AbdulRazaq And The Road Revolution

By Babatunde Opoola

If there is anything that has endeared Mallam Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq to the people of the state since the inception of his administration on May 29, 2019, It is the commitment, sincerity of purpose and zeal with which he has handled the issue of decayed infrastructure, particularly roads, in the state

Hitherto, the impression was that Kwara State which ranks among the lowest on the federal revenue allocation table, was too indigent to fund certain development projects like roads construction. But the AbdulRazaq administration exposed the deceit and insincerity in such claim when in one year of his administration, at least 68 road projects are either completed or ongoing.

And in terms of quality, there is a deliberate policy to break away from the past conventionality — the hogwash kind of road construction. Some of the fascinating features of the roads are the very high quality of jobs such as concrete side drains and quality asphalting.
Yes, the governor knows the importance of good roads to the people and has given it attention.

Apart from state roads, the government has also worked on federal roads like rehabilitation of Kish- Kiaima road and grading of Ilesha Baruba – Oyo State Boundary road, which have eased the stress that travellers on the road used to go through. Now vehicular traffic on these roads has become easier. Man hours are no longer wasted on these . Farmers too find it convenient to move their produce to points of sale.

Also completed are the Oke Apomu-Ile Eletu Banni road, the Tipper Garage junction-Adesoye College road in Offa, construction of Sobi Specialist Hospital- Gaa Osibi-Medina road in ilorin and College of Education road in Ilorin.

Rehabilitation of the Moro Bailey bridge, construction of Coca Cola bridge in Ilorin, rehabilitation of Idofin Odo Ase bridge, Oke Ero and repair of Egwa bridge in Lafiaji are part of the many culvets and bridges construction works embarked upon.

Another road of great importance is the reconstruction of Museum road leading to Esie Museum in Irepodun Local Government Area. This museum which is the first to be established in the country when it opened in 1945 and reputed to have the largest collection of soapstone images in the world had been without a befitting road for many decades. Visiting this tourist attraction is a nightmare. Apart from the economic importance of the road, it is of utmost significance to the sleepy Igbomina town of Esie.

A billion words may be insufficient to capture what the AbdulRazaq’s administration has done in area of infrastructure in the last 365 days. This government has braced all odds to provide good roads for the people of Kwara State, conquering difficult terrain to make impossibilities possible.

From Osi to Erinile,to Baruten, several projects are in different stages of completion across the the 16 local government areas.

In the last 365 days , Kwara State has experienced and witnessed uncommon development, growth and progress.

AbdulRazaq has radicalized and demystified governance as the fulcrum of development, humanism, the rule of law and democracy. In the second year, the sped of delivery will be better because he is appreciating the environment better, having more access to information and hitting the ground running.

For a full appreciation of the successes of AbdulRazaq’s achievements,a view of check list of his achievements will suffice.