by Prince GAG Adewuyi
There is a road in the state of Montana 🇺🇸 called Highway 200, spanning 1,137.2 Kilometers (Km) or 706 Miles. It was started in 1921 and completed around 1938.
Probably all the leaders who conceptualized and constructed this road are no longer here, but everyone still plying and enjoying the road today were not alive then.
Please note that Montana is just one state in the USA! Now, in comparison, Nigeria’s 🇳🇬 longest road is the Ibadan-Ilorin-Jebba road at just 452Km, criss-crossing the 3 states of Oyo, Kwara and Niger states. Make sense?…stay with me plz.
This President conceptualized, initiated and started 4 major roads linking the entire country together and reducing travel time by a great deal.
The longest of the 4 is the Sokoto-Badagry at 1,068 kilometers, followed by the Lagos-Calabar (Coastal or otherwise) at around 750 kilometers, next is the Calabar-Abuja at 477Km, and finally the Jos- Maiduguri super highway at between 700-1,100 kilometers.
Now for those who were too young or ignorant to pay attention when the President was a Governor, let me help a bit. Asiwaju is a big-ticket projects fellow. He has always been.
While his fellow governors were still finding their feet in 1999, He introduced IPP and partnered the US company, Enron, deal got frustrated courtesy of baba OBJ who was President at the time.
We may also consider the monstrous Lagos bar beach and it’s constant invasion of Victoria Island, disrupting traffic and destroying buildings and other infrastructures alike, then the project of converting that monster to what it is today (The most prized piece of real estate in West Africa), even as people also criticized the project back then, there’s also the Lagos metro line (the only one of it’s kind in the country), Lastma etc.
My point is simple guys, We can not reduce the entirety of national conversations to cost of food.
There is no where in the world where reforms are undertaken without pain. Like the writer John Maxwell says, it’s better to pay now (Which we’re doing at the moment btw) and play later (seems logical). We were doing the direct opposite for years and sadly now, it’s payday.
And for those that always ask “shey na road or infrastructures we go chop?”, Please leave politicians alone, and get someone you trust and respect to explain this post to you, and of course help you connect the dots. You can’t continue to be ignorant in 2026 when there’s Ai.
Finally, just like those thoughtful leaders who initiated and constructed Highway 200, in the great state of Montana, over 100 years ago, and are no more with us today, these 4 legacy roads will be enjoyed by people who aren’t here today, and when they do, these leaders, especially PBAT, will definitely be done, dusted and gone, but the road, this legacy, will remain to the glory of God and Country.
Have a great week everyone.
*Prince GAG Adewuyi*
Team Lead/Editor-in-Chief
African Media Organization
Energy Africa, & Digitalwire
E-Signed.
