Residents of Magboro, Makogi, Sefu and Abule Oba, in the Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, say the main road that links the communities has become a burden they can no longer endure.
They lamented the deplorable state of the road since its construction was abandoned in 2014, adding that many residents had relocated as a result of hardship caused by the road.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the road, which stretches from Magboro to Ilu Oba, is about 7.5 kilometres long. However, only about 2.2km of its drainage had been done.
A resident of Makogi, Kehinde Joseph, said, “The road has become a nightmare. It is now worse than the way the government left it. And that is why a lot of people are moving out. If the road is good, we will have hospitals, schools and many investments here.”
Another resident, who identified himself only as Deji, said the situation had also affected security in the areas.
“There was a night robbers attacked a woman and he called the police from the Ibafo division. It was difficult for the police to reach here and the robbers had a field day. A lot of people have died on this road during emergencies,” he added.
The Chairman, Ibafo Sector 3 Community Development Committee, Mr. Rotimi Afolami, said a communique had been signed by the representatives of residents of the affected areas to carry on with the road project as government was not forthcoming.
The communique read in part, “The Magboro Development Associations in conjunction with the council of baales convened a town hall meeting of all Magboro residents, its environs and all stakeholders to take very crucial decisions on the deplorable state of the Magboro main road.
“We resolved to carry out palliative measures and construction on the road. Car owners are to pay an annual levy of N5,000 and be issued a sticker; okada riders are to pay N1,500 each per annum; Keke Marwa riders are to pay N2,000 each annually; articulated vehicles to be issued tickets of between N500 and N1,000 per trip; sawmill and notable cement companies are to pay N25,000 annually. All schools are to pay an annual contribution of N10,000 each and N5,000 for each school vehicle.”
A member of the committee, Alhaji Owolabi Akeem, said, “Our suffering on this road informed this initiative. The project was approved by the Ogun State Government in August 2012 and we were promised that it would be completed within nine months. The contractor was on it for about two years and left.
“Initially, when the contractor stopped the work about two years ago, we made an enquiry from him on how much it would take us to complete the project, and he said between N250m and N300m. But with the situation of things in the country now, we were told we are going to spend close to N1bn for a perfect project. The contributions will start on September 1.”
The Ogun State Commissioner for Works, Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, said lack of funding was responsible for the delay of the project.
He said, “A lot of states are struggling to pay salaries. All the funds we generate now are used for paying salaries. We hope that things will improve soon and we will be able to go back to the project.”
Copyright PUNCH.
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