Transporters and commuters plying Ilorin/Jebba would soon heave a sigh of relief as plan was on top gear by the Federal Government to fix the road. The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola who spoke about the government's commitment to re-fix the road as soon as possible, when he paid a courtesy visit to the Kwara state governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, at the Government House, Ilorin, said the road was strategic to Nigeria's economy.

According to Fashola, "President Muhammadu Buhari-led government is committed to restoration of normalcy back to Ilorin/Jebba road. The road is strategic to the growth and development of this country.

"We have identified 35 failed points on the road, and the government is working assiduously to re-fix the road so as to boost business in the area". Fashola also disclosed that N18billion was budgeted for Works ministry alone, saying that effort was on-going to end the challenges and discrepancies in budgeting. Said he, "During the tenure of the immediate past administration, people worked, and they were not paid. We will ensure that all these practices were things of the past".

He further disclosed that the present administration was working on reimbursement of states of the federation that undertook federal roads. The minister who said they were in the state to access the level of damages on Ilorin/Jebba road, also told the governor that they were in Kainji Dam in Niger state for assessment of the place in order to improve power supply.

He also informed the governor of 5 turbines built in Jebba in 1995 and left un-maintained, explaining that the turbines supposed to be maintained every 6 year. He also spoke of the government's intention to embark on housing programme to be constructed with locally made materials so as to diversify the country's economy. In his response, Governor Ahmed called for more support from the federal government in the area of infrastructural development, especially federal roads, in the state.

According to the governor, the call became expedient as a result of sustained pressure on the state government on federal, state and local government roads across the state.

Governor Ahmed added that, the intervention of the Federal Government on federal roads would ensure cost savings for the state government in addressing other projects left untouched.

He urged the federal government to hasten work on the completion of Ilorin-Ogbomosho-Oyo-Ibadan road as well as Jebba-Ilorin road to ease the movement of people and goods from the Northern part of the country to the Southern part.

"The issue of road, the issue of energy are very germane to our growth and development. We've come thus far with very poor levels of maintenance, that is why as a country we are faced with a huge challenge in infrastructure which has impeded the much desired economic growth that Nigeria should have witnessed", he said.

Governor Ahmed expressed the readiness of the state government in allocating lands in urban and developing environment for the Federal Government's Housing scheme.