Members of the Oodua Peoples Congress have arrested the notorious Fulani warlord terrorising Oyo community, Iskilu Wakilu.
Kehinde Aderemi, Special Assistant on Media to Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams Adams, confirmed this to The PUNCH on Sunday.
“Yes, he has been arrested by our team. You will get details later,” he said on the telephone.
Meanwhile, the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural organization, Afenifere has commended OPC for the arrest of Wakilu.
The National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, in a statement on Sunday, said, “Afenifere gives tremendous commendation to OPC under Iba Gani Adams for the arrest of iskilu Wakilu, a Fulani bandit who has been spreading terror on ou people in Igboho area and the Nigerian Police and other security agencies unable to do anything about him.
“The early morning peaceful arrest confirms our position on how effective local initiative can do well in homeland security.
“We were not shocked that but for the intervention by the leadership in Oyo State, the Police would have gone after the OPC boys instead of taking the criminal from them and do the needful.
“Nigeria is going nowhere with a security network that shuns federalism.”
Well done, OPC.’
OPC had on February 27 arrested the second-in-command to the alleged dreaded kidnapper, one Isiaka Muhammadu.
The news last week that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had begun a probe into the finances of former governor of Lagos State and All Progressives Congress (EFCC) strongman, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, literally shattered the Nigerian political airwaves. In the news, the EFCC reportedly wrote a letter to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) asking it to furnish the commission with details of Tinubu’s assets declaration form. Dated November 6, 2020, marked CR/3000/EFCC/LS/Vol4/322 and signed by its then Zonal Head, Abdulrasheed Bawa who is now the EFCC chairman, media reports had it that the renewed probe was predicated on petitions written against Tinubu under the chairmanship of Ibrahim Magu which he swept under the rug. Chief among the allegations in the petition was that of Alpha Beta, a company allegedly owned by the ex-governor. Tinubu’s alleged ownership of sundry properties and concerns, among a plethora others, donned the said petition.
By “shattering political airwaves,” I meant that the politically naïve were taken aback by this turn of events. In virtually all the states of Nigeria, the periodic rat race for 2023 has begun and only the fittest can survive the heat. We are entering Nigerian politicians’ own masquerade festival season and its insignia of festivity – multiple coloured dresses – is beginning to appear. Anyone in possession of a political binocular microscope which can see through the recess of the fetid minds of the Nigerian politician would predict with oracular certainty that Tinubu’s mess has begun and can only witness a metastasis.
In the mind of the Nigerian politician, all that is foul is fair. A Nigerian politician’s desperation for power is so pervasive that it can be likened to that of a man driven to the point of killing his mother and roping his father for it. Scruples, ethos and dignity are easily sacrificed in political permutations while, all things taken into consideration, it will seem that those whose hearts are carapace-hard and incapable of empathy and sympathy operate at the highest echelon of political decision-making. Ancient ethos of requiting good for good easily becomes a sacrificial lamb when the Nigerian politician’s political calculus and permutations are in full swing.
It was all the above pieced together, added to the austere national good that inheres in it, which formed part of the rationale for the previous pieces I wrote on Tinubu’s touted aspiration to become the president of Nigeria. With an understanding of the mindset of those who make political decisions in Nigeria, it was not difficult to appear like a Nostradamus on the projected travails of a man who, in close to 22 years of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, has gradually grown to become a power octopod.
At the risk of sounding patronizing, no 1999 Class of politician has acquired Tinubu-type huge political muscles, majesty and political bravura in Nigeria. The culmination of his grits manifested when, in 2015, he literally single-handedly ensured the emergence of severally-scorned-at-the-polls Muhammadu Buhari as president of Nigeria. A source once told me that, on the announcement of Buhari as president, Tinubu was so literally intoxicated at the outcome that he announced to some group of people that what that meant was not only that all corporations and institutions of Nigeria were in his pocket but that Nigeria herself had thenceforth began to oscillate right on top of his thumb. As vast as he is about the temperature of power and power politics in Nigeria, never did it occur to him to factor into the equation the understanding that, requiting good with blood-curdling wickedness was the genetic component of Nigerian political chess-gaming.
During this time, the most potent weapon for Tinubu to achieve whatever he wanted as a political aspiration in a larger Nigeria was to, like Chief Obafemi Awolowo, tighten his hold on his western Nigerian base, become Awo-ly consequential therein and use this hold to secure a negotiation on administering the rest of Nigeria. Unfortunately for him, gradually, he lost grips of his base, so much that, if an election is conducted in Yorubaland today, Tinubu can scarcely win two states to his side.
