6th December, 2019
PRESS RELEASE:
MURIC TASKS FG ON REPAIR OF 200-METER STRETCH AROUND SANGO OTTA BRIDGE
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has appealed to the Federal Government (FG) to carry out urgent repair of a 200-meter stretch around Sango-Otta bridge.
This was disclosed in a press statement issued by the human rights organization on Friday, 6th December, 2019, through its director, Professor Ishaq Akintola.
“We are aware of humongous amounts of money being spent by FG on the rehabilitation of roads and the construction of new ones around the country. These efforts are quite commendable. In particular, we salute FG for its tremendous effort in the construction of the Second Niger Bridge which had been ignored for decades. Nigerian roads would not have been in this sordid state if the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) had addressed infrastructure the same way that the current administration is doing.
“Nigerians are now suffering for 16 years of official waste and criminal complacency. It was not as if PDP regimes did not earn money. They had more than enough but they were more interested in sharing our common patrimony among themselves. That is the difference between the Buhari administration and the PDP men. Buhari came in when Nigeria was earning the lowest from oil but prudent spending, the plugging of holes and focus on infrastructure is making the difference. Yet no matter how hard this government can try, the neglect of 16 years cannot be wished away in this short excursus.
“This is exactly what has happened in the case of Sango-Otta road. The attention of MURIC has been drawn to the terrible state of about 200 meters of road on Lagos-Abeokuta Road. This is about 100 meters before Sango-Otta bridge and another 100 meters after the same bridge. This spot is infested with large, deep holes capable of swallowing whole cars. Motorists’ hearts leap to their mouths as they approach the holes while passengers pray silently that their vehicles should emerge safely out of the bad spot.
“Worse still, a long line of vehicles standing bumper to bumper and crawling like pregnant snails assail the scenario, sentencing our hard-earned democracy to years of backwardness in Stone Age dungeon. Motorists spend up to three hours between the bridge and the first petrol station standing just 100 meters away. This is a very short distance that can be covered in two minutes. It is horrendous, nauseating and scandalizing.
“Could this be the same Sango-Otta overhead bridge over which the governor of Ogun State, the then Minister of Works and the Speaker of the House of Representatives nearly engaged in fisticuffs over who should have the honour of opening it on 28th July, 2010? https://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/07/ota-bridge-bankole-daniel-daggash-in-hot-exchange-of-words/. It goes to prove how myopic and egocentric some of our leaders can be. They completed the overhead bridge without paying any attention to the deteriorating road before and after the bridge. That road itself was already screaming for repairs but those government officials were only interested in massaging their ego. It was such a pity.
“In summary, we are crying out to FG for an urgent palliative measure. We appeal to the Minister of Works to focus on the 100 meters before and after Sango-Otta overhead bridge in order to ameliorate the sufferings of road users in that axis.”
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC)
