Alhaji Idowu Street, Akowonjo, Lagos suburb was not where to be. For no less than 35 years, the people were given false hope. The problem was the state of their road. And when it rained, things were worse. Shops became temporary streams. Buildings were often submerged. Residents had a lot to worry about as properties were damaged and sometimes, little school children were swept away. Life was quite unpleasant.
But all that has ended now. Thanks to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode. Idowu Street now has a good road complete with street lights which make it look like a paradise at night. The people could not contain their joy the first time the lights were switched on at night.
With the neatly-arranged interlocking blocks set on the graded road accompanied by good drainage system, residents can go to bed without fear, walk without stumbling and drive confidently. Most of all, property owners can experience value addition.
This accounts for why they can’t keep mute about the gesture. To express their elation to the government for providing such a standard road construction and illuminating the streets with lights, they have described the gesture as “a lifetime gift from Governor Ambode.”
The Secretary of the Community Development Association (CDA), Mr. Dipo Kehinde, said: “Whenever there was rain, most houses would be flooded. Many businesses suffered because of the bad roads in the community. I’m an artist. Some art collectors came twice to check out my works.
“When they got to our street, they went back because of the roads. It happened twice. We called this road the jinxed road because different contractors had tried to fix it without success. But the jinx is now finally broken. We’re all happy.”
A resident, Alhaji Moshood Idowu, who the street is named after, said: “We thank Governor Ambode for giving us a lifetime gift. Some businesses have suffered here because of the bad state of the road. The road was so terrible so much so that we could not cross from some point to another.
“We had called on all our community leaders to co-operate with the government so that Lagos State will continue to excel than others. What they have done here is a mega road in a mega city for a mega community. Luckily, we also have a Nigerian who has the interest of the people at heart as the contractor, Bashaul Construction Company. What he has done here is a world-class engineering work. In fact, he has given us additional construction which is not part of his contract.”
Idowu urged the government to encourage competent indigenous firms by awarding contracts to them.
He said: “We appeal to government to also select capable indigenous contractors who have the interest of the people at heart. If they give Bashaul Fourth Mainland Bridge, he will perform.
”The contractors are working with so much sincerity; they should be praised. They have done a first-class job. The government has also done well. The fixing of our community roads was a realised dream. These engineers are committed to the project,” he said.
The Chairman of the Street Community Development, Chief Olaleye Ayanwale, also praised the government for bringing the long-awaited expectation to fruition. Having resided on Alhaji Idowu Street for 34 years, he said he didn’t expect to witness the rehabilitation of the road because he was already aged.
“I relocated from FESTAC Town to this street in 1982. Since then, we have been pleading with successive administrations to fix the road without any success. Usually, we heard that the contract had been awarded several times but we don’t see the physical effect. They even diverted it to other places such as the estate near us.
“Now that it has come to our turn, we appreciate the present governor for the gesture. I didn’t think I would be alive to see it.
“We have made entreaties to government over construction of our roads here. There had been promises, but nothing ever happened. Each time they slated our community roads for construction, it would be diverted. Now, we see this happening; we are happy. It’s for our own benefit. We really appreciate Ambode and the construction company. We thought it wouldn’t happen in our life time.
“The contractors are doing excellent job. The monarch promised that those whose buildings were affected during expansion and construction of the roads, would be compensated. He had already asked for a comprehensive list of those affected.
“The construction company was supposed to fix just Idowu Street, but to ensure that proper construction work was done, the monarch deployed his wealth of knowledge, and extended the construction of Alhaji Idowu Road to Oke Street, leading to Akowonjo Roundabout and Lambe Kudaisi Street.”
He also commended Bashaul for picking interest in compensating occupants of affected houses. The CEO, Bashaul Civil Engineering Company Limited, Munirudeen Bashorun said the road project was completed within six months with quality professional and material input. He noted that if encouraged with enabling environment, Nigerian construction firms are qualified to compete with their foreign counterparts.
“When the contract was awarded to us, the Permanent Secretary doubted our competence in carrying out the job according to specifications, because there was a river here. But I told him not to worry. The first challenge we encountered was diverting the water to Oke Street. But the street is higher than here by two metres. We had to do the survey, wait for approval from the government and that took us four weeks before we began.
Also in Mulero in Agege where there was flood, one day Governor Aregbesola, then a Commissioner, called me to salvage the situation. And when he saw my performance in salvaging that place, he took me to Osogbo where I did some other jobs.
“It is only Nigerians that can serve Nigerians better. If a Nigerian does a shoddy job today, tomorrow he will do a better job. When you correct him once or twice, he will get it right,” Bashorun said.
Bashorun’s son and Bashaul’s Executive Director, Adewale, said: “The extra materials poured into the river, were not part of the presentations made to the government. But Bashaul Construction doesn’t care about cost and money. We only want to carry out good jobs.
”Any other construction company would have gone on with the work, after discovering the challenge posed by the river at Alhaji Idowu Junction. The result would have been the roads getting damaged again; taking everyone back to square one.”
Idowu added that the company acted well by dealing with the challenge posed by the river.
He said: “Alhaji Idowu Junction is where water used to gather. This spot had always been the greatest challenge for the community. The contractors said they had to drain and dig deep into the river, in order to fill it with rocks.”
QUOTE
We referred this road to as ‘the jinxed road’ because different contractors had tried to fix it without success. But the jinx is now finally broken. We’re all happy…We thank Governor Ambode for giving us a lifetime gift. Some businesses have suffered here because of the bad nature of the road. The road was so terrible so much so that we could not cross from some point to another
