19th March, 2012
The Oyo State Government has approved the reconstruction of nine bridges affected by the 26 August 2011 flood in Ibadan, the state capital, southwest Nigeria, at a cost of N1,561,988,344.60, as well as the refurbishment of 35 public schools in the state at a cost of N279,367,977.07.
This was disclosed Monday in Ibadan by the Oyo State Commissioner for Works and Transport, Alhaji Yunus Akintunde after the state executive council meeting.
Akintunde stated that award of the contracts was to prevent flood disaster in the state capital.
He also disclosed that the contract for the reconstruction of nine roads across the state had been awarded at a cost of N1,233,252,785, stressing that government had also proposed to dualize the Old Ife Road and many others in the state capital that had been captured in the 2012 budget.
The commissioner identified the bridges to include those of Ogbere Babanla, Apete, Olomi, Secretariat Road, Ayeye bridge, Osoro River bridge, all in Ibadan as well as the Alaadorin, Sakutu bridge in Oyo town.
Akintunde berated the Federal Government for not fulfilling its promise to assist the state in the reconstruction of some of the bridges washed away by last year’s flood disaster, saying that this did not portray the Federal Government as being ready to assist the people of the state who faced debilitating flood crisis last year.
President Goodluck Jonathan, during his assessment/sympathy visit to Oyo State shortly after the flood disaster, promised that the Federal Government would assist in the reconstruction of some of the affected bridges, particularly those that belonged to the Federal Government.
One of those bridges on federal road is that of Bodija-Secretariat whose condition since the flood has made the road almost impassable.
“It is unfortunate that the Federal Government has not given the state government a dime since the flood disaster. The President came in company of some ministers, including the one representing Oyo State in the Federal Executive Council, with a promise that the state would be assisted. It is also interesting that even the one that belongs to the Federal Government has been abandoned since then. However, we have no choice than to include it in our own project as we cannot continue waiting endlessly for the Federal Government while the lives of our people are daily being endangered,” he said.
He also listed the nine roads slated for reconstruction to include the Road Network at Monatan, Ibadan; Sanyo-Oke-Ode-Agbamu; Eleyele-Ido-Eruwa; Iseyin-Ogun River Bridge; Ajaawa-Mowolowo; Igboho Deeper-Oloko; Ogun River Bridge-Moniya and Ajana Junction-Laha Community Primary School, Kishi.
According to the commissioner, the nine roads are part of the 50 roads slated for reconstruction, out of which 41 had earlier been awarded and are currently undergoing construction.
The state Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Adetokunbo Fayokun, who also briefed newsmen, disclosed that the 35 public schools being rehabilitated were mostly those damaged during last year’s flood disaster.
The commissioner also said that the procurement of 7,000 pairs of standardized furniture had been approved for some public schools, while 935,956 pieces of 80-leave exercise books would also be published and distributed to a total of 483 senior secondary schools in the state.
She said that primary and junior secondary schools had already benefitted from the free exercise books distributed by all the 33 local government councils, stressing that the new exercise books would not bear the picture of the governor but only the map of the state.
“It is not about the governor or the government. It is about the people of Oyo State and the education of our children,” Fayokun said.
By Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan