Governor of Ogun State and Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum, Dapo Abiodun, has said that the Southern Governors’ Forum is unanimous in their support for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, as the infrastructure project will bring development to Nigeria’s Southern region.
Abiodun, said this in an exclusive interview with ARISE NEWS on Monday after he was named the Chairman of the Southern Governors’ Forum at the groups meeting.
The Ogun governor, speaking about the discussions during the meeting, said, “The issue of infrastructure was an important one, but we didn’t even discuss that issue without first acknowledging what our President, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, had recently done. The conceptualising of the coastal road, and more importantly, the flag-off of the construction of the coastal road.
“We are unanimous in appreciating the initiative because we can see how much of an impact it will make to the economy of the entire southern region. And the part of Ondo State where this road will terminate, ideally if you’re travelling from Lagos to that part of Ogun State, it will take you about five hours. When that road is completed, it will take you about 30 minutes. That is the transformation in terms of impact that this road will have on our people. The construction itself, the sheer size of it, will provide hundreds of thousands of jobs, and you can imagine the multiplying effect of that.”
Abiodun then addressed the fact that those present at the meeting wore a uniform made out of a tie-dye material manufactured in Ogun State as he said, “That just underscores how we want to be defined going forward- as one indivisible united region that is blind to party affiliations or tribe or ethnic or religious tendencies.”
Further explaining the reasoning behind the use of the tie-dye material to make outfits for the Forum, Abiodun said, “This is a tie and dye design that has been produced in Ogun State for many generations, and when I assumed office, the industry was dying. It was dying because the Asians were coming here, they were copying the Adire prints, taking it to Asia and bringing it back as prints, like Ankara prints. And by so doing, it was robbing these small/medium scale enterprises of job opportunities and of income.
“So I said we must do something to resuscitate this industry, and I decided that everyone in Ogun State must wear Adire on Fridays, at least, the public service in Ogun State, and there are about 7,000 of us.”
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
Follow us on:
