Residents steal construction materials, claim it’s share of national cake – Fashola 

Abiodun OBA 

Some residents along Lagos – Badagry expressway are stealing the road construction materials to build their own house, claiming it’s their own share of national cake. 

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola has made the accusation during an inspection of the road under a heavy downpour. 

Fashola said the sad development is one of the numerous challenges the ministry is dealing with in the quest to deliver the project by first quarter of 2023. 

He therefore appealed to residents along Lagos – Badagry expressway to desist from stealing materials for road construction. 

 The Minister said, “Our plan is to deliver the project first quarter of 2023 but we are contending with many challenges such as rainy season, motor traffic, community issue and stealing of our materials at the site. 

“Our Engineers at the site reported to us that some residents are stealing the construction materials to build their own house, claiming that it’s their own share of national cake. That is not good because this road is for the good of everybody. 

He expressed satisfaction with pace of work, saying the progress was largely a result of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation tax credit, “the main problem of Lagos – Badagry road has always been funding, but that has been substantially addressed with NNPC tax credit. So the contractor is progressing as you can see. 

“We have about 16 kilometres completed on one lane, the plan is to finish that side and divert the traffic so that we can work on the other side. As you are all aware, Agbara to Igbo-elerin is covered by Federal Roads Maintenance Agency while Lagos State is responsible for Eric Moore to Agboju. 

“If you recall, we hosted Minister from Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Benin Republic about two weeks ago, this route is part of Lagos-Abidjan high way which is a total of about 1,048 kilometres. This is a very strategic investment that federal government is making as our contribution to West AFRICA Trade and Lagos State. 

“Traditional rulers along this road are commending President Buhari administration for the intervention saying that the journey that used to take them about 3 hours has been reduced to about 10 minutes and as you can see, work is still ongoing. Aside from saving time, it has also promoted ease-of-doing-business. That is the progressive idea of Buhari government and our party, improving the human condition.”