The Lagos State governor, Babanide Sanwo-Olu on Thursday said work will soon commenced on the Agric-Ishawo and Igbogbo Roads in Ikorodu area of the state.
The governor, who spoke while on an inspection tour of Rice Mill and Industrial Park project being developed by the state government at Imota, said he felt the pains of commuters on the routes.
Accompanied on the tour by his Deputy, Dr. Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, and Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, among other top government officials, Sanwo-Olu promised that contractors would be fully mobilised for reconstruction work on the two roads.
“We are aware of two major critical roads that are in Ikorodu Division; the Igbogbo Road and Agric-Ishawo Road. Once the heaviness of the rains subsides, which is likely to be in couple of weeks away, we expect that the contractor will fully re-mobilise to the sites.
“I appeal to residents to bear with us, but we will take responsibility of the rehabilitation of these important roads. Government is a continuum and we are going to fulfill our campaign promises to complete all abandoned projects. We are appealing to our teaming citizens in Ikorodu to be patient. We know how critical these roads are to their wellbeing.
“I had been on these roads before and I know the conditions they are presently. It is for the people to exercise patience because for road construction, we need to be very tactical to ensure there is no wastage in materials. Once the rain subsides a little bit, the contractor will be fully mobilised to sites and Lagosians will begin to see major improvement on the two artery roads in Ikorodu,” the governor said.
Meanwhile, the governor disclosed that the first line of the Imota Rice Mill is expected to be completed before the end of the year.
According to him, when fully completed, the mill would produce 2.8 million bags of 50kg rice per annum and create between 1,000 and 1,500 direct jobs.
“We are hoping that before the end of the year, we will probably see the first line fully completed.
“It is a project that depicts our continuity in governance, and that is why we have taken the pains to come here and know the scope of work.
“On completion, it will be a 32 metric tonnes production capacity per hour rice mill,” he said.
He further noted that the rice mill would probably meet about 15 to 20 per cent of the national needs when it starts production.
“We have started conversation with neighbouring states under the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, that is, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo states, and then we can begin the growing of paddy rice.
“The mill, on commencement, will have 16 silos.
“We are studying the entire value chain and speaking to other stakeholders to ensure that this project, on completion, can begin to galvanise the objective of President Muhammadu Buhari on looking inwards to feed ourselves,” Sanwo-Olu said.
