Ba’ale commends FG for reconstructing Ilorin-Jebba Road

The Ba’ale of Bode Saa’du in Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State, Barrister Bola Yusuf, has hailed the Federal Government for the reconstruction of the Ilorin-Jebba Road, saying the road has opened up the area to social and economic activities.

Barrister Yusuf gave the commendation in Bode Saa’du, a town along the newly-constructed single carriage way, when the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, inspected the construction of the Ilorin-Jebba Mokwa-Birnin Gwari-Kaduna road.

“We are indeed very grateful to the government. We cannot over-emphasize the importance of this road. There is no gainsaying that it has impacted on the economy and everything,” he said.

The Ba’ale recalled that the deplorable state of the road, a key arterial road linking the South-West and the northern parts of the country, had forced a lot of residents to relocate to other places.

Mr. Yusuf said the reconstruction of the road has now reduced travelling time from Ilorin to Jebba from four days to about two hours.

In his remarks, the Minister said until the present administration came into office, the Ilorin-Jebba road was a total failure, adding: “Work commenced in 2014 and by the time this administration came it was only 15.9% completed. As of today, it’s 100% completed. I think this is very significant.”

The Minister said the present administration has chosen to invest in critical infrastructure to revamp the economy, instead of sharing money to a few individuals.

Alhaji Mohammed said the government is convinced that when it provides the critical infrastructure, the country will be on the path to greatness.

Also speaking, the Federal Controller of Works in Kwara State, Mr.

Atitebi Wasiu, said the Ilorin-Jebba road is part of the Trans-Saharan road from Lagos to Algiers in Algeria, and cuts through West Africa.

He said the 93.6km Ilorin-Jebba road, which was abandoned for about 10 years due to its deplorable condition, now records daily traffic of about 7,500 vehicles, including heavy duty trucks. But the Controller assured that the road was well constructed, with a lifespan of at least 20 years.

On the Jebba-Mokwa Section, the Resident Engineer in Niger State, Mr. Samuel Sumango, who represented the Federal Controller of Works in the state, said 38 failed portions of the road, including the construction of double cell culverts through the Ecological Fund, have been rehabilitated.

Mr. Sumango said the Tatabu Bridge, which failed and practically cut off the South West and the Northern parts of the country on that axis, was rebuilt within one year and reinforced to a dual carriage.