BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE, Benin
THE Comrade Adams Oshiomhole led administration in Edo state since its inception on November 12, 2008 has left no one in doubt about its avowed commitment to road construction throughout the three Senatorial zones in the state.

A part from the Education Sector which saw the administration building new schools and rehabilitating existing one, road construction and rehabilitation has remained one of the major achievements of the government.

Among the major roads reconstructed by the government within Benin metropolis including the Airport Road, Oba Market Road, West Circular Road, Akpakpava Road, Sapele Road up to the Murtala Muhammed  Way Junction, Siluko Road, New Lagos Road, and the additional lanes from Dawson Road to Ugbowo- Oluku junction and others . The same achievement in the road construction is replicated in Edo North and Edo Central Senatorial zones.

However, Saturday Vanguard investigation indicated that all is not well in the construction and rehabilitation of roads in the state as poor funding arising from dwindling allocation from the Federation Account and the vagaries of the whether especially the rainy season has affected most road construction sites in the state.

For instance, the Mission and Forestry Roads which are on-going projects were affected by the rainy season as no major earth work could be undertaken during the rain. The Second East Circular Road, one of the oldest roads in the state has since collapsed and has become a nightmare to motorists. So also are feeder roads in the state capital.

Edo state Commissioner for Works, Osarodion Ogie, who spoke with Vanguard on the issue, attributed paucity to the rainy season as to why most ongoing projects have been slowed.

“We have been working continuously and even now, I will not say works have stopped; it might have slows down  in some areas, but at no time works has stopped .The Second East Circular Road you have mentioned has been very bad for long and we have just completed designs on it and other roads. They are awaiting contract awards and awarding contracts depends on availability of funds”

“You also know that all over the country, especially in the last three to four months, there has been a shortfall in revenue allocation from the Federation Accounts to the States.

One of the governors in the country recently disclosed that States have suffered almost 40 percent fall in their revenue. So, we have a lot of roads including the Second East Circular Road and others that have been designed and we are very anxious to award contracts for their rehabilitation and reconstruction if the funds are available”.

Continuing he said, “During the rainy season you cannot do any earth work and if you know the state of our roads before the inception of this administration, there is no road we are going to construct or rehabilitate without doing serious earth work.

However, throughout the rainy season, contractors were working on the drainage aspects of the roads and the good news is that the rainy season is fast receding and contactors have step up their activities”

“I was at Orhionmwon local government area of the State yesterday to inspect the Ugo- Evboeghae Road and the contractors are already there, working on the stone base and at the end of this interview; I will be on my way to Edo North and Edo Central Senatorial zones to see how the contractors have been mobilized to sites and how they are going about their works there”.

The Commissioner disclosed that in the last two weeks, a lot of roads in the state capital, Benin have been undergoing rehabilitations and repairs under the Rapid Response Agency and these included: Ihama Road, Boundary road, Aigbuobasimwin Road, Reservation Road etc, adding that in the case of Mission and Forestry Road, they are on-going projects in which works have not stopped.

“At the Upper Mission end of the Mission road, especially by New Era College area, work is on-going; the contractors are on site working daily. Even though the Ring Road and New Nigerian Bank axis of the road is bad, people should show some understanding and be patient because we will get there”, he said.

On how the state has been funding the various road contracts in spite of the short fall of revenue from the federation account, Mr. Ogie attributed it to ingenuity of the State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who does things based on serious thinking and reflection.

“During the first year in office, people grumbled that there was nothing on ground, yet he was planning on how to put things together. Somehow, he has been able to fix some leaking holes in the system and in that way, saved money to do some of the jobs we are seeing today in the state. It is not magic, it is just as results of serious thinking and planning that has given him the benefit of being able to fix the bad roads”, he said.