Corruption in Nigeria is indeed hydra-headed. Many analysts have imputed a genetic drift into it. Scholars have also submitted that Nigeria would continue to be the laughing stock of the world, even as it witnesses regression in all departments of statehood, until that national leeching spirit is exorcised. With this as the background, asking the EFCC not to do its constitutionally-assigned duty of smoking out malefactors, will tantamount to seeking nourishment and flourish for evil to continue its imperious reign in Nigeria. However, the modus operandi of this EFCC searchlight on Tinubu appears very shroudy and bears every imprimatur of politics. Exchanged in hushed tones and whispers, information that Tinubu’s hold on its erstwhile chairman Ibrahim Magu, is akin to that of a Mandarin, has been oscillating in the public domain for a while now. It was even said that, aware of their incestuous dalliance, Buhari and his power apparatchik deliberately refused to confirm the Maiduguri-born cop’s tenure as substantive chairman of the commission as a way of exhibiting their disdain for Tinubu. Nigeria’s Attorney General, Abubakar Malami, is the legal anvil through whom the legal aspect of the equation is baked and served. So when the EFCC boss began to go through his long-winding travails that eventually led to his exit, those who were knowledgeable about power equations said that it was the first omen that the scaly hands of the Nigerian power establishment was on its way to getting the Lagos political principality. There was no way they could get Tinubu without first demolishing his hold which Magu approximated and an anti-corruption czar who is the establishment’s lickspittle surely appears a fitting icing on the cake to dismantle the Tinubu stronghold.
If the highly touted familial relationship between Malami and Bawa, newly appointed EFCC chairman, has any modicum of truth in it, then it may be justifiably said that Bawa’s main assignment could be to achieve the Buhari click’s end result of smoking out Tinubu. The desperation to push through the candidacy of the 40-year old young man and the apparent frenetic drive to adjust his eligibility cadre are pointers to this effort. Bawa had just spent 16 years in the commission. As a starter, what structured public service job would anybody do for just 16 years and would have acquired enough depth to sit at its zenith? A last-minute shoring up of Bawa’s service cadre was curiously, and with cheetah speed, done before his appearance at the senate. An implementation of the Justice Ayo Salami panel’s alleged recommendation that police officers should be stopped from heading the commission was also haphazardly pushed through. The question is, is the white paper of the panel’s report out? If it is not out, was it not putting the cart before the horse to implement a recommendation before its white paper is out? The last we heard of the Salami-led judicial panel of enquiry report was that President Buhari had set up a four-man committee to review it.
Also in the news was that the committee would be saddled with producing the White Paper on the probe report whose main recommendation was the removal of Magu. Garba Shehu, the president’s aide, confirming this sequence, had said that “the judicial panel made wide-reaching recommendations which must be carefully studied and acted upon. A White Paper committee is working on the report.”
Again, the ongoing party re-registration being conducted by the APC is a direct rough tackle of Tinubu’s suzerainty in the party. The earlier registration was said to have had been his brainchild which he owned, including the company which conducted it, which was his proxy. He deployed this register to his advantage, especially in states of the country conducting governorship party primaries mid-season in the last few years. By asking for a fresh registration, party faithful know that it is an indirect jab against and vote of no confidence on Tinubu’s control of the party, again by the cabal that is remote-controlling the present Tinubu’s travails.
The major reason why the presidency wants Tinubu roasted is unclear. Could it be revenge for alleged accusation of him sponsoring the EndSARSriot of October 2020? Tinubu and his lieutenants have spiritedly denied complicity in the allegation. If you look at the date of the correspondence of the EFCC to the CCB, you will realize that the state sprung into action to nail Tinubu barely a month after that seismic riots. Could it also be an attempt to cut the wind off his presidential ambition’s sail by putting EFCC spanners in the works? Already, actions have sprung up towards that presidential bid. A Southwester group, SWAGA, has been meeting in all the states of the west to give life to the aspiration and some northern states have been receiving lobbyists who promote the said Tinubu aspiration. What is however indubitable about this is that the attempt to probe Tinubu is a ooze out of the struggle for control of political space and the presidency is wielding its coercive cudgel to teach the Lagos political czar a lesson of his life.
