November 21, (THEWILL) – Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, on Saturday, said the Ilaro-Owode-Idiroko road currently under construction would be completed and inaugurated by May 2022.
He also said he has directed works to be expedited on most of the roads across Yewaland and other parts of Ogun west senatorial district to meet the completion deadline.
The governor, who stated at the grand finale of 2021 Orona Ilaro celebration held at the Palace of Olu Ilaro and Paramount Ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, said that the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure has been directed to carry out palliative work on the Papalanto-Ilaro road.
He said, “We are assiduously working on road projects across Yewaland and the entire Ogun West senatorial District. We are working on the Ilaro-Owode–Idiroko Road, which is a Federal Road. I have ordered that work should be expedited on this road in view of its strategic importance to the economic development of this area.
“Work on the 100 kilometer Sagamu interchange-Papalanto-Ilaro road which has been handed over to Alhaji Aliko Dangote to reconstruct through the government’s tax credit programme will soon commence.”
“The design is ready and the contractor should move to site soon. We will continue to improve our PPP programme to identify necessary funding options for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of major roads in our dear State,” he added.
Abiodun also said that work was going on steadily on Atan-Lusada-Agbara road which leads to the heart of Ogun industrial estate in Agbara.
He mentioned Imasayi-Igan Okoto-Ayetoro road, Oke Ola and Ago-Oshoffa roads as well as Oke Afa Road and Bridge at Agosasa, as some of the major roads being rehabilitated in Ogun West.
The governor divulged that the Oronna festival has grown beyond celebration, but a convergence to reflect the collective aspiration to internalise the economic, historical and spiritual antecedents as well as unity of past heroes and leave a better legacy for the coming generations.
He opined that the festival should serve as a motivation for communal understanding, love and unity and for augmenting steady progress, peace and development of the larger community.
“I must confess that Yewaland did not just give us the cognomen, Gateway State by fortuitous circumstances of its economy and geography, but it is a priority for us. We have done and we will continue to do a lot of work on job creation, poverty alleviation and food security. I can only assure you that we are not resting on our oars,” Abiodun said.
Abiodun, while acknowledging this year’s Oronna Day, said it is a great improvement on the previous ones, saying that the festival is meant to preserve, uphold and celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the Ilaro people, as well as bring together all the sons and daughters of the town within and in the diaspora, for the development of the community.
“Oronna was the mythological hero of Ilaro people who has become a rallying point to aggregate views, promote peace and prosperity and provides a platform for other values and virtues that he embodied while alive.
“Oronna was a selfless, altruistic, courageous and charismatic leader who distinguished himself in battles against the Dahomeans and others who were a scourge to the area at the time,” he noted.
The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr. Toyin Taiwo, said the event provides an opportunity for cross fertilization of ideas for development as well as a platform to preserve a cultural heritage that has invariably impacted on the development of Ilaro and its environs.
Earlier, Oba Olugbenle noted that the senatorial district is littered with incomplete projects.
The monarch informed that infrastructure remains the major challenge in the senatorial district, lauding Abiodun for giving Yewaland serious consideration in the scheme of things in the state.
