The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on Tuesday urged Lagos State residents to bear with the pains resulting from ongoing multiple Federal road constructions that cut across the state.
Fashola made the plea in a keynote address at the first Lagos State University (LASU) Research Fair.
with the theme: “Driving National Development through Research Innovations’’.
The minister said that the construction work on Lagos-Abeokuta Highway; Ibadan-Ikorodu-Sagamu Road; Lagos-Badagry Expressway and Oshodi-Apapa Expressway would bring some inconveniences to the residents.
“The multiple ongoing road construction within the state will bring some discomfort; please understand with the Federal Government that it is a service for the purpose of making it better.
“Therefore, we must be patient to see the result in few months,” he said.
According to him, the Lagos-Badagry Expressway has been awarded to three contractors to handle in sections, and work has commenced fully for the reconstruction of the road.
Fashola said: “Having come this far to Badagry, I must also make comments about the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.
“The road, alongside some others, were built in the 70s during the period of oil boom, but we have been complaining that nothing was done on the roads.
“I can confirm to you now that on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, sections have been awarded and works are ongoing.
“The problematic section has been the one from Agbara to Ojo; but now, we have also awarded that section, three different contractors are working on this road and work is being done.’’
The minister urged the residents to desist from trading on the highways undergoing construction, warning traders that they were highways and not market ways.
Earlier, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun, LASU Vice-Chancellor, said history was being made in the university with the research fair.
Fagbohun said LASU had continued to transform to become a research university poised to celebrate research excellence.
Also, Prof. Olumuyiwa Odusanya, Director, LASU Directorate of Research and Innovation, said that there were over 242 participants at the fair with several single and collaboration papers presented.
“The calibres of universities present such as University of Lagos, Obafemi Awolowo University, amongst others show the rank LASU had attained in the comity of universities,’’ he said.
