By Onagun Ganiyu

Whenever I read some articles which are apparently sponsored to malign the projects of this administration, especially the Tanke flyover project, my heart bleeds. But I get consoled when I remember a popular African story about a man who bought a cow for a party, while his jealous brother couldn’t afford a goat. The brother got so bitter and jealous that he tried to steal the cow, but he failed. He also tried to kill the cow, but he failed woefully again. Having failed at both attempts to get rid of the cow, he resorted to telling lies about the cow; he told everyone that cared to listen that the cow was smaller than a cat and wouldn’t fill a pot when cooked; he told several lies, but eventually, the day of the party came, and all his lies were exposed.

When enemies of progress can’t stop your progress, they always resort to cheap blackmail and absurd lies. Such is the case of the Tanke flyover and other laudable projects being executed by the administration of His Excellency, Gov. Abdul-Razaq Abdulrahman. The rejected politicians of Kwara are so bitter at the steady progress of this administration, and their bitterness is making them publish all sorts of ridiculous lies.

The increased pace of construction doesn’t translate to skipping of steps, it only means that more workers and more equipments have been deployed to work and extra hours are also being worked too. The increased speed of construction at Tanke flyover is attributed to the modular batching plant that was installed in addition to the standard batching plant, this has led to an increase in concrete production. Additional transit mixers and concr ete pumps have been gotten, and this has made the delivery and placing of concrete faster. More boards, tie-rods and other materials have been gotten, so there is no delay with materials. Also, more engineers and Artisans have been deployed to the project. These efforts are put in place by the contractor to ensure that the project is delivered as soon as possible. None of these efforts can undermine the quality of the project. I reliably gathered that the bridge deck was concreted before the New Year break and the contractor is waiting for the concrete to gain adequate strength before placing the parapets that will complete the bridge structural work, they have been crushing the concrete cubes to monitor the strength of the concrete. If the contractor was in a mad rush, he wouldn’t have waited for the concrete to mature before placing the parapets.

Tanke Flyover is supposed to be a 12 month project, but the contractor had delays during the rainy season, and the contractor is now trying to finish the job as soon as possible. I have seen bridges that were completed within ten months. If the previous administration took three years to complete the Geri Alimi flyover, that shouldn’t be the standard for Kwara State. Construction should be smarter, faster and even have a better quality. This is not a time for distractions, rather it is a time for us to urge the contractor to keep up the standard and further increase the pace as they complete the retaining walls, while we await the recently concreted bridge deck to gain enough strength, so that the contractor can begin to set the parapets and complete the bridge in earnest.

Personally, I am happy that all projects started by this administration are getting completed and the quality is top-notch; we are no longer in the era of abandoned projects.