[SIZE="4"][B]The best comment:[/B] "I am so proud to be living in a county that aspires as a beacon of enlightenment to third world countries."[/SIZE] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [B][SIZE="3"]Nigeria looks to Walton for road advice[/SIZE][/B] Representatives of Nigeria are looking at Walton County as a model when it comes to strengthening dirt roads. Nigerian government leaders toured rural areas of north Walton County late last week in hopes of learning how to toughen their roads so they can withstand erosion, according to a news release from Walton County. Nigeria's Assistant Director to the Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Engineer M. Ola Akeju, spent more than a day looking at locations and reviewing equipment that the Walton County Public Works Division uses in road stabilization projects. "Just like in the United States and in Walton County, we can't afford to pave every road in Nigeria," Akeju said. "Walton County uses a process to minimize dirt road erosion, and it looks like this type road stabilization process works quite well for the people of Walton County." Nigerian government leaders are working to help farmers in West Africa get their food from the farm to the market on dirt roads to improve the nation's economy. Akeju was accompanied by Ike Onyiuke of Universal Stabilization JV Limited based in Abuja, Nigeria. Universal Stabilization specializes in road stabilization products. Walton County Public Works crews have been using a road stabilization process on many local dirt roads since 1998, according to the release. "Repairs to dirt roads are minimized when we use this process, even after hurricanes and floods," said Aaron Warren, Walton County Public Works engineer. "We're quite proud to share our road stabilization techniques with other countries." Warren said he has provided tours to other international visitors. Representatives from the Russia visited in 2008 with similar interests in stabilizing rural roads.
