Urges Edo people on self-help
Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has linked current socio-economic challenges in the country to failure of the Federal Government to live up to its responsibilities.
Obaseki, while speaking to journalists in Benin City, decried the bad state of federal roads in the state, calling for urgent action to salvage the situation and reduce the sufferings of commuters.
The governor, who described the condition of the roads as appalling, said he travelled through the Federal roads linking Uromi, in Esan South East, to Agbor, in Delta State, and saw over 1,000 stuck trailers, loaded with goods, as a result of the deplorable condition of the roads.
He said: “I went to Esan land a few days ago, and I passed through Uromi, in Edo State, to Agbor, in Delta State, and saw almost 1,000 trailers stuck on that bad federal road. But it took a few minutes to traverse our state roads when we entered from Igueben, Ujogba to Ugoneki.
Obaseki also called on citizens of the state to help in developing the state.
Obaseki made the call when he met with stakeholders during a workshop to discuss implementation of the state’s new Land Use Charge Law, with the theme, ‘Joint Implementation of Land Use Charge by State and local governments,’ at the new Festival Hall, in Government House, Benin City.
He said his administration is working round the clock to ensure the state’s economic development, noting: “As a state, we can’t fold our hands and make excuses. We have to do something for our people. We will do all to ensure our people are comfortable.
“We can do so much in Edo. The country is in crisis, economically. We can’t continue to fold our hands and wait for a country that can’t help us. Rather, we will do all we can to help ourselves and our state.
“We have decided to take money from our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to look after those that can’t feed – the poorest of the poor. We are doing our best as an administration to make things easy in the state for our citizens who have trust in this government.”
