Travelling along Lokoja – Okene, Lokoja- Obajana – Kabba Road has now become a Nightmare to motorists, with the Federal Government advised to concession the roads and for repairs to the Dangote Group.
Hon Sunday Karimi, a two term Member of the House of Representatives made the appeal after spending about seven hours stocked on a spot along the Lokoja Kabba Road, said commuters at one time faced this same type of untold hardship untill the Lokoja Obajana end of the road was concessioned and given to Dangote Group for repairs.
The former Lawmaker noted that the Obajana-Kabba Road was sometimes ago constructed and repaired under a concession (import duty waiver) arrangement by the Federal Government and awarded to the Dangote Group.
He said it was such arrangement by the Federal Government that brought relief to commuters plying the lokoja-Obajana road advocated for such an arrangement for Lokoja – Okene, Lokoja- Obajana – Kabba, pointing out that the hardship on commuters is unbearable.
The lawmaker disclosed that due to the activities of at least a thousand heavy duty trucks trying to load from the Obajana factory on a daily basis, the relief earlier enjoyed by the people seemed to have been short-lived as the road has now become a nightmare.
He called on the Federal Government to rethink the same arrangement to concession and repair the failed road by Dangote Group insisting that the hardship faced by travellers through Kogi State is better imagined in there sufferings due to delapidated roads.
Hon. Karimi disclosed that on a daily basis, over a thousand trailers attempt entring into the multi-billion naira cement factory in a bid to load Cement, thus causing heavy traffic along Lokoja Kabba Road, consequently leading to total lockdown at Lokoja-Okene-Obajana Junction, thereby causing healty, public nuisance and untold hardship to the people.
Hon. Karimi explained that travellers to the East, South-South, West and even to the Northern part of Nigeria who make use of the mentioned road, are now faced with spending quality man-hour on the road, which usually lead to total lock down on a daily basis that stretches into hours and sometimes a whole day.
Hon. Karimi disclosed that on the average and from his experience, travellers now spend between seven hours on the road for a journey not more than an hour due to the embarrassing traffic caused by heavy duty trucks packed on the Lokoja Kabba road in a bid to conduct their haulage business and at the detriment of the generality of the public who are greatly inconvinenced.
While he acknowledged that no one is disputing the immense benefit of the multi-billion naira Cement factory to Kogi State and Nigeria, Hon. Karimi however said it is important that the Management of the Factory, immediately take steps to amiolerate the sufferings of the people.
Hon. Karimi suggested that Dangote Cement Factory should consider it a Social Responsibility to the people to urgently come up with a stop-gap, by putting in place an arrangement that would ameliorate the sufferings of people on that road, whilst the Federal Government considers another concessional arrangement to include the construction of a fly-overbridge at Obajana Junction and also the Kabba-Ilorin end of the road which is now in a very deplorable state as a result of years of neglect and contineous use by the heavy-duty trucks.
He recommended that the roads should be concessioned to Dangote Group under the similar Import Waiver Arrangement to save the Federal Government from spending resources that is very scare to come by and to allow the Company to use it resources, materials and men to fix the failed Lokoja – Okene, Lokoja- Obajana – kabba Road which has become a Nightmare for commuters now.
