Governor Adams
Oshiomhole of Edo State has inaugurated the 8-kilometre Dawson-Urubi-Uselu road expansion in Benin.
Oshiomhole said the project was part of the government’s urban renewal programme to bring relief to road users in the state.
He said that the 3.65 metres road with extra lanes on both sides was completed with underground drains, street lights, traffic and thermostatic markings, to guide road users.
“I am here to do a formality since the road has already been commissioned by those driving on it.
“The best way to commission a road is not by cutting a tape; it is by driving on the road.
“Today, we have decided to carry out this formality to complete the process.
“The inauguration of this extra lane is important because it is part of our renewal programme designed to widen our roads so that we prepare for the next thirty to forty years.”
He explained that every leader should see beyond the exigency of the day and project into the future, hence the expansion of the road.
Oshiomhole recalled that “in 2008, there was a funny roundabout in the area which made it cumbersome for road users to drive for as much as 30 minutes from Oba Ovoranwmen square through Agbado market to the area.’’
He stressed that unless the traffic situation was dealt with, commercial life of the state might be paralysed.
The governor, however, said that government had redesigned the drainage system underground, so that water would be flowing under, in order to ensure that the flooding problem was dealt with.
“We also have streetlights and walkways and all of that has made Benin City, the city it ought to be.
“I am proud of what we have accomplished and I want to say that we are determined to do more.
“The additional lanes we are constructing to Ugbowo are almost completed and we are already installing street lights.
“I want to appreciate our young men and women who were involved in removing those illegal structures without which it would have been impossible to expand these roads,” he said.
Oshiomhole assured that government was committed to the vision of His Royal Majesty to reclaim the Benin moat and to restore the city as the best planned city in the country.
He appealed to traders not to display their wares on the walkways and urged road users not to throw dirt into the drains as that may block the channels.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Works, Mr Osarodion Ogie, said that at the inception of the present administration, roads in Benin City were such that they could not be properly regarded as befitting to a city.
“This road we are about to commission today is about eight kilometres and it is a road of additional two lanes on both sides, and each has a width of 3.65metres.
“This road is one of the promises of the Governor to the people of the state, which is being fulfilled today,” he added.

Chairman of the new Board of the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA), Rev. Precious Omuku (right), answering questions from members of Rivers State House of Assembly during his screening last Monday. Photo: Chris Monyanaga