Toba Owojaiye reporting
Abuja , Nigeria
President Bola Tinubu has christened the just inaugurated arterial road N20 that spans from the northern parkway to the outer northern expressway (ONEX) in the federal capital territory (FCT) as the Wole Soyinka Highway.
Truth Live News gathered that Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, posted on X on Tuesday that the naming of the road after the Nobel Laureate was recommended by the FCT administration.
“In naming the road after the distinguished playwright, poet and novelist who clocks 90 on 13 July, President Tinubu said Soyinka was the first African to win the Nobel Literature Prize,” Onanuga wrote.
“He said Soyinka has brought honour and fame to Nigeria.”
Last month, Nyesom Wike, the FCT minister, named Abuja’s southern parkway after Tinubu.
The southern parkway stretches from the National Christian Centre to ring road one and is considered one of the city’s major spines.
The minister said the project was completed in line with the president’s renewed hope agenda’, 13 years after construction commenced, adding that it would ease the free flow of traffic in the FCT.
The southern parkway complements the northern parkway, the major arterial known as Sani Abacha road that runs across Mabushi and terminates at Life Camp.
The project was commissioned by Tinubu, who had just returned from an official trip to Lagos, where he flagged off the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, which began in March.
The president also performed the inauguration of the reconstructed Apapa-Oworonshoki-Ojota expressway and the rehabilitated Third Mainland Bridge.
Netizens have been sharply divided on the motive behind this august but noble honour. While some say it is long deserved for the only Nigerian Nobel Laureate Winner, who has also spoken courageously on many national matters just say it is just a pat on the back by the Tinubu Administration for his support before the 2023 elections and his silence now in the face of a bleeding economy.
Whatever the motives, road users won’t bother as they cruise the road and get less traffic congestion in the heart of Abuja.
