— Hails Aiyedatiwa’s Akure flyover
By Dayo Johnson Akure
The Young Advocates for Good Governance (YAGG), Ondo State chapter, has asked President Bola Tinubu President to focus on addressing more pressing national needs instead of criticising governors over the construction of flyovers in their respective states.
It equally urged the president ” to stop committing huge public funds to the 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, describing the project as a misplaced priority in view of the country’s numerous infrastructural challenges.
YAGG advised presidential aides to counsel Tinubu against what it called “wasteful spending” on the coastal project.
“Rather than advising state governors to stop building flyovers, which the President reportedly described as a waste of public funds, he should first look inward and reassess some of his own policies,” the statement said.
The group alleged that some federal government actions were driven more by politics than development and amounted to “an unnecessary drain on the nation’s resources.”
YAGG further accused the federal government of diverting “huge sums of money to a minister to destabilise a state for the sole purpose of undermining the political interests of a serving governor.”
It said such political manoeuvres contributed nothing to governance and only diverted scarce resources from projects that directly benefit the people.
The group, however, commended Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa for commencing construction of the 2.3-kilometre Oba-Adesida Flyover in Akure.
It expressed confidence that the project would ease traffic congestion, attract investment, create jobs and boost economic activities in the state capital.
YAGG also questioned why Tinubu did not apply the same standard to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
It argued that the federal government would not need to spend half of the estimated ₦15 trillion earmarked for the coastal road if it chose to reconstruct existing federal highways nationwide.
“We are aware that the Lagos to Calabar Coastal Road is not primarily about economic importance but more about personal interest,” the group said.
“After all, there was no record of competitive bidding before the Federal Government awarded the contract to HITECH Construction Company Limited, a company that is rumoured to be owned by an ally of the President.”
The group said it was baffling that the project was starting “at a time when the country’s finances are heading south and in the face of the dilapidated state of thousands of kilometres of existing highways, which have become death traps.”
“Who should be more mindful of wasting public funds on less important projects, the President or the governors?” it asked.
YAGG urged the federal government to prioritise rehabilitation of existing roads that serve millions of Nigerians daily over projects “whose economic value remains questionable.”
“Leaders at all levels must ensure that public resources are deployed prudently and in ways that directly improve the lives of the people,” it added.
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