Former Governor of Oyo State, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, has lauded the resuscitation of the Pacesetter Quarry and Asphalt Limited, Ijaiye to boost the economy of the state, Ladoja, who is also the Osi-Olubadan of Ibadan land, during a visit with the governor of the state, Seyi Makinde to the asphalt plant said it was heartwarming to bring the plant back to life after it had been abandoned by two successive administrations.
It will be recalled that the state government handed over the Pacesetter Quarry and Asphalt Plant to Carboncor International Technology Limited under a public-private partnership arrangement in a move to expand the economy of the state.
Ladoja described the now operational plant as a dream come true, berating successive administrations, which abandoned the plant as not being friends of the state, as, according to him, the plant could have helped bring down the cost of road construction materials and also contribute to the economy.
“It is a dream come true. The work of the governor is to dream, get people around him to execute the dream. We dreamt and it came into fruition at that tenure and it was working. So, after I left office, there have been two governors who did not remember that the dream must work.
“Now that this administration came in, and they made it work, what do you think I should do? How do you think I will feel? I am very happy that my dream did not die. I am happy because when we came in to do it, the slogan then was ‘awo o ka’ju ilu’ [resources are not sufficient to take care of things]. So, in order to make ‘awo ka’ju ilu,’ we decided that we had to bring down the cost of materials.
“And, with this project, we were able to bring down the cost of asphalt for the roads. By the grace of God, the price came down and we were able to make more roads during that tenure and the roads are still there for everybody to see.
“For anybody to have abandoned this plant when you know that with this, you can reduce the cost of road-making, it means you are not really a friend of the state. But I am very happy this is working again and I can assure you that I will give all my support to them to make sure that this thing continues to work.
“The people in this area are benefitting. The state is benefitting because the cost of road construction must have gone down. 100 or 200 people are working and getting their daily meals from there. When we are talking about unemployment, this is part of the solution to it.
Makinde, at the plant, was excited that production was ongoing at the plant, which signifies contributing to the economy of the state by generating revenue, providing jobs and raw materials needed to construct roads.
“We think our strategy is working and you can see it. They are contributing their own quota to the economy of the state. Yes, we are satisfied so far.
“It is a public-private partnership model. They are fully in charge. They are planning on expanding the facility so that they can do more. We don’t want pot-holes on our roads. So, this will assist us to achieve that objective.”
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