Mission Accomplished: Akinwunmi Ambode Completes Legacy Projects

Akinwunmi Ambode

The easiest thing to break is a promise, states a time-honoured adage. And the most common promise breakers are of course politicians. Most of them, already drunk on the foretaste of power, spout towering assurances of which they execute only a pale, dwarfish imitation, if they execute anything at all.

However, the outgoing governor of Lagos State, His Excellency, Akinwunmi Ambode is not an ordinary politician. He is a breed rapidly going out of fashion, a man for whom his word is his bond and his compact with the people a sacred oath which cannot be violated. When he promised to transform transportation in Lagos during the campaigns and shortly after he assumed office, not a few skeptics sneered in profound disbelief.

Fortunately for the longsuffering people of Lagos who have long desired an eye-catching and above all efficient transport network comparable with the best on offer anywhere else, Ambode is a man of his word. He might have been schemed out of a second term but he refused to be schemed out of his desire to leave an outstanding legacy that will ease the burden of multitudes of Lagosians who have to contend with poor and badly-managed road networks.

The jewel in the crown of his transport vision for Lagos, the Oshodi Transport Interchange Project, is finally ready before he leaves office, just as he promised. And what a wonder to behold it is. The interchange has 18 lifts, six each for the three terminals that are equipped with CCTV, with the capacity for commuters to predict when a bus would arrive or leave the terminal. The first terminal is dedicated for handling all inbound and outbound inter-state bus services, the second will handle BRT commutes to and from north, north-east and north-west of Oshodi. The third, meanwhile, is earmarked for passengers commuting from Oshodi to Ikorodu, Victoria Island, Surulere, Lagos Island, etc.

The revamped International Airport Road is another high point of his concluding tenure. Expanded into a 10-lane super highway dotted with pedestrian bridges, a flyover and a connecting ramp bridge from Ajao Estate to Airport, the road network will further reduce traffic congestion while allowing Lagosians to go about their daily commutes in a stress-free manner.

What of the multipurpose recreational Eko Centre concept? Conceived to give the youth a viable platform to harness their creative minds and potential, 4 of those transformational centres have already sprung up in Ikeja, Alimosho, Badagry and Epe local government areas. The health sector isn’t left out either as the government upgraded the popular Ayinke Maternity Centre—home of babies—within the Lagos State Teaching Hospital from an 80-bed to a 170-bed high class birth-delivery hospital. The new legacy projects will be officially commissioned before May 29 handing over to governor-Elect Babajide Sanwo-Olu