Ganiyu Egunjobi the Executive Chairman Agege Local Government Area has renamed the popular Old Ipaja Road in Agege, after Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State and one of the national leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Also, the popular Dopemu Road will now carry the name of Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu.
Egunjobi announced the new name during the official inauguration of Agege Pen Cinema Bridge on Friday by Governor Sanwo-Olu.
The Agege Pen Cinema Flyover project is one of the many legacy projects started in 2017, under the administration of former Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode. Meanwhile, Ambode was conspicuously absent at the commissioning, Friday and nothing was said of him at the event.
Since Ambode lost his re-election primary to incumbent Governor Sanwo-olu amid much internal dynamics within the Lagos APC, reports said the relationship between the former and the latter has further gone sour. The former Governor has never been seen at any event organized by the Lagos state government notwithstanding his active APC membership.
According to the Agege LGA boss, as a form of gratitude, all stakeholders including councilors resolved to rename the Old Ipaja Road as Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Road, while Dopemu Road in Agege be renamed after Sanwo-Olu.
“It is our hope that the renaming will gain traction with those involved,” he said.
The council boss said that the construction of the Pen Cinema Bridge would ease traffic as well as reduce travel challenge on the road.
He said that it would also attract development and improve trade between the Agege community and other surrounding areas.
In his remarks, Mr Johnson Babatunde, Executive Chairman, Orile Agege Local Council Development Area (LCDA), thanked Sanwo-Olu for promising to complete all ongoing projects across the state.
Babatunde said that the benefits of the road network to the community were enormous and the residents felt deeply gratified.
“I will like to say a big thank you to all those who contributed to this landmark in Agege.
“We, the people of Agege and Orile-Agege are grateful to governor emeritus, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who laid the foundation of the development strides Lagos has been recording.
“We thank Sanwo-Olu, for ensuring the completion of this project and we are also grateful to the Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Dr Mudasiru Obasa, because through them, several state projects have been sited in Agege,” he said.
The Pen Bridge is a 1.4 kilometres long bridge across Iju-Fagba Road and Lagos-Ota Road, the network of Agege Pen Cinema Road, comprising of a main road and alternative routes.
“To address the challenge of this huge traffic burden, our administration decided to continue with construction of a Precast and Pre-stressed Reinforced Concrete Dual-carriage Flyover and Ramp, with road works, across the Agege Pen Cinema Intersection which was then at about twenty percent completion,” Sanwo-olu said while Commissioning the multi-billion Pen Cinema bridge, Friday.
