lagosians who gathered while apprehending at least five errant drivers, urged citizens to remain obedient to the laws that were made to ensure good life.
According to the Deputy Governor “we must obey the law, citizens co-operation is critical to what successes we will be able to record during this tenure. We must also monitor the project and report progress and observations to us.”
Hamzat further commended the co-operation of the federal government as both the state and federal agencies will be present along the road up to Seme border.
He explained that Lagos State is handling Eric Moore to Agboju while FERMA will do a four-lane maintenance to Agbara while the federal government has awarded Agbara to Seme as a six-lane Highway.
He said the state government will deploy a taskforce to clean up the area and ensure free flow of traffic.
The notion to expand the Lagos-Badagry expressway, a major gateway connecting Nigeria and other neighbouring West African countries was conceptualised in 2009 by the Babatunde Raji Fashola administration to ease traffic in the region and upgrade the infrastructure from four-lane into 10-lane dual carriage.
The Lagos-Badagry project, which is approximated to 60km long from Eric Moore to Badagry, consist of two major intermodal transport scheme namely Lagos-Badagry expressway project and Lagos Light Rail Mass Transit project.
Earlier in his remarks, the General Manager, Lagos Office of CCECC, Mr. Bill Bian, stated the corporation’s commitment to ensure that the project is completed on schedule.
The Deputy Governor was accompanied by the Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure – Mr. Olujimi Hotonu; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation – Dr. Taiwo Salam; Permanent Secretary, Ministry of the Environment – Mr. Biodun Bamgboye, General Manager, CCECC Lagos – Mr. Bill Bian and Six Local Government Chairmen.