Ibekimi Oriamaja Reports.
Governor Kayode Fayemi has started building 1000 kilometers of roads in Ekiti State’s 16 local government areas.
According to Fayemi, the program would be implemented through a World Bank-sponsored project aimed at transforming the rural economy, of which Ekiti was a beneficiary.
Fayemi, who was represented by the Project Coordinator of the Ekiti State Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (EK-RAAMP), Sunday Adunmo, told reporters in Ado Ekiti yesterday that he had begun construction work on six pilot roads in 2021 as a prerequisite for the state’s inclusion in the project, which now has 19 participating states.
Even as asphalt laying began on one of the six roads, Fayemi stated that work was ramping up to ensure the roads’ completion.
While assuaging concerns about the continuation of the RAAMP programme in the state following the transition of the Fayemi-led administration, he stated that the governor-elect, Biodun Oyebanji, was a member of the current administration that initiated Ekiti’s inclusion in RAAMP.
“Biodun Oyebanji has stated repeatedly his willingness to prioritize rural road construction on the administration’s agricultural development agenda.”
The RAAMP initiative would transform the state economy by connecting farms to market hubs and providing motorable road access to farms, with the goal of reducing farmer losses caused by a poor road network.
“The ongoing construction of a cargo airport in Ado Ekiti would be extremely beneficial to the RAAMP project because the State would ensure that the airport was used to transport farm produce to other States and countries,” says the report.
“Within a few months, the state will begin constructing many rural roads and market hubs with the goal of making agriculture a profitable business for farmers and transforming Ekiti State into the food basket of South West Nigeria.”
“The State RAAMP aims to build 1000 kilometers of rural roads across the State’s 16 local government areas,” Fayemi explained.