If the second scenario was the enabler of the Tinubu hunt, it stands against reason that the Lagos octopod himself would not have gauged the resentment of the presidency to his presidential bid before now. There is no doubt that Tinubu made a fatal calculation in misreading the disposition of the people he backed for the presidency in 2015 to him. It is apparent that they are disdainful of him and believe he is worse than a pig in the mire. He was a whiff lucky to have had this pall now hovering over his head delayed for over six years of the Buhari presidency. Just about six months into Buhari being in office, the push to neutralize Tinubu began. The proposal to liquidate him was published as an opinion piece in the Sun newspaper of this period, with very scary propositions to get him probed. So many disparaging comments were made about his person that bordered on the libelous, with the conclusion that he be sacrificed by Buhari, not minding that he played a very significant role in the president’s election.
That fatal misstep of queuing behind Buhari led to a flurry of other missteps. The most cataclysmic of these was his sudden aloofness to the interests of his people. As the Buhari government’s policies became anti-people, Tinubu’s hands were tied to government and against his people. For instance, while the Yoruba agonized over the killing of Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, daughter of Afenifere leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, Tinubu stormed the Akure home of the Yoruba leader and poured vitriol on the wounds of the people. “I don’t want to be political, but I will ask, where are the cows?” he had asked sarcastically, apparently deflecting arrows that pointed at the Fulani cow herders.
At several other junctures where his people felt the agonizing pinch of Buhari’s inhuman policies, mum was the word from Tinubu. On the sparse occasion that he spoke, he went so off-tangent that you would wonder how political aspirations can diametrically push people off the path of their people. The final nails on the coffin were Tinubu’s stance on the EndSARS protest which was again, a bonding with the Buhari government. So also was his loud silence on the recent spate of killings and kidnappings in his Southwestern home states.
Last week, at the commissioning of the 1.4km Lagos Agege/Pen Cinema flyover, Tinubu again lapsed into his proclivity for absurd and off-key thinking and got deserved flaks from Lagosians for his unfeeling remarks. While thanking Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for “not letting us down,” Tinubu pilloried his predecessor, Akinwumi Ambode, the visioner who envisioned the flyover project he had come to celebrate. If Ambode had not dreamt that dream, many wondered what the celebrant-in-chief would have had to celebrate. It is typical Tinubu to always sing at the feet of the deity that recently feeds his esophagus.
Having said the above however, the Buhari government would be making its own most fatal mistake if it thinks that it could demonise, criminalise and liquidate Tinubu by stealth due to his rumoured attempt to run for the presidency. Or for any politically motivated reason whatsoever, clothed with an apparel of running foul of the law. If he thinks the Yoruba will clap for him while he drags Tinubu in the mud, he has a think coming. He will face the stiffest opposition to this act from Yorubaland. At a moment like this when Nigeria has become this divisive, so much that any small tinder could make it explode, singling Tinubu out from the crowd of those pillaging Nigeria, among whom are multiple of northern rogues who have continually profited from the laxity of our system, will make a hero out of him and quicken the final explosion of Nigeria.
Historically, Yoruba always stand behind the weak, at the expense of the strong. The famous Yoruba folklore of Tortoise and his In-law explains the attitude of the people to masters of the brawn that Buhari is trying to fashion himself from. Tortoise’s In-law had committed an infraction against him and as recompense, he had his hands and legs tied and, to put him to proper shame, had him tied to a tree where farmers going to their farms could see him early in the morning. As they saw him and asked Tortoise what his In-law’s err was and he told them, they were livid against Tortoise’s In-law. However, upon their return in the evening and still seeing the In-law in the same state, their anger turned against Tortoise. They prefixed their about-turn anger at him on what the wily animal would have done to the malefactor if he was not his in-law. This is represented in the Yoruba phrase, ototo yi, ana ijapa! When they are at the crossroads, the type that the Buhari government wants to place southwest, with his harangue of Tinubu, Yoruba also remember that Janus-faced wise-saying that Omo eni o ni se’di bebere ka fi ileke si’di omo elomin, translated to mean, parents will always be on the side of their child, no matter their imperfection.
Yoruba did same for MKO Abiola who in the Second Republic, because of the promise to make him president in 1983, turned full circle against his people and used his Concord newspaper as weapon to demonize Chief Obafemi Awolowo. It was the same stance they took when General Sani Abacha sentenced General Olusegun Obasanjo to death over what later panned out as a phantom coup. Even Professor Wole Soyinka, in spite of his highly-burnished dislike for the Owu-born General, and many Yoruba human rights activists, fought stridently to wriggle Obasanjo off the Kano General’s maniacal grips.
