Government gave Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited a 60-day ultimatum to complete palliative works on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ogun State Government at the weekend threatened to dismantle a $6.5 million (about N1 billion) asphalt plant the company bought for the project.
Governor Ibikunle Amosun, who personally led the team, comprising gun-totting, anti-riot policemen and some state government officials, ordered his men to dismantle the plant.
Besides, Amosun directed his government’s bulldozers to demolish the structure erected for the project by Bi-Courtney Highway Services, because he wanted to use the site for a trailer park and market.
The action came after the site had been approved by Amosun for Bi-Courtney “and we don’t know why he suddenly changed his mind,” said one of the workers.
But, for the resistance put by the Chief Security Officer of the concessionaire, Colonel Adeola Olabiyi (rtd), and his team, the governor would have pulled down the multi-million naira structure.
Despite this, the governor ordered the mobile policemen to lead one of the bulldozers to demolish the structure but when they saw the resistance of Olabiyi and his team, “they could not move and the governor felt disappointed that his order was not carried out”.
An eyewitness said: “We were really afraid. The governor told his policemen to draw their guns and the Bi-Courtney people also drew their guns. We thought they were going to start exchanging fire and for the fact that the governor was there, people started running. Can you imagine what could have happened if the two teams started shooting? I don’t know why the governor should personally lead the demolition squad. Is that the work of a governor? Why should he be going all over the place with policemen to terrorise people working legitimately?
“This is not the first time he would do this. The other time, he led policemen to a particular structure in Lagos and he was eventually embarrassed because the owner called the Inspector-General who ordered that all the policemen should leave the place. Why should the governor be embarrassing himself this way? Even military administrators didn’t behave this way. Thousands of motorists go through hell everyday on this road and now that they think that the road will be fixed, he has come again with his policy somersault. This action is shameful”.
In a statement issued yesterday, Bi-Courtney’s spokesman, Dipo Kehinde, described the action as a wrong move.
He said: “Since the grant of the concession, Ogun State Government was taken as a major partner, given that 80 per cent of the highway falls within the state.
“Ogun State was to give us land as its own contribution to the project. The former RCC yard was identified, visited and allocated to us by the Ogun State Government. The process entailed joint visit and assessment before allocation, following all due process.
“To buttress this fact, we duly settled the land owners, promptly, to demonstrate our commitment to the site. The payment to the landowners was done after due consultation with the state government and confirmation of the landowners at a joint stakeholders meeting with officials of the Bureau of Land. The state government actually brokered the meeting with the family land owners.
“A search was also conducted at the Ogun State Survey Directorate, and the search report revealed that the property is unencumbered.”
The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, had, on Sunday, issued a statement confirming that the state government had approved the site for Bi-Courtney, after the company submitted application for the use of the site on April 20, this year.
The Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, had, on Saturday, visited the RCC yard as part of his assessment tour, to see what Bi-Courtney has been doing and how the government could assist the company in making an early delivery of the project.
During the inspection tour, which began from the Old Toll-Gate office of Bi-Courtney at 9a.m., the minister pledged to give all necessary support to hasten work on the reconstruction of the road.
He mentioned the idea of involving army engineers in some aspects of the project, saying: “We shouldn’t saddle Bi-Courtney with the task of securing the Right of Way (ROW). We are going to bring in army engineers to assist.”
When asked if the ministry is considering the review of the concession with Bi-Courtney, Onolememen said: “No. There’s nothing like that. Bi-Courtney has been on track. There are processes in the execution of this project and the company has followed due process. The final design was approved on May 10.”
He said that the involvement of army engineers would help to secure the ROW, which is one of the major constraints in the execution of the project.
The Chairman of Bi-Courtney, Dr. Olawale Babalakin, had earlier raised the alarm, during a visit to the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, that some powerful interest groups are trying to frustrate the company’s efforts to deliver the project on time.
Said Babalakin: “Most people in Nigeria don’t know what concession is all about. There’s no road that has been done through concession in Nigeria before, apart from the Lekki-Epe Expressway, a 45-kilometre road that took the concessionaire five years to start the construction.
“Many people don’t want us to build that road. There have been several stumbling blocks. We’ve been having problems with many powerful mediocres. Many people, whose structures will be affected have gone to court. There are 55 illegal petrol stations on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.”
Onolememen told reporters in an interview that the Federal Government did the right thing by giving the road project out as a concession.
He said: “This is a modern way of financing projects in the country now, because it is clear to us that the budgetary allocation of the Federal Government cannot match the demand for road rehabilitation and reconstruction in this country.
“There are basic things we would do very quickly; we want to ensure that within 60 days that the sufferings on the road be reduced.
“The final design was approved in May, this year, by the Federal Ministry of Works; our estate valuers have just completed work on the enumeration of properties on the Right of Way last week. By September, full work should start. But, before then, areas requiring urgent repairs must be attended to.
