The governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwoolu on Wednesday unveiled the newly rehabilitated Igbe road, facilitated by Hon Jimi Benson, member representing Ikorodu federal constituency at the House of Reps.
The governor, accompanied by his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat and other key members of the State executive unveiled the epitaph and newly built arch at the entrance of the 2 kilometer road, to the admiration of residents and other stakeholders. He later drove down the entire length of the road to have a first-hand experience of commuting on the road.
Meanwhile, residents of the Igbe road community, comprising of the Igbe Road Rehabilitation Committee (IRRC) and the nine (9) community development associations in the area have jointly rechristened the road, Hon Jimi Benson road, as a way of showing appreciation to the federal lawmaker for facilitating the road reconstruction.
Recalling how the road was first constructed, IRRC Chairman, Pastor Joshua Adeniyi noted that, ‘It was in 1983 that our father and mentor, Governor Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande (now late), saw the need to have a link road, between Igbogbo and Ijede town, a distance of about four and a half Kilometers’.
He also recounted the harrowing experience of commuting on the road, ‘Less than 20 years after, the road lost its glory, as it disintegrated into a much more avoidable bad road, having lost its attraction, due to the massive influx of people coming here to buy and develop their plots. As times went on, the road became so bad and impassable, such that, passing through the road, became a nightmare’.
He however thanked God for the intervention of Hon Benson who deemed it fit to facilitate the road rehabilitation, having seen the self-help efforts of the community towards salvaging the road.
Pastor Adeniyi however expressed some fears, relating to this road namely, the channels where the rain water will flow through into the canal.
According to him, ‘Presently, we have three outlets, viz: Bello Arinle St, Otinwa Alagbaji Str and Odusegun Street, and our fear is that, if those streets are not well protected now, the rain water will spill on their roads, and destroy their personal buildings and businesses, this creating another avoidable Igbe Road debacle. This, we don’t pray to happen, hence our appeal’..
‘We would thus be delighted and very grateful, if Your Excellency, the Executive Governor of Our Beautiful State, can assist us to mitigate or eliminate these imminent challenges’, he concluded.
Major highpoint of the historic event was the formal presentation and launch of an 88 page commemorative book titled, Igbe Road- The Gateway to chronicle the journey towards the rehabilitation of the road.
