By Aichienede Akhabue Goodluck
The road and transportation sector is essential to industrial development especially in growing economies where water and other means of transportation are yet to be fully developed.
The production and manufacturing sectors depend significantly on the availability of good road network, especially for conveying raw materials to the production points and also for conveying finished products to the end-users.
This underscores why Governor Godwin Obaseki has continued to place high premium on the construction and rehabilitation of roads across the State to bolster socio-economic activities and ultimately ratchet up overall development of the State.
Edo State is a gateway State, linking travelers to other parts of the country hence any investment in the road transport sector will scale up human and vehicular traffic to the State.
The 2023 Appropriation Bill presented to the Edo State House of Assembly by Governor Godwin Obaseki on Wednesday November 16, 2022 shows that the road transport sector of the State will gulp the sum of N54.9billion, representing 17% of the proposed budget.
This figure is worth commending when compared to last year’s budgetary allocation of N30 billion.
The significant increase in the budgetary allocation to the road transport sector by the Governor gives credence to his commitment to opening up the State to both local and foreign investment.
Under the watch of Governor Obaseki, communities that were hitherto cut off from development due to bad roads have now been reconnected.
One of such numerous roads is the Saint Saviour-Oba-Obazagbon Road in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area linking over nine communities and has redefined the socio-economic prospects of the benefiting communities. This approach by the State Government has significantly changed the narrative of the road transport sector of the State.
Similarly, the increase in the budgetary allocation for the road transport sector will help to ensure the speedy completion of some of the ongoing key road projects across the three senatorial districts of the State and the commencement of new road projects.
While some of the roads have been completed, others are at various stages of completion.
Some of the roads in Edo South include the ongoing dualization of Ekehuan Road, the reconstruction of Textile Mill Road, Okpagha-Aimufi Road, Benin-Abraka Road, Ikpako-Ajoki Road, 18th & 19th Streets off Uselu- Lagos Road, Access Road to Greenhills Factory and the reconstruction of Benin Technical College Road.
In the same vein, the adjustment in the road transport budgetary allocation will be instrumental to the construction of more roads in Edo Central and North Senatorial Districts as well as additional bus and trailer terminals in Benin City and Aviele in Edo North, aimed at decongesting traffic and improving the transportation sector of the State.
Therefore, with the onset of the dry season and the recent Government’s directive to contractors handling road projects across the State to fully mobilize men and materials to the site, residents can now heave a sigh of relief and expect massive road rehabilitation and construction works in the new fiscal year.
