Fashola commissions 11.8km street lights

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), on Monday evening switched on an 11.8 kilometre stretch of public lighting covering from Ikorodu Road to Iddo via Jibowu and Murtala Mohammed Way, Yaba.

Fashola appealed to residents to take ownership of the asset.

The project, which consists of 11.8 kilometres of public lighting, is broken into two sections, with one section consisting of 1.2 kilometres from Ikorodu Road to Jibowu, while the second consists of 10.6 kilometres on Murtala Mohammed Way (from Jibowu to Iddo).

It brings to a total of 410 kilometres of roads so far lit up in the city by the government in the last three years.

In his remarks shortly after performing the ceremony, Governor Fashola also appealed to motorists who ply the roads to obey the State’s Traffic laws, especially by not driving against traffic.

He said driving against traffic they not only endangers their lives, but those of other road users.

The governor, who said the switching on ceremony marked the end of the construction work in the area, added, however, that it also marks the commencement of maintenance works to make sure that the road stays in good state of repair.

He appealed particularly to communities around the project area, including churches, schools, the railway compound as well as others who pass through the roads, to treat the infrastructure as a public asset: adding: “It belongs to you.

“The lighting, I believe, will help this place on a daily basis. At nights, it will make security better, it will also improve the night economy in this community.”

Aside providing jobs for a total of 89 people made up of 56 technicians, 12 painters, 10 welders, eight engineers and three supervisors, the project has increased the amount of functioning public lighting within the state to  410 kilometres while it signifies government’s continued commitment to light up the city ‘Pole  to Pole’.

Other major highways that have benefited from the public lighting project in the last three years include Gbagada Expressway, Carter Bridge, Iju Road, Ahmadu Bello Way, Marina Road (Badagry) and Alhaji Masha (Surulere).

Earlier, in her welcome address, the General Manager of Lagos State Electricity Board, Damilola Ogunbiyi, thanked Fashola and the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure as well as the State’s Electricity Board for their roles in bringing the project to a successful conclusion.

Ogunbiyi added that the lighting has connected Ikorodu Road all the way to Iddo.

Present at the ceremony were Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Engineer Taofeek Tijani; his Finance counterpart, Ayo Gbeleyi; the Special Adviser on Works and Infrastructure, Engineer Ganiyu Johnson; the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Iyabo Obasa; and a member of the state House of Assembly, Hon. Rotimi Emmanuel Olowo.