The Buhari government and Tinubu himself should accept that they are both Frankenstein monsters to each other. They are both each other’s 2015 mutually destructive inventions. Frankenstein’s monster, you will recall, is a creature, a fictional character in the 1818 novel The Modern Prometheus, written by Mary Shelley. She had compared the scientist who created the monster, an 8 feet tall and “terribly hideous” character in his laboratory, Victor Frankenstein, to Prometheus. While Prometheus moulded humans out of clay and imbued them with fire, Frankenstein’s ambiguous human being attempted to fit into the human society and when it was shunned, killed Frankenstein in the process. I hope the self-styled Mai Gaskiya is listening.
Kayode Fayemi, the Executive Governor of Ekiti State has paid a condolence visit to the families of two farmers killed by suspected herdsmen on Friday.
It was reported that the barbaric killing of the farmers generated anger among the residents of Isaba Ekiti in Ikole Local Government Area of the state who staged a protest that affected vehicular and commercial activities within the community.
Governor Fayemi who visited the community this morning promised that the government will bring all the criminals involved to book.
“Yesterday, two of our farmers from Isaba Ekiti, Mr Toyin Akeju known locally as Jisoro and Mr Yusuf Onuche were found dead on the farms with wounds from gun shots suspected to have been fired by Bororo herdsmen. This, understandably, generated a lot of anger in the community.
This morning I visited the families of the deceased in the community. In offering commiserations of the government and all our people, I reassured them that we will get to the bottom of this sad occurrence and bring all the criminals involved to book”. He stated in a series of tweets on Twitter.
“This is one killing too many and we must do all we can to protect all citizens. May the souls of the departed rest in peace. Amen.” He added.
ODUDUWA NEWS has gathered that some kidnappers have on Saturday evening abducted two travellers at Wasinmi area, along Ife-Ibadan expressway in Osun State.
Confirming the report, Osun Police command spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola said police have been deployed to the scene of the incident.
The victims were said to be heading towards Ikire area before the incident.
The PPRO also revealed that three suspects have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping while police have intensified the search for the abducted victims.
The details of the victims shall be made known as soon as their identities have been unravelled.
Two farmers have been killed in Ekiti State after a clash involving some herders in Isaba, Ikole Local Government Area.
The police spokesman in the State, Sunday Abutu, who confirmed the incident, said the clash was preceded by a disagreement between both parties.
Mr. Abutu said police operatives have been deployed to the area to maintain peace while investigation has commenced to unravel the reason behind the unrest.
Clashes between farmers and herdsmen are common across Nigeria, mostly over land rights issues and open and night grazing.
Most State Governors have agreed to the establishment of ranches as a solution to open grazing but funding for the required infrastructure and re-training remains a challenge.
The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu on Saturday vowed to take the anti-crime fight of the command to the dens of hoodlums and criminals in Lekki and Ajah areas of the state.
The Commissioner made the vow during a meeting with some Stakeholders at the Command Headquarters Ikeja.
According to a statement signed by police spokesman, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the Commissioner said the police will lay emphasis on “identifying and raiding the dens of the bad boys who have been terrorising the good people of Lekki, Ajah, Badore, Sangotedo, Elemoro, Ibeju-Lekk, Akodo etc.”
While addressing the security issues in the state, particularly in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state, Odumosu confirmed the arrest of some suspected cultists at Imalete Alafia, Ibeju Lekki of the state by police operatives attached to Elemoro Division on Saturday.
The suspects are Joshua Ubokuho, Emmanuel Yusuf and Adewale Hammed.
They were arrested with some charms and weapons including two cutlasses marked “zero 4” which is the mark on the suspects. This mark has been subjected to investigation in order to get more information about the suspects and their group. The police have also recovered their operational bus.
In the same vein, CP Hakeem Odumosu scheduled a meeting with the Area Commaders and Divisional Police Officers for Tuesday at the POWA Hall, Oduduwa, Ikeja, to review the Anti Crime Strategies of the command with a view to solidifying the security architecture of Lagos State.
He also ordered the Deputy Commissioner of Police, State CID, Panti, to take over the suspects and ensure their quick trial and the prosecution of other cases under investigation at the CID Panti as the command has a duty to maintain law and order and public safety in the state
More petitioners showed up at the resumed sitting of the Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution for victims of SARS and other related matters.
One of those who testified was Mrs. Ebere Okpara who narrated how she was lured out of her house to receive a DHL parcel.
