The face-off between the governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki and the federal government over the deplorable state of federal roads in the state appears far from being over as he has declared that the federal government lacks the capacity to manage itself and fix its pitiable highways.
He, however, said the state government would work with the newly inaugurated local government chairmen to build alternative roads to end the suffering of residents and other users of the federal roads in the state.
Obaseki, who addressed journalists in Benin City, the state capital yesterday, said his administration remains committed to advancing development in all communities and improving the livelihoods and welfare of the people of the state.
He said, “The federal government as you know today lacks the capacity to manage itself not to talk of building these roads. It will take a while for them to be able to build and fix those roads. Fortunately, we have had other connections, so our priority is to design and work with the state and local governments to build alternative state roads. Infrastructure is important and we should be able to move our people, their goods and services across the state to bring development.
“Today, we are in a crisis in our country. What is hurting Edo is the advantage we have in terms of our location of being at the core of the country and therefore being connected with roads owned by the federal government. When we build those roads, they will be barricaded and restricted for use.”
Decrying the current economic realities in the country which has continued to impoverish more citizens, Obaseki noted, “As you know today, we are facing very harsh economic times and it’s tough. Everyday, the naira gets devalued and more people go into poverty as they can’t feed themselves. As a people and a society, we can’t turn our eyes and abandon our people. We must look for a way to strengthen them and ensure that our citizens don’t go to bed hungry.”
“The poorest of the poor and the weakest in the society must not go to bed hungry and must be taken care of as it’s our responsibility as a government. We can’t wait for palliatives but rather create our own palliatives for Edo people; that surely, we will do for them,” he said.
