Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, on Thursday, 8 February, 2024, visited under-construction Bode Saadu/Kaiama/Kosubosu road project, calling it a major breakthrough for the state and Nigeria.
Valued at over N350 billion, the Governor said the road will open up Nigeria’s economy with other West African countries such as the Republic of Benin and strengthen the protocols on African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
AbdulRazaq thanked the Federal Government and BUA Group for embarking on the project, and commended the affected communities for their patience.
“This is a major breakthrough. It is a huge success for Nigeria. Let me first of all thank the federal government for this. I also thank all the communities concerned for their patience and constructive advocacy,” the Governor told reporters as he inspected the project.
“We started this project in 2020. We went ahead to design the road and we saw that we couldn’t afford it. So, we engaged the federal government. This will cost in excess of N350bn and over N45bn have been paid. That’s why I said it’s huge.
“From here, you can be in the Republic of Benin in less than three hours after the road is completed. It is going to open up Nigeria’s economy with the Republic of Benin, to ECOWAS sub-region, especially with the Africa Continental Free Trade Area.”
The Governor drove some distance on the road in the company of the Supervisory Commissioner for Works Hon Abdulquawiy Olododo.
Governor AbdulRazaq said the road project will lessen travel time from Kwara to Niger and Oyo states, adding that the construction period is estimated to last three (3) years.
“This is not the only road we facilitated. We also have Lafiagi-Bacita road, Eyenkorin to Offa and down to Osun state,” he said.
“It is also going to open up several agrarian communities. Hitherto, we used to access two of our local government areas (Kaiama and Baruten) through Niger and Oyo States. This will no longer be the case. We are going to link the two local government areas directly.
“The work has started. We couldn’t access it before. We are at kilometre nine (9) now; and about 13 kilometres of earth work are being done already.”
The Governor commended the federal government for the choice of BUA Group as the contractor, describing the firm as serious and competent.
BUA Group is building a multimillion dollar sugar refinery in Kwara, and this road extends to Lafiagi where the refinery will be, he said.
“We are glad that the federal government is using BUA. BUA is very known to us in Kwara as a serious company. This is a set of companies we want to deal with, and we are happy that the federal government is working with BUA,” he added.
“From the equipment we have seen here, it shows that we are dealing with a very serious and competent company.
“A lot of Kwarans do not know the amount of work being done on site. It is because we just want to make sure that the work is being done before we announce it.”
Site Engineer, Yang Chang, who is representing BUA construction company, assured the people of the state that all the road projects will be completed within three years and according to the specifications.
The road projects under the arrangement are Bode Saadu-Kaiama-Kosubosu; Bacita-Shonga-Lafiagi; Eiyenkorin-Afon-Offa-Odo Ottin; and Okuta-Bukuro Road, which connects to the Benin Republic.
