By Tony Udemba
Hon. Rita Orji, a member of the House of Representatives representing Ajeromi Ifelodun Federal Constituency, Lagos State, has launched the rehabilitation of the dilapidated Otto-Wharf Road, a major road in her constituency.
Otto-Wharf Road is a popular access road linking Ajegunle and Mile 2 along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.
Orji is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and chairman, House Committee on Diaspora Affairs.
The event was preceded by an inspection of the deteriorated link road with some officials of construction firm, Julius Berger Nigeria, who are involved in the project as part of corporate social responsibility initiatives in the area.
Speaking to reporters during the event, Orji bemoaned the many years of neglect and abandonment of the road.
“The many years of decay and abandonment of this critical link road by the APC-led Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government is regrettable and unacceptable to the residents of this constituency and those who struggle to commute through this access road on daily basis. The local politicians in Ajeromi Ifelodun choose not to consider the interest and lives of hundreds of road users who take heavy risks in passing through that dilapidated road for so many years,” she said.
While commending Julius Berger for finally intervening on the road, the federal lawmaker said she decided to facilitate the intervention and rehabilitation of the Otto-Wharf link road by Julius Berger due to the horrible nature of the road, and the unending pains of road users there.
She said: “Due to years of neglect and abandonment of the road, I brought a petition to the floor of the House of Representatives and, remembering that the Lagos base of Julius Berger is close to the road, I quickly followed it up at the office of the managing director of the company in Abuja, who directed the Lagos office to take action on the road. Consistently, I followed the matter up at the Lagos office of Julius Berger, and I am happy today that rehabilitation work has finally commenced.”
She alleged that some APC politicians in the community unsuccessfully tried to use the name of the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, to scuttle the project.
“But I truly know that the governor, as a hard-working and progressive gentleman, was never behind any such moves to scuttle what is supposed to be complimentary to the good job he is already doing in the state.
“When you take Otto-Wharf, for instance, at a junction to your left, it leads you to Ojo Road from where you can access Tunnel Radiri, Amukoko via Badia-Ijora and eventually Western Avenue,” she said.
Orji noted that the economic losses arising from the number of years that the road had been in bad shape could not be quantified, because many economic activities in the area had crumbled, while owners of vehicles could no longer drive along that route. She regretted that the dilapidated road had become a nightmare to commuters and passers-by, adding that criminals, under the cover of darkness, often attacked motorists whose vehicles had slowed down or had other issues on the road at night.
On the Berger-Suya/ Kirikiri Road, the lawmaker explained that she was able to facilitate the inclusion of the reconstruction of the road in the 2017 federal budget, even as she was confident that rehabilitation works would commence on that route later in the year.
She also explained that she had done some palliative works in the past along the road: “At the moment, I am carrying out some palliative works on Uzo Street and Sylver Street, pending when I will get the government to fully rehabilitate these roads.”
While commending the federal government for its support, Orji assured members of her constituency that, very soon, the federal government would commence construction work on an ultra-modern ICT training centre for youths in Ajegunle, which was also facilitated through her office. She restated her commitment to attracting more dividends of democracy to improve the wellbeing of the electorate in her constituency and urged them to vote for responsible, people-oriented and quality leadership in future elections.