Ambode plans construction of 10–lane Lagos-Ijebu Ode expressway

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has expressed possibility for the construction of a 10 -lane expressway that would run from Ikorodu axis in Lagos through Itoikin, Epe to Ijebu Ode in Ogun State.

Ambode made the remarks at an interactive session at the weekend, saying his administration would give priority attention to infrastructural development in the state.
According to the governor, “We must start thinking of the future concerning that road. We said we will have an International Airport in Epe and an Export Processing Zone in Lekki and a Deep Seaport also in Lekki. What does that mean for that road?

“When you take your freight from the Deep Seaport and the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) are we going to make them to start passing through that same road.
So what is the future? We missed something between Oshodi and Murtala Mohammed International Airport, there is no fast track rail that can take goods straight to the Airport. Should we also miss that here? Those are the issues that we are looking at.

“Should we not start thinking about how we would improve and create a 10-lane road between Ikorodu, Itoikin, Epe and Ijebu Ode so that people can go out from there? So those are some of the things that we are looking at. There is no point constructing the road, paying tolls and in five years time, the road is gone.”

Meantime, speaking on the on the on-going construction of the 10- lane Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Ambode said once the road is completed, the neighbourhood and the axis would be opened up as a business hub for the whole sub region.

The governor said his administration would also make careful efforts to grow the tourism potentials of the state, noting that a summit would be organized with stakeholders in the sector to explore the potentials that abound in the state.

He said his administration decided to scale up governance by rearranging the civil service through the realignment of some ministries, agencies while scrapping some and creating a new Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment.
“We would set up an Office of Overseas Affairs directly under the Governor’s Office. We want to take advantage of our position to improve on commerce and on trade and we will increase the GDP of Lagos and will create more jobs”, Ambode said.

While expressing the determination of his administration to bring more people into the tax net of the state to shore up its revenue base, Ambode stated that presently less than 50 percent of the taxable adults are paying taxes to the state coffers.