Residents of Amufi, a community in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, have showered praises on the state government under the leadership of Governor Monday Okpebholo, for the ongoing construction of the Amufi – Okpagha Road linking Agbor Road to the Benin – Auchi Road.
Sending a goodwill message to the Governor through the Commissioner for Works, Hon. Felix Akhabue, who led a retinue of the ministry’s top echelon and media executives on a project tour of nine locations in Edo South Senatorial District that includes Amufi, the community’s landlords association speaking through its Secretary, Comrade Godwin Isika, stated that if the Constitution permits three tenures for governors the people of Amufi will keep on voting for him.
“I want to tell our amiable governor thank you for a job well done. A solid job. We appreciate him he has released us from problems. We’re no longer passing through erosion.
“Since we were born we have not seen this kind of job in this community. If there’s an opportunity for us to vote for him for a third term we will do that. May God continue to lift him up and God bless him,” Isika enthused.
Lending her voice to the message, Modupe Ilegbeje, a landlady in the community, promised that she will continually mobilise the women in the community to queue up behind Governor Okpebholo in every election.
Earlier, addressing the press on the heels of the tour which is the second phase of such programme in Edo South Senatorial District, Hon. Akhabue expressed his excitement at the level of work that the contractors have put into their projects not minding the disruption from the rain assuring that they will meet up with their agreed time of conclusion of their contracts.
“I am happy that we all met the contractors on site. And I am happy you said they all spoke positively. They spoke positively because the state government is playing it’s role. We’re not owing them. Once they bring their certificate we pay them so they won’t have excuse.”
On the Amufi to Okpagha Road project, Hon. Akhabue disclosed that perimeter fence will be constructed around the ponds “to protect the lives of the people going there.”
Going further, he stressed: “The people know what they have suffered when this road was not there. This road is a very important road, as the contractor have stated earlier, linking Agbor Road to the Benin – Auchi Road. It’s going to help a lot of people.
“The people here having known what they have suffered in years past when there was no road like this they have everything to protect the road. You don’t leave it for government alone. The people here are to protect the road.
“We will join them. Anything we need to do as government we will do. Everything we need to provide like we have provide the drain it’s not just the road drains are provided to ensure that the road last for them. We will ensure that the drains are maintained.
“The Ministry will do their portion and the Ministry of Environment too will also do their portion to ensure that these drains are not covered.”
He appealed to residents not to turn the drains to dumping sites assuring that “as far as those drains are not blocked by the residents be rest assured that they will enjoy this infrastructure for a very long time.”
Other sites where work is ongoing which the Commissioner and his team visited included failed sections of the Benin – Sapele – Warri Road totalling 23.2km; Uhie Road, Off Benin Sapele Road; Ogheghe and Old Sapele; Evbukhu – Sapele Road; Bridge Across Ogba River and Mechanic Road Linking Upper Erhunmwunse Road, Egor Local Government Area.
