‘Our suffering beyond description,’ business owners, transport workers beg govt on Caretaker – Bowen road in Ogbomoso

‘Our suffering beyond description,’ business owners, transport workers, beg govt on Caretaker – Bowen road in Ogbomoso

Jeremiah OYELEKE

Business owners, transport workers, pedestrians among others have again made frantic appeals to the federal government and the Oyo state government for the repair of the badly damaged portions of the Ogbomoso major trunk A road between Bowen University Teaching Hospital (BUTH) and Caretaker areas, which connects the southwest and northern parts of the country.

The mentioned road portion’s descent into the abyss began few years ago but no real effort has been made to fix it. Only once or so has the federal government come to repair it but a shoddy job was done that within a month the decay resurfaced, often from pot holes to wide craters we now have. Other communal efforts have been executed to fix the road but to no avail. The number of heavily laden articulated vehicles – trailers, tankers, containers plying it every minute is enormous, that only top quality repair can permanently fix the road. Kraal area in Sabo used to suffer similar fate but now a thing of thing of the past.

The road in question now is totally dilapidated that businesses are affected in different sectors – trading, transportation, hawking, service providers and so on and poses danger to health, and more devastatingly, it has become a death trap with several heavy vehicles often falling when navigating the craters on the road, claiming lives with reckless abandon and triggering traffic snarl and total blockage. Moreover there is a cluster of schools in the areas, primary and secondary, thus the young children are exposed to constant danger passing the road. People are exasperated and are begging the federal and state governments to come to their aid regarding this important road that is a nerve centre of the country.

Ogbomoso Insight reporters went out again sometimes last week to speak with shop owners opposite BUTH and with commercial drivers at the adjoining area, the Seminary junction, where an intra-state motor park stands. It is cacophonous of voices begging governments to do the needful.

James Oladele, a shop owner opposite BUTH lamented, “This road has become a disaster, it daily inflicts injuries on users, claiming lives. We have spoken to many reporters concerning the road who have come at different times but we are yet to see any positive change. It is petrol tanker owners that recently put stone base in some part of the potholes but you can see the stones have almost disappeared again. We are disappointed government has failed to respond to our plight, a road less than 1km.”

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Oladele added, “We voted for them without taking money, and so we appeal to them to come to our aid, let them fulfill their own part of the contract. We have not seen any legislator, federal or state, doing any personal thing on the road. Antioch Baptist Church has tried a lot on the road, they spent a lot of money but it got damaged again. We business people here are fed up, our businesses suffer immensely, people can no longer access us. Someone passing recently said Ogbomoso used to have the best road and so lamented the situation we found ourselves today. Government should fix this road.”

For Oladele Joseph, past efforts at repairing the road have been half-hearted as he also bemoaned the unfavourable impact on their business activities. “They repaired the road in the past but it is always shoddy execution, weeks after, you begin to see potholes again. Dust and mud are a major problem for us. It is a federal road and we expect FERMA (Federal Road Maintenance Agency) to come to fix it but nothing from them. We appeal to our politicians to intervene, to help us.

“It affects our businesses. Trailers continue to kill people, containers carried by trailers do fall off on many occasions because of the wide gullies on the road. We develop runny nose every time.The road is often blocked. It is so unbearable that many have closed shops, you can see locked shops. We heard Hon Lamiju Akala is trying to get federal government attention for the road but to no avail.Obas, politicians, and other highly placed people should come to our aid, what is their importance if they could not get governments to repair a less than one kilometre road? Someone from southwest is the president, why is a southwest road that is so much important to the economy of the country in such a sorry state when we hear roads in other zones being done? We appeal to government.”

A row of shops affected by the road imbroglio

Comrade Olubisi Oyedeji, chairman Ibadan Unit of Park Management System, Seminary, asserted, “The road is now a death trap. We experience traffic holdup every day, containers fall down from trailers putting many at danger. We appeal to government to do something regarding the road. It affects us immensely, passengers couldn’t come here to board vehicles. On our part, we have done a lot by putting stone bases, but we beg government to fix the road permanently.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Makinde Nathaniel, a courier service operator, who also has his office in the axis noted the completion of the new express road (Ibadan – Ilorin), would go a long way in relieving the inner road of traffic pressure and cause any repair on it durable, just as he advocated for widening of the road in question. He said, “The major cause of damage is the ubiquitous trailers. Let them complete the new express road, it will reduce volume of traffic especially trailers on this road. Also, let them expand the road. We are tired of its many problems. Government should quickly intervene, we beg them.”

Another respondent, Adeleke Kunle said, “If federal government will not come to fix the road, let the state government do it. They know the arrangement, it primarily affects the people of Oyo state. If Oyo state government fixed the Oyo – Iseyin road, which is equally a federal road, there is no reason it cannot repair this less than one kilometre road. Governor Seyi Makinde repaired Apake to Sabo road at the commencement of his administration let him come to our aid again. Posterity will judge him well.”

With additional reports from Precious Adedokun, Isaiah Olagunju and Christopher Oyedokun

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