She is the second petitioner to tell the panel how police officers apprehend victims under the guise of delivering DHL parcels. In
The petitioner, who said she spent 11 days in detention, claimed she was lured, beaten, and locked up as a means to arrest her husband.
The police had claimed that he was a suspect in the investigation of the alleged kidnapper, Chuwkudeme Onwuamadike popularly known as Evans, a claim the petitioner denies.
Prominent Yoruba leaders have said they are not planning to go to war with any region but they would not open their eyes while Yorubaland is being terrorized.
At the event attended by Chief Ayo Adebanjo and Pa Reuben Fasoranti, the leaders said a stakeholders’ meeting scheduled for March 17 will proffer the next line of action for Yoruba in terms of security and economy.
They disclosed that the the zone will meet in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, for a non-partisan South-West Security Stakeholders’ Group meeting on the said date.
According to Adams, there are different layers by which insecurity can be addressed. This, according to him, necessitated the need for state and non-state actors to work together.
According to him, there is a relationship between good security and buoyant economy.
He said, “We are here to represent our leaders and proclaim this campaign. Yes, we have asked people to return to farm, and the next question is how safe are the farms from the onslaught of herdsmen. We are trying to create different layers to address the insecurity– the government layer and the non-governmental layer.
“The government has started mapping out its strategies by creating an Amotekun corps. But we feel that if the strength of the Amotekun cannot complement the effort of the regular security agencies, we should also support them too.
“This meeting is to address the germane issues besetting the Yoruba nation at the moment. We are bringing together all the relevant security groups to back the government and its agencies up through the South-West Security Stakeholders’ Group.
“This will bring the vigilantes, hunters, Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Agbekoya and other groups together. We will showcase all the leaders of these groups when we have the Pan-Yoruba Conference on the 17th of March at Mapo Hall, Ibadan.”
On his part, Odumakin said the South-West will not be subservient to any other group or people, adding that the stakeholders’ meeting will provide a practical roadmap for the region.
“They thought we are going to be begging them but nobody is going to do that. Food security has always been with us, they are the ones threatening our land that made food security a challenge for us. We are not out to fight anybody but let nobody think they can intimidate us in our land, or that they can make us submit to fear,” he said.
Also speaking, Lawal said it was only under this kind of umbrella stakeholders’ group can the challenge of insecurity affecting the region be effectively streamlined and addressed, adding that interested individuals and groups cannot be left to do things on their own without coordination.
“The Yoruba nation is not ready to go to war with anyone or any group, but the Yoruba nation is ever ready to defend itself and its property. What we have on the ground is a development that came about as a necessity compelled by the moment,” he said.
Pan- Yoruba socio- political organisation, Afenifere has said the Northerners cannot threaten the South with withdrawal of cattle and other food produce as there are other alternatives where the items can be purchased.
There have been fears that acute shortage of beef, vegetables, tomatoes and onions, among other essential edibles from the North may soon hit Southern Nigeria as foodstuff and cattle breeders, under the aegis of Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) had four days ago threatened to withdraw their services.
However, Yinka Odumakin, the organisation’s National Publicity Secretary, who spoke in a chat with channels tv news listed countries such as Togo and Benin Republics as friendly countries where the South can purchase cattle and other items withdrawn by the North.
He also said the withdrawal of foodstuffs by the North will benefit the South as it will make the people do more in the area of agriculture.
Odumakin, who said there are other sources of protein that the South can consume aside cows however said the Northerners shouldn’t also forget that the oil from the country flows from the South to the North.
“If they withdraw their cows from the South, no problem about that. Before cows, we had what we were eating. Cow is not the only source of protein, there are several other sources. It will encourage our people to do more in the area of agriculture.
“We have neighbours who are peaceful in Benin Republic, Togo and other places that we can buy things from. They can’t threaten us with anything such as withdrawal of items.
“They should also not forget that petroleum goes from south to the north. So, they should be careful. When you are throwing stones at your neighbours, you should be careful what he throws back at you” he said
The long-sought relief from choking vehicular gridlocks has finally come the way of residents in the Agege-Abule Egba axis of Lagos State. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday, commissioned the Pen Cinema Bridge and five arterial road networks in the area, formally opening the infrastructure for public use.
The commissioning marked fulfilment of another campaign promise made by Sanwo-Olu to residents, who daily endured pain in commuting within the axis in the last four years.
All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had the honour to inaugurate the projects, which he described as “needed catalyst” for the resuscitation of economic activities on the axis.
