Olubadan Seeks Construction Of Rail Along Ibadan Circular Road

The Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rasidi Ladoja, has called for the construction of a rail system running parallel to the Circular Road to complement the transportation of goods and materials along the industrial hubs.

The monarch stated this when he received the Circular Road Stakeholders Engagement Committee set up by the Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, to look into the grievances of those protesting against the planned corridor for the 110-kilometre-long road infrastructure who paid him a courtesy visit at the Oke Aremo Palace to brief him on the activities of the committee and seek royal guidance on how to prosecute its assignment successfully.

He also advised the state government to install weighbridges on the road to ensure they would last their design lifespan.

Oba Ladoja, who acknowledged that his administration as Oyo State governor made the original acquisitions of 75 metres left and 75 metres right of the road, said it paid off compensations to owners of the acquired lands.

He said that he had earlier met with Governor Makinde, who briefed him on the extension of the corridor to 500 meters by the immediate past administration, which was the current bone of contention by the agitators, and further advised the governor on exploring a win-win solution to the issue.

While Oba Ladoja acknowledged that the potential of the Circular Road for the socio-economic development of Ibadan and Oyo State was not in doubt, he emphasised that those whose properties would be affected by its implementation should be adequately and promptly compensated, taking into account prevailing economic realities.

He pointed out the prevalence of land speculators along the Circular Road axis, urging the operatives of OYNTCDA and other concerned Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to safeguard unsuspecting members of the public against falling for their antics.

While explaining the mission of the committee, the chairman, Engr. Abduljelyl Adekunle Karheem credited the committee’s inauguration to Makinde’s pronouncement during his direct interface with the anti-Circular Road corridors protesters on November 26, 2025, that he would set up a broad-based ad-hoc committee to further engage them, look into their grievances, and advise the Government based on its findings.

Karheem who is the Mogaji Adanla praised the revered monarch for his foresight of envisioning the Circular Road project and making the first bold move of acquiring land for it, which had culminated in the gigantic strides being taken by Makinde’s administration to bring it to fruition.

Elaborating on this, the executive adviser to the governor on New Towns and Cities Development, Mrs Mofoluke Adebiyi stated that the committee started out by holding an inaugural meeting with the 14-man team representing the affected persons across the six LGAs (as selected by themselves), after which it set out on on-the-spot assessment visits to the impacted communities, meeting with the affected people, and taking note of community-by-community peculiarities vis-à-vis the Governments policy statements.

Adebiyi added that the committee had so far visited Oluyole, Ona Ara, Akinyele, and Ido LGAs, while its visits to Egbeda and Lagelu LGAs were scheduled for the same day after the meeting with the Olubadan.