BENIN CITY: The Edo State Rural Access Roads Agency (EDSRARA) has expressed its commitment to making all rural roads in Edo state accessible through constant maintenance and interface with communities, and other stakeholders for purposes of improving the lives of rural dwellers.
According to the Director General of the Agency Engr Goodluck Momodu, the idea is to open up rural communities in the state with a view to addressing challenges posed by inaccessible rural roads which had hampered communication, integration and economic prosperity among rural dwellers.
Addressing newsmen in his office on Monday, Engr Momodu said the State Governor Monday Okpebholo was very keen at opening up as many rural roads as possible given his passion for grassroots development as could be seen from the number of rural roads he has built across the state since he assumed office nearly two years now.
Engr Momodu who is also the state Coordinator of RARA, commended the governor for facilitating the establishment of the agency in the state because of his deep respect for the rural dwellers and his determination to improve their living standards beginning with improved rural access which would ultimately boost their economies.
He urged Edo people to continue to build their trust in the leadership of the Governor as according to him, “the governor’s passion to lead the State to social economic prosperity is top notch”.
“The governor is one person who is very committed to rural development and that’s why he insisted that this agency must be created as soon as he assumed office as Governor.
“He believes the people in the rural areas deserve access to quality social and infrastrural facilities including the creation, repair and rehabilitation of rural roads to achieve that objective”, he explained.
He urged patience among communities whose roads are yet to be touched by the present administration, stressing that with the passage of time, every communities would be covered.
He advised them to draw the attention of the Agency to rural roads requiring urgent attention using social Media platforms for proper documentation and response.
He said the agency has done a feasibility study on many rural roads especially those outside the financial scope of the Agency with a view to escalating same to the state government for proper construction.
Speaking on the specific mandate of the Agency, the director general said it was birthed through an act of parliament following the passage of its establishment laws by the Edo State House of Assembly in 2025.
He explained that passage of the law by the state Assembly fully domesticated the agency whose versions are expected to be set up across the 36 states in Nigeria.
The initiative according to the Director General, started in 2019, as a World Bank project with multiple funding windows inckuding but not limited to the World Bank, states and local governments as well as others which could be developed to generate enough rssources to tackle the challenges of development in rural communities.
