Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday commissioned the Ore Interchange flyover on the Shagamu–Ore–Benin expressway in Ondo State, with an assurance that the Federal Government will sustain massive investments in the provision of infrastructure across the country.

The President, who was on a working visit to the state also commissioned the Ondo-Linyi industrial hub located in Ore, headquarters of Odigbo Local Government Area of the state.

The President said the Interchange will boost economic activities in the state, ease traffic congestion as well as reduce accidents often experienced on the major road.

President Buhari used the occasion to assure the government and people of Ondo State under Governor Rotimi Akeredolu that the Federal Government will meet its obligations to the state on the construction of the Interchange flyover in due course.

Buhari, who was received by Governors Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Godwin Obaseki of Edo, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun and Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo States, recalled that the re-designing and construction of the road to accommodate Interchange Flyover was overdue as a result of the growing population in Ore town.

He said: “during the civil war and during my campaigns since 2002, I have become familiar with the terrain of Ore which is a connecting city between the South West and the Eastern part of our country.

”As a result of this, the city has a cosmopolitan population that is in the neighbourhood of 300,000. This is a city that can be described as a mini-Nigeria as almost all ethnic groups of our country are happily represented here.

”Let me commend Governor Akeredolu and his team for their great efforts and professionalism in putting this project in place. This project is executed in line with the spirit and drive of the Federal Government which puts great emphasis on infrastructural development across our country, especially in the area of transportation.”

President Buhari praised a consortium of Nigerian engineers for the design and supervision of the impressive-flyover of international standards.

Commending Governor Akeredolu, the President affirmed that the Akeredeolu administration had cleared six months out of the seven months arrears of salaries and pensions owed by the previous administration.

He also lauded the state government for being up-to-date in the payment of salaries and pensions.

”It is gratifying to note that Ondo State is one of the first few states in Nigeria that has started implementing the New Minimum Wage. You have been able to achieve these feats in spite of limited available resources.

”I am not surprised at this because available records show that Ondo State has recorded the highest percentage of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) among the States, due to the effort of the APC government here,” Mr Buhari said.

Reaffirming the resolve of the Federal Government to continue to invest heavily in the provision of infrastructure, the President announced that his administration has expanded more on the provision of railway services, rehabilitation and construction of roads and bridges, saying “we are confronting the infrastructure deficit head-on.”

In his remarks, Ondo State Governor Mr Akeredolu said his decision to construct the flyover was to reduce accident on the Benin-Ore road.

He said the industrial park will help in ameliorating the sufferings of the people as it will provide more job opportunity for the people.