A former Head of State and Presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Major General Muhammadu Buhari says the high quality of projects embarked upon by Governor Adams Oshiomhole in Edo State is a testimony to how the All Progressives Congress government at the Federal level will turn the fortunes of the country around when voted into power in 2015.
Speaking at the commissioning of the of the Ayogwiri-Apana-Okpekpe road in Etsako East Local Government Area of the state on Saturday, Buhari said having commissioned some other projects in Benin City, he has no doubt that Edo State is blessed with one of the most dynamic Governors in the country.
H e said “A road like this Okpekpe road will boost the economy and it is something that only government can provide as it has been done by the Edo State Government. When the roads are bad, farmers cannot take their products to the city for sale because it is expensive.
“It is so expensive because transporters will not come. They will find out that it is not worth it. When they come and they go back they will discover that the repairs will be more than the money they earn from the farmers. And the farmers themselves will think they are working for the transporters.
“There is no doubt that this road will give accessibility to this community. Without accessibility it will be difficult to convey farm produce and buyers will not want to come since it will increase cost. Only the government can intervene to ease this problem. May God in his infinite mercy pay you back”, he said.
“Projects like this is a testimony of the high level thinking of the APC and how the APC government will transform the country for good when it wins the election at the federal level in 2015.”
In his remark, Governor Adams Oshiomhole said “even to survey this road was quite problematic. But in the end it was done but the amount required to construct it was frightening. And I said to myself there is nothing that is good that will come cheap and we are convinced that rural Nigeria should benefit from development.
“If government should touch everybody, that we should spread development to every nook and cranny of the state, then no terrain should be considered too expensive to develop. So we decided to construct the road. As you have seen, we decided to do the commissioning here and not in the village so that you can see the amount of work done to achieve this level.
“I feel fulfilled that God has used us to make a difference in the lives of very ordinary people and there is nothing that is good that any leader wants to do that he won’t be able to do and that the poverty we face as a nation is not poverty of resources but poverty of ideas and poverty of commitment”, he said.
“For the other party they believe that constructing roads to the rural areas is dangerous to their instrument of rigging. When the place cannot be accessed, both INEC and the police are not in a hurry to go there and they will vote for them in the city and announce the result on their behalf.
“By constructing this road, we are doing damage to election riggers and dismantling their rigging infrastructure by providing access for election materials to get to their location irrespective of where they are ”, he added.
Also speaking the Traditional Ruler of Okpekpe Kingdom said in the past many politicians had used the construction of the road as a bait to win votes in the kingdom, adding that they disappeared as soon as the elections were over.
“At a time some politicians made us believe that the construction of our road was an impossible task to be done. The Holy Book tells us that there is time for every thing under the sun. So when the time came a great unionist turned politician called Adams Oshiomhole appeared on the political scene. He is the messiah that God ordained to provide a solidly built road for Okpekpe community”, he said.