The Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi yesterday decried the terrible state of the Kabba-Illorin highway saying it has been taken over by hoodlums, rapists and armed robbers.
Sen. Adeyemi made the call when he led some legislators from Kogi State on a visit to the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen on Thursday over the state of roads Kogi State, especially Kogi West Senatorial District.
He however urged the Ministry of Works to undertake the construction of the Kabba-Ilorin highway..
He said “the road had been taken over by hoodlums, rapists and armed robbers. My people are under tremendous pressure and pains at home.
“They just tolerated us to have a Christmas celebration last December. Our people sent us back to Abuja with a mandate to get the road fixed”, he said.
He noted that the deplorable state of the road had paralysed economic activities and social life of the people of Kogi West Senatorial District.
Responding, the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolemenmen, promised that the construction works will commence on the Obajana-Kabba-Ilorin Highway before the end of the first quarter of 2013.
The minister who admitted the poor state of the Obajana-Kabba-Ilorin Road, said no government would choose to ignore the road given its strategic importance to the national economy.
He said the road served one of the biggest singular cement factory in the world, adding that the government would ensure its speedy repair as a demonstration of its commitment to the growth of commerce.
Onolememen said Kogi, by virtue of its geographical location, linked the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja to other parts of the country, while denying the insinuation that the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration was marginalising Kogi State or any other part of the country.