•After viral video shows gov’s convoy trapped in flooded collapsed road
From Tony Osauzo, Benin
Reeling from the pain and difficulty of plying the dilapidated Sapele Road in Benin, some residents have circulated a video of Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, stranded at the RCC Junction after a downpour that flooded the road and made it impassable.
The video had a background voice taunting the governor in pidgin English “e don de red…everybody don de collect am now” implying Obaseki was also subjected to the fate of ordinary citizens plying the dilapidated road because of his negligence to fix it.
“When we told the government to fix the road, they were busy filling the potholes with broken blocks. They think they are suffering Nigerians. Now it is pay back time. The governor is the one inside the vehicle but it has stopped moving. This is his vehicle (pointing at it), he cannot come down, he is ashamed. Everyone (both the poor and the rich) don de collect am now,” the male voice said.
Though the convoy later moved away from the flooded road, Obaseki, told journalists that the Federal Government has abandoned Edo State, despite several appeals to fix broken down roads.
“I don’t think that any region where the oil resources that sustain the country come from should be this neglected. We have done everything possible. We don’t know what to do again to draw the attention of the Federal Government to these roads,” he said.
The Edo governor said the state cannot fix the Benin-Auchi and Benin-Sapele roads because the Federal Government had already awarded contracts for its repair to a contractor.
He described Edo State as a transportation hub connecting several parts of the country, but regretted how the major Federal Government owned roads passing through the state were in state of disrepair.
He said his administration drew the attention of the Federal Government to the failed portions of Benin-Auchi, Benin-Sapele and Benin-Lagos Roads, particularly the Ovia River Bridge, but that nothing was done or fix them.
“Look at the incident that happened in Ovia River Bridge three weeks ago, in which we lost several lives following multiple accidents. Nothing has been done till now. This shows they don’t care about us in the state. The issue on the Benin-Lagos Road, particularly the Ovia River Crossing is becoming catastrophic. We have lost a lot of lives and done everything to get the Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Works to work with us and put in place a palliative measure to stop the carnage on that road.”
The governor said the Federal Government’s policy relating to its roads in states was confusing, explaining that in the past, states could rehabilitate federal roads and be reimbursed, but that that was no longer obtainable.