Ambode restates commitment to people’s welfare as he commissions 114 roads

The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, has reiterated his administration’s commitment towards pursuing projects and programmes that are driven by the needs of the communities.
Ambode stated this in Lagos on Monday at the commissioning of Etal Memunat Ayodeji Road in the Onigbogbo Local Council Development Area of the State as part of the 114 local government roads projects in the State.
He explained that his government would always be driven by the needs of the majority in the society.
The Governor, who was represented by the State’s Head of Service, Olabowale Ademola, pointed out that the 114 road projects represents another major landmark in the annals of progressive governance in Lagos State as well as a translation of the concept of inclusive governance into a reality.
His words: “Today, we celebrate the transition of that vision to action, the transformation of our dream to reality.
“Across the length and breadth of our State, from the nooks in Badagry to the crannies of Igbonla, from the corners of Odeomi to the creeks of Ikorodu, a new Lagos emerges at the center and peripheries.
“It is a Lagos with 56.1km of standard new roads.
“It is a Lagos with more than 112km of walkways and covered drainages.
“It is indeed a new Lagos with more than 56km of independently-powered streetlights to enhance the security of our neighbourhoods and elevate Lagos as the megacity of shimmering lights and economy.”
Ambode noted that the construction was borne out of the need to make Lagos economy the most viable in the country by investing more than N19 billion of the state and local governments’ funds in the infrastructural renewal that the 114 road projects represents.
He said: “We started this journey by asking our communities through the Community Development Associations to identify the roads in need of improvement in their areas.
“We received hundreds of requests and picked two per each local government to make 114 roads across the State.
“To ensure transparency and accountability, we established a bidding process in line with international best practices that produced 89 indigenous contractors.”
The Governor averred that the streetlights of the new roads would be powered by the Community Development Associations in appreciation of their role as well as a gesture of the commitment of the state government to encourage communities to take ownership of their projects.
While appealing to elders, youths and residents of the new roads to jealously guard the infrastructure provided by government so that additional projects could come to their communities, the Governor also enjoined royal fathers, traditional chiefs, Community Development Associations, market men and women and other stakeholders in the various communities to address the menace of cultism, kidnapping, miscreants, vandalism and hoodlums by providing timely information to the security agencies.
The newly roads were designed with walkway, median, streetlights and standard drainage system.