“If you look at the agreement concerning the road, there are steps to be taken. In the past one year, there have been phases they (Bi-Courtney) have had to comply with.”
Governor Ibikunle Amosun, who personally led the team, comprising gun-totting, anti-riot policemen and some state government officials, ordered his men to dismantle the plant.
Besides, Amosun directed his government’s bulldozers to demolish the structure erected for the project by Bi-Courtney Highway Services, because he wanted to use the site for a trailer park and market.
The action came after the site had been approved by Amosun for Bi-Courtney “and we don’t know why he suddenly changed his mind,” said one of the workers.
But, for the resistance put by the Chief Security Officer of the concessionaire, Colonel Adeola Olabiyi (rtd), and his team, the governor would have pulled down the multi-million naira structure.
Despite this, the governor ordered the mobile policemen to lead one of the bulldozers to demolish the structure but when they saw the resistance of Olabiyi and his team, “they could not move and the governor felt disappointed that his order was not carried out”.
An eyewitness said: “We were really afraid. The governor told his policemen to draw their guns and the Bi-Courtney people also drew their guns. We thought they were going to start exchanging fire and for the fact that the governor was there, people started running. Can you imagine what could have happened if the two teams started shooting? I don’t know why the governor should personally lead the demolition squad. Is that the work of a governor? Why should he be going all over the place with policemen to terrorise people working legitimately?
“This is not the first time he would do this. The other time, he led policemen to a particular structure in Lagos and he was eventually embarrassed because the owner called the Inspector-General who ordered that all the policemen should leave the place. Why should the governor be embarrassing himself this way? Even military administrators didn’t behave this way. Thousands of motorists go through hell everyday on this road and now that they think that the road will be fixed, he has come again with his policy somersault. This action is shameful”.
In a statement issued yesterday, Bi-Courtney’s spokesman, Dipo Kehinde, described the action as a wrong move.
He said: “Since the grant of the concession, Ogun State Government was taken as a major partner, given that 80 per cent of the highway falls within the state.
“Ogun State was to give us land as its own contribution to the project. The former RCC yard was identified, visited and allocated to us by the Ogun State Government. The process entailed joint visit and assessment before allocation, following all due process.
“To buttress this fact, we duly settled the land owners, promptly, to demonstrate our commitment to the site. The payment to the landowners was done after due consultation with the state government and confirmation of the landowners at a joint stakeholders meeting with officials of the Bureau of Land. The state government actually brokered the meeting with the family land owners.
“A search was also conducted at the Ogun State Survey Directorate, and the search report revealed that the property is unencumbered.”
The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, had, on Sunday, issued a statement confirming that the state government had approved the site for Bi-Courtney, after the company submitted application for the use of the site on April 20, this year.
The Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, had, on Saturday, visited the RCC yard as part of his assessment tour, to see what Bi-Courtney has been doing and how the government could assist the company in making an early delivery of the project.
During the inspection tour, which began from the Old Toll-Gate office of Bi-Courtney at 9a.m., the minister pledged to give all necessary support to hasten work on the reconstruction of the road.
He mentioned the idea of involving army engineers in some aspects of the project, saying: “We shouldn’t saddle Bi-Courtney with the task of securing the Right of Way (ROW). We are going to bring in army engineers to assist.”
When asked if the ministry is considering the review of the concession with Bi-Courtney, Onolememen said: “No. There’s nothing like that. Bi-Courtney has been on track. There are processes in the execution of this project and the company has followed due process. The final design was approved on May 10.”
He said that the involvement of army engineers would help to secure the ROW, which is one of the major constraints in the execution of the project.
The Chairman of Bi-Courtney, Dr. Olawale Babalakin, had earlier raised the alarm, during a visit to the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye, that some powerful interest groups are trying to frustrate the company’s efforts to deliver the project on time.
Said Babalakin: “Most people in Nigeria don’t know what concession is all about. There’s no road that has been done through concession in Nigeria before, apart from the Lekki-Epe Expressway, a 45-kilometre road that took the concessionaire five years to start the construction.
“Many people don’t want us to build that road. There have been several stumbling blocks. We’ve been having problems with many powerful mediocres. Many people, whose structures will be affected have gone to court. There are 55 illegal petrol stations on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.”
Onolememen told reporters in an interview that the Federal Government did the right thing by giving the road project out as a concession.
He said: “This is a modern way of financing projects in the country now, because it is clear to us that the budgetary allocation of the Federal Government cannot match the demand for road rehabilitation and reconstruction in this country.
“There are basic things we would do very quickly; we want to ensure that within 60 days that the sufferings on the road be reduced.
“The final design was approved in May, this year, by the Federal Ministry of Works; our estate valuers have just completed work on the enumeration of properties on the Right of Way last week. By September, full work should start. But, before then, areas requiring urgent repairs must be attended to.
“If you look at the agreement concerning the road, there are steps to be taken. In the past one year, there have been phases they (Bi-Courtney) have had to comply with.”
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