When will Governor Abdulrazaq open his ‘doomed-from-the-start’ Tanke Flyover?
By Lawal Akanbi Sharafadeen.
In November 2021, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s administration announced plans to construct a flyover bridge at Tanke, Ilorin, the state capital, which is to be known as the General Tunde Idiagbon Flyover. The contract for the flyover was initially awarded to JMK Construction Company Limited for N2,272,899,200.00, with a completion timeline of 12 months.
This announcement sparked mixed reactions from the public, with most of the people urging the government to rethink its decision to construct the Flyover. Their reason was that the Tanke area did not require a bridge, but rather an expansion of the existing road, as there was no significant traffic congestion along that axis. Some residents of the area also appealed to the state government to prioritise fixing and opening up alternative routes, noting that this would save the government the huge capital it intended to spend on the proposed flyover construction.
However, in its usual characteristics, the Abdulrazaq-led state government failed to heed the voice of reason and went ahead with the flyover construction. This proved that the project wasn’t driven by necessity or public interest, but by the Governor’s desire for a legacy project, similar to those of his predecessors. Had the government considered genuine observations by members of the public, it could have invested the huge capital it expended on the flyover to fix other developmental needs within the metropolis.
Eventually, the project contract was revoked from JMK Construction Company Limited and reassigned to another contractor, whose detail was not publicly disclosed by the government for reasons best known to it. A few weeks later, the new contractor began work at the project site and as the construction work progressed, concerns began to surface, both on and offline, regarding the poor quality of work being done at the site. But instead of addressing these concerns, agents of the state government and their bootlickers dismissed them, with some of them resorting to rain insults and attack on those raising the observations.
What was even more surprising was the government inspection team’s repeated praises for the project, despite the clear signs of subpar work. For instance, in December 2022, the former Commissioner for Works, Iliasu Rotimi, inspected the project and expressed satisfaction with the quality of ongoing work at the project site, and even publicly commended the contractor. To provide a cover for the shoddy job, the government invited some members of COREN to come inspect the facility and pass a controversial ‘sakamaje’ certification on it.
However, when the reality finally dawned on the state government that the project was poorly done, it had to engage another contractor, Craneburg Construction Limited to make necessary adjustments and complete the project. It, however, appeared that the damage had already been done and there was little Craneburg Construction Limited could do to salvage it.
I could also recall that the state government announced several completion dates for the project, none of which was met. In one of his visits to the project site in January, 2024, AbdulQuawiy Olododo, who was then the supervising Commissioner for Works, claimed that the flyover was 99% completed and would soon be open, stating that only minor finishing touches remained. He assured the public that the flyover would be ready within the first quarter of 2024. In his words “Here we are at Tunde Idiagbon flyover. We’ve toured this road, you can see that few weeks back when I was here we made a promise that we will deliver the first quarter in 2024. What we’ve seen here we can say it’s 99% completed. What is really left is the road marking, the painting of the edges which does not disturb the general movement, the road traffic and this afternoon, we will be opening the second lane of the service road for ease of movement.”
However, more than eight months after, the flyover remains closed to the public, fuelling suspicions about quality, structural integrity and durability of the facility that has gulped billions of naira of Kwara taxpayers’ money (no one even knows the exact billions of naira Governor Abdulrazaq has allocated for the project). With the continued closure of the flyover, I always shake my head and laugh anytime I pass by Tipper garage, Tanke. One professor of Engineering I met recently while queuing to buy fuel at a petrol station told me he would never use his vehicle on the bridge even when it’s opened as he is not convinced of its durability.
Till now, the government has not offered any explanation for the continued delay in opening of the bridge, leaving the public in the dark. Tiktokers and other content creators have meanwhile turned the flyover to a motion ground where they take pictures and record videos to post online. It is high time the State government told Kwarans why the flyover has continued to remain shut to motorists, more than eight months after its completion. Let me conclude by asking and I want well-meaning Kwarans to join me in asking “When will Governor Abdulrazaq open his doomed-from-the-start flyover project?”
Lawal Akanbi Sharafadeen writes from Kwara State Capital.