Deplorable state of Nigerian roads, a big problem— Abiodun

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has described the deplorable state of Nigerian roads as one of the biggest problems confronting citizens and called for the deregulation of the petroleum sector.

He said with the deregulation funds would be made available for the construction of roads and provision of other basic amenities.

He stated this on Wednesday, when members of the Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN) visited him in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

He said: “We can actually embark on deregulation and the savings will be about a trillion naira. If these savings are put into road infrastructure, the citizens of Nigeria will appreciate it.

“In the course of my campaign, we realized that the biggest problem that our people have is the state of our intra-city and township roads. That is the biggest problem.

“If you just fix roads in this state and do nothing else, our people will be happy because it facilitates every other thing. If people can move from point A to point B, they can transport their children to school, can move their products and produce to markets and go to work on good roads, they will be happy.”

The governor also said he was happy with the marginal drop on local consumption of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from 56 to 53 million litres per day due to border closure, adding that the drop showed that little had been achieved.

READ ALSO: Nigerian roads ‘not that bad’, negative reports ‘mere hype’ —Fashola

The governor added: “NNPC showed some numbers that arose from the border closure that the consumption of fuel has dropped from 56 to 53 million litres daily. It shows that we have to achieve very little. When you look at the N145 charge in Nigeria and the N320 that is charged in the neighboring country, there is more than enough to go round to compromise everybody, so we cannot continue to deceive ourselves; we must do something about it.”

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