Encomium
-Abule-Osho, Olambe Bridge Speeds Up
Ogun State Government has resumed work on the Alagbole -Berger Bridge it started almost three years back. The Abule- Osho, Olambe Bridge is also receiving attention, ENCOMIUM Weekly can authoritatively reveal.
Amid torrents of criticism, the Ogun State Government has mobilised the Chinese construction firms which abandoned the contract months before the 2015 governorship election, back to site with alleged threat to sanction them if they don’t ‘deliver’, a source claimed.
Sanny and Kepzing Nigeria Limited, the main Chinese construction firms handling the multi-million naira contract, now work day and night to ensure the completion of the road project that was part of Senator Ibikunle Amosun’s second term- campaign promises.
But if you thought Alagbole and other residents as well as road users are celebrating the return of Amosun’s men, you are not totally correct. And their source of worry is understandable. The once -motorable road has considerably failed, making commuting a herculean task.
ENCOMIUM Weekly reporters who called at the construction site on Friday, March 11, 2016, observed that motorists are really not smiling, to borrow a common lingo. With all sides of the road totally blocked as work was going on, there was no movement for several hours that very day. Incidentally, there was no nearby alternative route to the rescue.
Many of the people we interacted with complained bitterly, while accusing the Ogun state Government of deliberately inflicting pains on citizens in the name of bridge and road construction. Some even faulted the technical capability of the Chinese firms handling the job, arguing they are rather too slow and insensitive to their plight. According to the critics, much would have been done the past two years or so if more serious construction giants were involved in the project.
Also, the angry stakeholders noted they should have rehabilitated a part of the road for ease of traffic pending the completion of the three- lane bridge under construction.
“I don’t know what they are doing. The work is too slow. They’ve blocked all the roads. And now the rains are here. The parts of the roads we were following before have completely failed. It’s terrible”, one road user lamented.
“It is unlikely that Amosun would finish this road before he leaves office in 2019; that’s our worst fear. Let’s pray he completes and commissions it before he quits, another commentator predicted.
But it wasn’t all knocks against Ogun State Government. A couple of Alagbole residents told ENCOMIUM Weekly they are pleased and satisfied with the pace and quality of construction going on in the area ,especially when the last set of structures are now being formed. They applauded the governor for his policy on road infrastructure and determination to develop all parts of the state.
‘We are glad Governor Amosun remembered us. His critics said he would abandon this project having returned to power. But he has disgraced them. He will certainly complete the project”, Comrade Abiodun Salami assured.
“Its obvious you can’t please the world. Those complaining are not sincere. Amosun is working and they will sing a different tune in no distant time”.
In a related development, the Abule-Osho, Olambe Bridge/road construction is also on track. Our reporters said all the pillars are now ready and the beams fully formed. Casting of the bridge has also reportedly commenced.
And if the current pace of work is sustained, the road might be commissioned sooner than one could imagine.
Towards the end of his first tenure, Governor Ibikunle Amosun flagged off several road projects in the three senatorial zones of the state many of which appeared abandoned months after he was re-elected. The good news is his men have now returned to site amid fears he might not complete the work before he quits office in 2019. But time will tell.
-UCHE OLEHI
