Ibadan stands still as Tinubu commissions flyover, 2 other projects

THE sprawling city of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, literally stood still on Tuesday, as dignitaries from all walks of life trooped into the city to join the state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, in inaugurating three landmark projects executed by his administration.

The project included a flyover bridge constructed at the ever-busy Mokola axis of Ibadan to ease the perennial traffic snarl that used to characterize the area. The bridge is the first to be constructed by any civilian administration in the state in the last 35 years.

Another project was an ultra-modern motor park at Podo with the capacity of accommodating 60 luxury buses and 311 mini buses and whose features include terminal building, shopping malls, restaurants, management office, auto services, auto car wash, public toilets and boreholes, among others.

The third project was a neighbourhood business complex at Scout Camp, Challenge, Ibadan made up of 760 open stalls, 384 lock-up shops, two blocks of warehouses, administrative building, adequate parking space and canteen among other conveniences.

The former Governor of Lagos State and National Leader of Action Congress of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, led the roll call of dignitaries who attended the ceremonies.

Others included the National Chairman of ACN, Chief Bisi Akande, Governors Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun) and Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, while the Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola was represented by his deputy, Mrs. Adejoke Oorelope Adefulire.

The Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Abdul-Azeez Arisekola Alao, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, Chief Kola Daisi, the Chief Judge of Oyo State, Justice Badejoko Adeniji, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mrs. Monsurat Sunmonu were also at the occasion.

Mammoth crowd of the ordinary folks also thronged the inaugurations held in three different locations within the Ibadan metropolis, with most of them singing and drumming to celebrate what most of them called monumental achievements unprecedented in the history of the state.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Mokola flyover bridge, Asiwaju Tinubu commended Governor Ajimobi whom he described as an actualizer, performer and extra-ordinary leader in Oyo State, for the project which he said would impact positively in the lives of the people of the state.

He particularly commended the Ajimobi administration for making the people the cornerstone of its economic policy, saying “we all can see developments in all ramifications”.

The former Lagos State governor told the people of the state that all the projects being inaugurated, as well as those already executed and inaugurated, were just tips of the iceberg, assuring that more good things would still come.

He lampooned those who he said had had the opportunity of presiding over the affairs of the state but failed woefully, but who were now forming “an unholy alliance”, saying that their alliance would fail as the people of the state were now wiser and could read between the lines.

Governor Okorocha, in his goodwill message, commended his Oyo State counterpart for transforming the state, particularly Ibadan where he said he built one of his schools taking care of indigent students.

In his own remarks, Governor Amosun congratulated the people of Oyo State for voting a “performer” as the governor, saying the result of their decision was the all-round transformation being witnessed in the state now.

Goodwill messages were also given by the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Mrs. Adejoke Oorelope Adefulire and the National President of Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Chief Bayo Oyero among others.

Governor Ajimobi, in his address, said the bridge was a dream come true and a historical mileage in the state.

While berating the opposition whom he said embarked on a campaign of calumny since the day the construction of the bridge began, he urged them all to acknowledge excellence wherever they saw one.

“I remember that on Thursday, December 22, 2011, when we flagged off the construction of this fly-over bridge, we provoked the unbelief and disdain of cynics and political opposition. To them, the construction of the bridge was akin to building the biblical Towers of Babel, with its impossible tendencies.

“Even when the bridge was being constructed, we became the butt of jokes of the opposition who, either out of mischief, naivety or their well-known cynicism, mocked the absence of an erect bridge, months after its flag-off. Unknown to them, the essential components of the bridge, being mostly pre-fabricated, were undergoing construction in the company’s yard. Now that the bridge has been completed, they have shifted their mischief to the cost of the project, choosing to ignore the comprehensive features of the project which among others include the upgrading of 1.2km long service roads and intersections, beautification of roundabout and space under the flyover, construction of new water mains, street lighting and the payment of compensation to the numerous property owners whose properties in this commercial centre of the city were affected,” the governor said.

Nigerian Tribune