The deplorable condition of internal roads has become a major source of concern for the residents of Ibadan and its environs.

It will be recalled that the State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, sometimes promised to restore normalcy on a number of major access roads in Ibadan and its environs

While the governor delivered five roads to the Ido local government, the latest being the recently commissioned re-construction of 9.23 km of Omi Adio-Ido Road, residents believed the contractors handling some other major roads had not done enough to meet the deadline set for the completion of such roads.

Amongst the roads cited by residents are the Olorunsogo-Akanran road in Ona Ara Local Government; Iyaganku GRA access roads in Ibadan Southwest local government; some access roads at Bodija in Ibadan North local government; and several others in Oluyole, Egbeda, Akinyele, and Lagelu local governments, to mention but a few.

Amongst the roads cited by residents as ongoing but too slow and far from completion stages were the reconstruction of 37.41km of Beere-Olorunsogo-Amuloko-Akanran-Dagbolu Road; the dualization of the 12.5km Challenge-Odo Ona Elewe-Apata Road; the reconstruction of 12 km of Apete-Awotan-Akufo Road into a rigid pavement road; and the reconstruction of 12 km of Apete-Awotan-Akufo Road into a rigid pavement road.

In Ona Ara, for instance, the road from Olorunsogo along Akanran being dualized by the state government has suffered neglect in recent times, fueling speculation that the contractor, Peculiar Ultimate Concerns Ltd., may have lost control of the construction works therein.

A resident, Bola Adegoke, described the works on the road on Tuesday as too slow and far from meeting the standard and the deadline set by the state government.

According to Adegoke, the construction works opposite Bovas Trailer Park and FF Gas in Aba Eku community Ona ara, amongst other locations on the main roads, have left many residents wondering when the roads would be restored for free vehicular movements.

Another resident, Prince Musliudeen Adekoya, recalled that the governor said on May 6, 2022, that “these are some of the projects that we thought, by our third anniversary, would have been completed. Yes, we are pushing, and the contractor is also pushing.

“In terms of quality, we are okay, but in terms of pace, I think they can do better. In three or four months, I believe they should be done with it. The major hold-up on the Ajia-Airport Road was the bridge we visited. They already have concrete over it and are waiting for it to keel.

“The contractors gave us the end of May, but we won’t allow them to rest,” Governor Makinde added in response to the people of Akanran’s appeal to him to hasten the project to ease the challenges they are facing as a result of the ongoing construction.

A community leader in Ona Ara, Fola Aderibigbe, said the road, which the governor said would be ready for completion since 2022, has dragged till 2024 now, with no hope in sight that the project would be completed in this new fiscal year.

Aderibigbe appealed to the Governor on behalf of the residents of Ona Ara to either terminate the contract and give it to another contractor or read the riot act to the Ministry of Public Works and the contractor handling the project.

Other commentators on the deplorable state of Ibadan roads also cited the fallout of the eighth Executive Council meeting of the Seyi Makinde administration last year (2023), where the state government approved the award of contracts to reconstruct, repair, or improve a total of 99.53 km of inner roads across Ibadan.

The state’s Commissioner for Public Works and Transportation, Professor Dahud Shangodoyin, said during the press briefing that while the Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency (OYSROMA) would handle some of the projects, others would be handled by contractors.

According to him, “OYSROMA will work on roads like the U.I. junction to Agbowo linking Ojoo-Iwo road motorway with a spur to Preboye’s world, which is 2.3 km; the Sango-Eleyele road, which is 10.6km; Zion Plaza; Olusoji Avenue linking Alao Akala motorway, which is 1.25km; a culvert at the Eleyele/Ologuneru road junction; the Eleyele roundabout; Water Corporation; Eruwa Garage road, which is 0.63km.”

The commissioner gave the total cost of the roads to be fixed by the state agency as N553,604,734.3, with a completion time of three months.

Shangodoyin added, “Also, we considered the brief on the asphaltic improvement and rehabilitation of selected roads in Ibadan. The brief is in two parts: Lot 1 and Lot 2, which have a cumulative total of 12 roads. Lot 1, which is 70.45km, consists of 10 roads and the council approved the award to Messrs KOPEC Ltd at a contract sum of N24.8bn for 12 months

“Lot 2 of this road is awarded to Ratcon Construction Company. It has 12 roads spanning 14.30km at a contract price of N1.88 billion for six months. The summary is that we approved Lot 1 and Lot 2 of 12 roads, for a total of 84.75km of Ibadan feeder roads.

“Lot 1 for Ibadan feeder roads has 10 roads on that axis: Oshuntokun, Housing Corporation, Elewure, and Awolowo Junction, and it is 2.99km. The second road on Lot 1 is Aare junction-Ashi, along Bodija road, which is 3.48km; Bodija-Oju-Irin-Ashi-Basorun with a spur to Ojoo, which is 3.45km; reconstruction of U.I. (Preboye junction)-Bodija market-Secretariat road-Beere roundabout dual carriageway, 15.53km; Government House-NTA junction-Ikolaba-JAMB office-Officers Mess-Federal Secretariat-Custom office dual carriageway, 6.13km; Queens Cinema-Dugbe-Sango-Trans Amusement park junction and 11.74km dual carriageway.

“Others are the construction of Molete (under bridge)-Oke Ado-Oke Bola-Queens Cinema-Dugbe dual carriageway, 9.3km; Iyaganku-7th Day Adventist Church-Oke Bola junction-Olubadan stadium junction-Vale College-NUJ PRESS Centre junction with spur to Total filling station-Radio Nigeria-Kobiowu Estate-Akinyemi Junction-Ring Road, 3.85km; dualization of Mile 10-Ring Road-Mobil-Challenge car park, 8.5km; General Gas junction-Kolapo Ishola-Iyana Church with spur to Dizzengorf, 5.48km. The total length of Lot 1 is 70.45km.

“For Lot 2, we have two roads, which are the reconstruction of Bus Stop-Gate-One-Beer-Jabba-Molete (under bridge) dual carriageway, 10.8 km, and Oke Adu-Ode Aje-Aremo-Orita Aperin, 3.5km. The total length of Lot 2 is 14.3km,” he added.

Observers say all these roads are still under construction and yearn for more seriousness on the part of the state government as the New Year 2024 gets underway. (Nigerian Tribune)

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