Dangote’s trucks responsible for damage to Lagos roads ─Assembly

Isola Moses

The Lagos State House of Assembly (LSHA) members have indicted Dangote Group’s fleet of heavy-duty trucks as being responsible for the continuous damage to most of the roads in the multiethnic state in Nigeria.

The lawmakers stated this Monday, December 30, 2019, at Alausa-Ikeja, Lagos, while debating on a motion titled, “Need to Ensure Good Quality and Condition of Roads in the State”, moved by Hon. Abiodun Tobun, representing Epe Constituency 1.

In the motion, Hon. Tobun noted that in spite of the quantum of taxpayers’ money being spent on road construction in the state, most of the roads in the state remain in bad condition.

It is either because they were done in a shoddy manner or not done at all; the money released for the projects were not properly spent, he said.

Tobun explained further that after most of the roads are repaired, heavy-duty vehicles ply the road without regard for the damage done to the roads.

Meanwhile, the lawmaker has urged his colleagues to call on Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to ensure that contractors are not paid mobilisation fee unless they are ready for the work.

The lawmaker added that the rate at which people are being killed on the roads in the state is alarming.

He revealed that some people on the entourage of the Oba of Epe were killed by an articulated vehicle on Epe Road, in Lagos State, recently.

Other lawmakers, who contributed to the matter also gave many other reasons causing damages to roads in the state, which include disposal of refuse in drainages and shoddy jobs by contractors.

The Lagos House of Assembly, in its resolution therefore, called on Dangote Group of Companies to perform its social responsibility role by supporting the state government in the construction and repair of roads in the state.

Dangote Group is the largest indigenous industrial conglomerate in Sub-Saharan Africa, owned by Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man.