The construction of the 1.4-kilometre long flyover was part of the recommendation at the Lagos Economic Summit (Ehingbeti) under ex-Governor Babatunde Fashola’s administration, as a strategic intervention to achieving significant traffic improvement in the densely populated area. The last administration created the right-of-way and set up the structural beams; Governor Sanwo-Olu substantially completed civil works on the bridge.
The imposing overpass ascends from Oba Ogunji Road and drops at Oke Koto area of Agege. The bridge also opens to the old Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway through Abule Egba.
Tumultuous crowd of joyous residents joined Gov. Sanwo-Olu and members of the State’s cabinet in handing over the bridge for public use.
The Governor described the delivery of the project as a “landmark progress” in the State Government’s drive towards eliminating bottlenecks causing suffocating gridlocks and relieving residents of stress associated with commuting on roads.
Sanwo-Olu said the two-pronged approach, which his administration deployed to deliver critical infrastructure, gave priority to continuation and completion of strategic projects, regular maintenance and construction of new ones in line with the State’s Strategic Transport Master Plan (STMP).
He said his Government decided to continue the project, because it was in tune with the first pillar of his administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda, which targets the provision of roads for expedited economic growth and seamless mobility.
He said: “I am delighted to stand before Lagosians today to celebrate the delivery of this landmark project, which again, reflects our administration’s belief in the principle of continuity in governance and demonstrates our commitment to the urgency of infrastructure development and the welfare of our people. The completion of this flyover and five network of roads sends a strong message about our determination to accelerate our futuristic vision for a world class transportation system complemented by a good network of roads for social and economic transformation.
“In order to address the challenge of huge traffic burden, the immediate past administration initiated and commenced the construction of a precast and pre-stressed reinforced concrete of 1.4km dual-carriage flyover and ramp, with road works across the Agege-Pen Cinema Intersection. As of May 2019 when this administration was inaugurated, this project was at about 20 per cent progress. With the delivery of this bridge, which is complemented with traffic signalisation and drainage channels, we have resolved the perennial traffic arising from huge human and vehicular movement from Agege-Pen Cinema Intersection towards Abule Egba, Fagba, Oke Koto and Iyana Ipaja.”
To achieve a quick turnaround in commuting on the bridge, Sanwo-Olu disclosed that his Government identified and reconstructed five strategic arterial roads with good connectivity to adjoining roads that could serve as alternative bypasses to other routes in periods of heavy traffic.
The Governor said since road transportation remained crucial to economic growth and physical development, he believed the project would inject more life into socio-economic activities of people living and doing business in the area.
He said: “A key outcome from the strategic execution of this magnificent Pen Cinema Flyover project is that our administration has again demonstrated the priority it accords to the wellbeing of our people. It is a true test of our commitment to the Greater Lagos vision and a reflection of the achievability of our audacious socio-economic goals. In the course of implementing this project, we created jobs for about 380 people including engineers, supervisors, artisans and others- a clear indicator of the nexus between infrastructure development and employment generation.”
Sanwo-Olu pledged that his administration would not relent in provision of infrastructure for coordinated and sustainable development that would help to improve the State’s performance on the Ease of Doing Business index.
Tinubu expressed confidence in Sanwo-Olu’s leadership, noting that the Governor had stabilised and brought Lagos back on a focused journey, despite economic turbulence occasioned by Coronavirus (COVID-19) and coordinated destruction of the State’s assets.
The APC National Leader, who described Sanwo-Olu as “a brilliant captain”, praised the collaboration between the executive and the legislative arms in the State.
He said: “This is a commendable achievement by Sanwo-Olu, who has further brought Lagos on the path of progress, given the economic resuscitation this infrastructure will bring on this axis and entire Lagos. May you continue to think and perform to demonstrate excellent results as you have done today.”
Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Aramide Adeyoye, said the axis on which the flyover is sited is one of the busiest in vehicular activities in Lagos, saying the bridge would bring back convenience to millions of residents commuting in the area.
She said: “The entire project consists of a dual carriageway, with a bridge component of two lanes with 3.65 cm width in either direction. The road component consists of service lanes on either side of the bridge with median, kerbs and walkways that are complete with signalised traffic system. There are junction improvements with LED streetlight features.”
Speaker, Lagos House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, who represents Agege in the Assembly, described Governor Sanwo-Olu as “a proactive, wonderful performer”, who always accomplishes any projects he promises.
The adjoining roads commissioned with the flyover are Iju Road, Oba Ogunji Road, Agunbiade Road, Oke Koto Intersection and Iyana Ipaja link road.
