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Okpebholo Hails Tinubu for Responding to Edo’s Road Crisis in Five Days
By Ayewa Eraolei Felix
Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for what he described as his swift response to the crisis on the Benin-Agbor-Asaba road.
The governor said the intervention of the Federal Government, barely five days after public complaints over the condition of the road and the resulting gridlock intensified, demonstrated that Tinubu was a listening President.
Okpebholo spoke when the Minister of Works, David Umahi, visited Edo State to inspect the troubled federal highway.
He contrasted the response with the situation on the Ekpoma-Benin axis in 2021 and 2022, when, according to him, motorists endured severe difficulties for months.
“When you have a father who listens to you, you will cool your temper. When your father is listening, you cool your temper,” Okpebholo said.
“I remember vividly that in 2021 and 2022, between Ekpoma and Benin, you could hardly pass through.
“But I met the President over it just once and he told me he was going to do that road. Today, that road is looking like America.
“Our President is a man who listens to his children.”
The governor recalled that a similar traffic crisis around Ekpoma lasted for more than five months without the required intervention.
He said the response to the latest crisis on the Benin-Agbor-Asaba corridor had been different.
“Something like this happened in Ekpoma. There was traffic for more than five months. We had a President who came from the South then, but nothing was done.
“But we now have a President who listens to us.
“This problem is just about five days since the cry came out and today, the Minister of Works is here. Does that not show that he is a listening President?” he asked.
Okpebholo said Edo people were pleased with the President’s disposition towards the state, adding that the strategic location of Edo made its road infrastructure critical to movement across several geopolitical zones.
“In Edo State, we are happy with the President. We know the President means well for Edo State.
“Whenever there is a problem here, the President always assists because Edo State is like a gateway to the Southsouth, Southeast and Southwest, and even to the North,” he said.
The governor thanked Umahi for personally visiting the road and expressed confidence that the Federal Government’s intervention would bring relief to motorists and residents.
“I want to thank you, Mr Minister, and also thank Mr President.
“Once this road is completed, we will come back and thank the President and the minister for helping us to fix our state,” Okpebholo said.