At the moment, a greater number of the roundabouts had been completed while work is ongoing on others.

Roundabout, the Zone 8 Roundabout, the Ganaja Village Roundabout and the Kogi Circle Roundabout.

Meanwhile, work is currently ongoing at the Paparanda Square Roundabout.

The Lugard House Roundabout directly opposite the Government House’s main gate was not rebuilt but rather made a thoroughfare to the seat of power.

In similar vein, the earlier demolished “Welcome to Lokoja Roundabout” is yet to be rebuilt.

While some residents have commended the government for the effort in rebuilding the demolished roundabouts, others viewed it on the contrary.

A resident of Lokoja, Baba Yusuf said it was gratifying that the state capital could once again have the demolished roundabouts back and better.

On her part, Aisha Abdullahi commended the governor for giving a facelift to the state capital with the redesigned roundabouts coupled with the provision of street lights and improved sanitation.

Another respondent, Umar Mohammed was of the view that the quality of the materials used for the new roundabouts was not as “solid” as the demolished ones.

“To me, the quality of structures they are putting in place are a far cry from the previous ones. You see them using six inches blocks in some of the places. The former ones were made of concrete and that was why it took them long time and cost so much money to demolish them,” he said.

On his part, Yunusa Danladi faulted the decision to fix traffic lights alongside the roundabouts. “I have never seen anywhere you have a roundabout and traffic lights at the same time. The two don’t go; it doesn’t make any sense.

“If it is roundabout, let it be roundabout; if it is traffic lights, let it be traffic lights. You don’t find anywhere these two go together. And that is why you often find commotion at some of these roundabouts.

On why it took the government long to commence rebuilding the roundabouts, Fanwo said, “We had to wait for the designs as well as mobilize funds for the contract as well as ensure the contracts go through due process in line with our financial discipline as a Government. That caused what you people are now referring to as little delay.

“What we are building now is far better than the eyesore we removed a few months ago. Only critics who don’t understand the architectural difference will be making an issue out of it. As I said, it is work in progress. Kogites will be proud of what we will put down for posterity.

Fanwo maintained that the roundabouts were not demolished in search of “charms” as alleged in some quarters saying, “We are running a digital government that is also reengineering the psychology of the Kogi people. We don’t believe in charms. Our reason for removing them was to keep touch with our urban renewal policy of making Lokoja a beautiful capital city. The demolition was necessary in order to replace the old ones with better ones.”