Anthony Omoregie grew up on Sapele Road in Benin City. His parents had lived there for a long time before he was born and had known no other place of abode before he travelled to the northern city of Zaria about twenty years ago in search of greener pastures. Since he left Benin City, he had not visited often, maybe once in every four years. He last visited in April 2008 during the Easter celebration. He had become home-sick, enough to make him put all other things aside to make the journey home this time, after about four years.
Last week, Anthony again arrived in Benin City by commercial bus late in the evening, about eight o’clock, to be confronted with so much that left him bewildered. First, he arrived at a time that the ubiquitous okada operators who hold Zaria hostage for almost twenty-four hours daily, were off the streets and he wondered what had happened in Benin City. He had asked to be dropped at the Ramat Park terminus of the transport company convinced that the easiest means of getting home would be by okada. He found none as the operators had taken heed of a government ban on their activities in the city. Anthony was, however, not stranded as he was soon able to get a taxi, an Audi 80 unpainted cab, to take him to his Sapele Road residence.
Anthony was again to be confounded when the taxi driver connected Sapele Road from Second East Circular Street. Having stopped at the Sapele Road junction, he was unable to tell the direction to his house, whether it was to his right or left, he could not tell and had to seek assistance to locate his home. Everywhere he turned, fundamental changes had taken place. He beheld a six-lane highway reconstructed with street lights, walkways and covered drains and concrete median.
What Anthony experienced arriving in Benin City after several years of absence has happened to several others in some parts of the city and elsewhere in Edo state where the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole administration has changed the landscape to the marvel of the citizens.
At the inception of the present administration, Sapele Road was one of the busiest but poorly maintained roads in the state capital. It is the only link road between the states of the south-south zone and the western part of the country. But, as strategically important as it is, Sapele Road remained a single-lane highway through which commuters transported their goods and services at great risk on a daily basis. Major landmarks on this road include the State Secretariat complex; Police Headquarters; Palm House which serves as annex to the State Secretariat; Central Hospital Complex; High Court complex; Nigeria Prison Service as well as several banks, hotels and educational institutions. Traffic congestion, resulting in loss of valuable man-hours, lack of organised traffic control, resulting in chaotic driving habits like indiscriminate parking were, therefore, major hallmarks of Sapele Road.
Today, Sapele Road is one of the beautiful streets in Benin City. The Adams Oshiomhole administration, like it has done, and is doing, in several other towns and villages across the state, awarded the contract for its expansion to a very competent construction company with a clear mandate to reconstruct to six lanes, build covered drains, construct walkways and provide concrete median and fix street lights.The latest innovation in traffic management, digital traffic lights, have also been installed to control traffic at the Central Hospital/High Court/Prisons crossing. Complete with solar panels and storage tanks, the traffic lights have a capacity to control and manage traffic round the clock. For the first time in Edo State, there are now installed modern traffic light facilities which tell motorists how much time they have to wait before being passed to move on. The road markings are also a new innovation.
What happened to Sapele Road has also been done to Akpakpava Street. With three lanes on either side, covered drains, walkways and street lights, one now knows from the Agbor road entry point at night that one is in a capital city. Flower pots have also been strategically located to beautify the road. Other roads in the state capital which have been reconstructed and are giving a befitting look to Benin City include Oba Market road, Siluko road, Constain Isornorho now renamed Gani Fawehimi Layout, Sokpomba road, 2nd West Circular road, Upper Lawani and adjoining streets, Mission Road, Forestry Street, Upper Mission Extension and 2nd East Circular. The Five-Junction area now has thirteen streets completed to the Oshiomhole standard. Several other road projects in the state capital, including Ugbiyokho Road, are at different stages of completion.
As the Oshiomhole administration winds down after eight years, the people are jubilant and hopeful that more would be achieved by the in-coming government of Godwin Obaseki. Anthony Omoregie expressed joy at seeing a “new” Sapele road. ‘This is wonderful. Our people never knew government could do this’, he said. According to him, ‘Oshiomhole has transformed the state at a fast pace and I think Godwin Obaseki will consolidate on the present achievement’.
A school teacher resident on Sapele Road, Esther Isibor, is full of praises for the good work Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has done in the state, particularly in the area of road construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation and upgrading. “Adams Oshiomhole has shown that government can do a lot of work by way of provision of social amenities. We have now witnessed development that we did not see in the more than eight years of the previous administration. All we can do to encourage him is to protect the facilities his government has provided for our comfort like the several school buildings he has reconstructed and renovated. Our children and their teachers now enjoy conducive atmosphere for learning and teaching”, she said.
Another resident, Paul Igbinovia, a businessman, said he was happy that the Oshiomhole administration has laid a solid foundation for the development of the state. According to him, “Oshiomhole, in the last eight years, has done what other governors before him could not do in their several years in office. He is a good leader who deserves the support of all Edo people to continue his good work wherever he finds himself after November 12, 2016. Our state and all of us will surely miss him’’.
NASAMU JACOBSON, A PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR, RESIDES IN BENIN CITY.
