Residents, motorists and travellers who live and ply roads in Ogun boundary communities have lamented the deplorable state of the roads.
The residents and motorists who spoke with LEADERSHIP Sunday in separate interviews lamented continual neglect of the roads by Ogun State and its agencies for years in areas like Akute-Lambe, Mowe-Ofada, Agbado-Oja, Sango-Ota-Idiroko and Ifo-Ewekoro roads, among others.
Motorists plying those routes expressed dismay that the government of Ogun State has paid lip service to their several complaints as many of the roads have become death-traps due to the rainy season which has begun in earnest.
Our correspondent who visited Akute community, a border town between Lagos and Ogun states saw dilapidated and abandoned roads where the people and its community leaders have tried to salvage so that it doesn’t worsen and get completely impassable.
A community leader, Chief Oladapo Shomoye told LEADERSHIP Sunday that the roads in his community were in dire conditions as the efforts seen to patch up the roads were made by community members.
Shomoye who is the head of Community Development Council (CDC) of Akute Area said that efforts to reach out to the Ifo local government, state government and its agencies have been met with passive action as the much-needed development in road repairs, presence of social amenities and completion of abandoned projects are absent in the area and this according to Shomoye is symptomatic of several boundary communities in Ogun State.
“Our state government seems to have abandoned us. We have written letters, visited the Ifo local government and met with the chairperson, Hon Kikelomo Aridunnu Delano as recent as January 2024 on the state of Akute-Ajuwon Road which has suffered neglect by the state government and its agencies. But we do not see positive results as it’s all promises and promises,” Shomoye said
Another leader and ex-military officer, Chief Babajide Ola Jaiyeoba, lamented that Akute-Ajuwon road and by large Akute community and its environs has suffered neglect and lives and properties have suffered in this regard.
Jaiyeoba who is an octogenarian is of the opinion that the state government which should rise to the occasion is overwhelmed by the road constructions and works to be done in every senatorial district, adding that governance is all about making life better and improving the living conditions of residents and people but this is not so.
Head of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Chapter 2, Wasiu Ogundipe bemoaned the torrid state of the Akure-Ajuwon Road, adding that 12 public vehicles parked at the garage were in serious bad conditions and would need funds to get them back on the road.
“We are begging the state governor, Dapo Abiodun to help us look into this and fix Akute roads as we transporters are suffering and cannot eke out a good living because of money we have to use for repairs. As the rain is here now, we have to get truckloads of sand with the assistance of the CDC chairman and try to level the area on the five kilometre-road in need of palliative measures else no vehicle can pass the road and not get damaged,” he said.
A motorist and resident of Ota-Idiroko Road, Seyi Olayiwola appealed to the state and local governments to also consider the communities in border areas in its infrastructure development plans.
Olayiwola who works on the island stated that the Ogun State government needs to wake up and invest in infrastructure in many areas of the state and complete abandoned projects started by the previous government.
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