Kehinde Ayanboade
Residents of Oremeji Agugu, Apete – Awotan, Amuloko, and Sawmill areas of Ibadan, Oyo State have lamented over the state of bad roads and how it affects their daily transactions in the community.
These roads serve the area where businesses are situated in Ibadan, most of them are close to big markets where goods are sold. Business owners making use of these routes and some other roads have faced huge hardships in their business day-to-day activities. The result is always heavy traffic in which vehicles may have to stay up for an hour or more while some have no choice but to make use of other alternative routes.
Oremeji is a road network that leads to the Ibadan airport, Alagbayun, Idi Osan, Paara inu Ewe, etc. Residents in this area complain that the bridge has collapsed for over 4 months with no sign of intervention by the government. Users of this road have no choice but to use an alternative road at Ogbere Tioya. A situation that has caused difficulties for many businesses to thrive.
For months, residents and business owners in Sawmill have not found it favorable as far as their road is concerned. Residents who reside in Gbagi, Gate, Bus Stop, Ìwo Road, Akoka, Laogun, and Old Ife road generally have been facing huge tribulations on these roads as well.
Aside from the fact that the SawMill bridge serves many linking major roads in the state, this road also serves the expressway coming from Lagos. People traveling through Ibadan from Lagos or some part of Ogun State do end up being delayed when they get to this spot.
On the 26th of August, 2011, heavy rain wiped off the Apete Bridge of which many lives and property were lost. Residents had to suffer for almost a year.
With the intervention of the then Governor of the state, Late. Sen. Abiola Ajimobi and the then President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Apete residents got another bridge but the bridge is too small to serve the huge number of people that reside in this community.
The reoccurrence of heavy traffic jams has become a usual routine on Apete road and many residents had to leave their vehicles and settled for motorbikes to get to their destination.
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State approved the reconstruction of the Apete – Awotan – Akufo road which has been completed but the later approval of the construction of the Babalola bridge disrupted the easy flow of vehicles on this road.
Another bridge linking Amuloko, Akanran, Ilaji Hotel and Resorts, has been a torrent of anguish for the residents due to the late completion of assigned road construction projects.
It could be recalled that in several cases, the Executive Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde has approved the construction and renovation of some linking roads in Oyo state to further enhance easy transportation within and outside the state but the execution of these road projects is taking ages and thus affecting the people of the community.
