By Charles Okogene
This past Friday, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu last scored another goal with the completion and inauguration of Pen Cinema Flyover Bridge amidst celebration and pomp from residents.
The state Sanwo-Olu met the bridge
The stage at which the promise of inaugurating it in February was made.
Pen cinema bridge as at last Friday
The completion, however, did not come as a surprise to the people of Agege and it’s environs because last year, during the inspection of the pace of work on the project, the governor who was accompanied on that visit by his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamsat, had told the expectant residents that the bridge will be completed by end of February 2021 and open for use. And true to his promise, the construction company handling the construction of the 1.4km long dual carriage bridge with a ramp and network of 5 adjoining roads was done with the task as scheduled, only for the governor to declare it open for public use on Friday March 5 March. For that, this writer tags Sanwo-Olu an Ekwueme (talk and do).
The story of the bridge dates back to the tenure of the immediate past Governor, Akinwummi Ambode. He (his government) conceived the idea of the Flyover and started it. However, the project was at its ‘foundation’ when his tenure expired and he lost in his bid for a second term. At first, it appeared to most frequent users of the road that the project will be abandoned the way the Lagos Light Train project from Lagos Island to Badagry was forgotten for the four years Ambode called the shots as the governor at Alausa despite the repuatation of the state as the richest in Nigeria.
But Sanwo-Olu whose campaign slogan was continuity, will not condone such. He not only promised the people of the state that he will complete all laudable projects started by his predecessor(s); in fact, the bridge was one of the first on-goning projects he personally visited for inspection shortly after assumption of office in 2019. And that day, he vowed to complete the bridge and the BRT bus terminal next to it.
Today, the people of Agege and Abule-Egba axis that are still beside themselves with gladness as a result of the completion of the Oshodi/Abule Egba section of the Lagos/Abeokuta Expressway with introduction of BRT buses. Though, a federal project that dates back to the days of President Olusegun
Obasanjo, Sanwo-Olu completed it.
The completion of the Pen Cinema Flyover will no doubt bring relief to road users in that axis. Before the idea of the bridge, Pen Cinema was hellish to motorists in particular as the traffic during rush hours usually stretches to Ijaiye Rd on Ogba, Agbotukuyo end in the heart of Agege, Abattoir area towards Abule-Egba and beyond the former Mitchel Farms site on Iju Rd. In fact, it has never been good like this for the people of that area not even in the days of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the governor. They now know what it means to feel the impact of a government/governance. Sanwo-Olu has done it for them and there is no doubt that in 2023, he will be their choice.
Kudos Sanwo-Olu!
