Abuja — A member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Patrick Obahiagbon yesterday threatened to lead a mass protest against the Federal Government if it failed to rehabilitate the Benin-Ore-Lagos road come next year. The lawmaker said it might become necessary to investigate the reasons for the continued abandonment of the road even after budgetary provisions were made for its rehabilitation over the years.

The threat came two years after the House of Representatives adopted a motion brought to the parliament by Obahiagbon, which sought the attention of the Federal Government to the collapsed road, a major highway linking the western and eastern parts of the country.

Obahiagbo,n who represents the Oredo Federal Constituency of Edo State lamented that despite the deplorable state of the road and its strategic importance to the country, the Federal Government had continued to pay lipservice to its rehabilitation. The lawmaker known for his use of high sounding words and figuratives described the situation as "sardonic" and likened a trip on the road in its current state to engaging in a macabre dance.

Obahiagbon who addressed the House of Representatives Press Corps observed that for over a decade, the Benin-Ore -Lagos road had suffered neglect by successive governments of the dayHe canvassed the option of the Federal Government adopting a Marshal Plan to totally rebuild and reconstruct the said road instead of ministerial pontifications.

Sometime in 2007, the deplorable state of the Benin-Ore-Lagos road had forced a former Minister of Transport, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke to weep and apologise to Nigerians for what she then described as the "inhuman and unacceptable" state of the road.

"Two years after, is the state of the Benin- Ore- Lagos road now human and acceptable? This is 2009 and the story, rather than change for good, is even more lamentable. We daily hear tales of woes from commuters on the Lagos-Ore-Benin road: robberies, accidents, elongated travel time due to the failed portions of the road and so on and so forth. Yet, the Federal Government has not demonstrated sensitivity to the plight of Nigerians travelling on the road by fixing it.

"Under the Presidential Initiative Projects (PIPs), rehabilitation of Shagamu-Ajebandele-Ore road Sections 1 and 2 are earmarked to gulp N4 billion and N1.5 billion respectively. Even though, the larger issue of the longer Lagos-Ore-Benin road as described is not captured in the budget as a specific item, these little interventions could be salutary to the bigger picture of deplorableness of the road.

"Something tells me that the story is not about to change. Multi-billion naira allocations are being made and there is no visible sign to justify those allocations and expenditures. This must not be allowed to continue. The dereliction of social responsibility of government must not be allowed to linger; otherwise, the very foundation of the social contract between the government and the governed is completely destroyed," Obahiagbon said.

Minister of Works, Dr. Hassan Muhammad Lawal had in May this year, announced President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's approval of the release of N21 billion from the N140 billion budgeted for in the 2009 Appropriation Act for the rehabilitation of 34 roads nationwide. Although, the Lagos-Ore-Benin road benefited from the approved rehabilitation, the said rehabilitation was scheduled to be done in phases namely: Ajebandele-Ofosu road in Ondo State- awarded to Messrs Reynolds Construction Company Limited (RCC) at the sum of N9,745,402,329.89, with a completion period of 30 months and the rehabilitation of the Shagamu-Ajebandele-Ore-Benin Road, Section II in Ogun State, awarded to Messrs Borini Prono and Company Nigeria Limited, at the sum of N2,498,934,091.50 with a completion period of 18 months. In spite of these measures, Obahiagbon said, not much has happened to the road since then.