FG awards rehabilitation of old Ogbomoso – Oyo road, contractor begins work
Khalid ABRAHAM
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Relief appears in the horizon for the residents of Ogbomoso, Oyo state, as the President Bola Tinubu-led administration has awarded the contract for the rehabilitation of the old Oyo – Ogbomoso road, which has become a death trap.
Stretches of the road within the Ogbomoso metropolis have become badly damaged causing constant gridlocks as a result of the thousands of heavy duty vehicles that ply the road daily.
Its deplorable condition has engendered a lot of fatal accidents within and without the metropolis, paralyzed economic activities and ignited nightmarish experiences.
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Residents however did not keep quiet, they engaged in constant agitations raising strident alarm on the road in various media and calling attention of the federal government to come to their rescue.
“Our prayers on the road have been answered. We thank God and we thank President Tinubu for hearkening to our cries,” a resident, Babatunde Ajala, told ogbomosoinsightonline.com, when he saw rehabilitation work had commenced.
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When the site (the stretch in the front of The Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary) was visited by ogbomosoinsightonline.com Monday afternoon the Abuja- based construction firm, HMF Construction Limited, has already commenced work.
One of its officials who however spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press said the company is committed to completing the work within a short time.
He disclosed the contract covers Winners Roundabout Ogbomoso to Oyo metropolis assuring that in the next three weeks the stretch within Ogbomoso city would be completed in order to restore free flow of traffic as quickly as possible.
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The official similarly expressed confidence quality work would be executed when told that about three years ago a similar repair was undertaken but that the road did not last before degeneration set in again.
“We are going to deliver quality work,” he stated. “Before Christmas the portions within Ogbomoso would be completed. We have brought state – of – the – art equipment, most of which are new.”
In the meantime, heavy duty vehicles otherwise known as trailers (and tankers) have been stuck and formed long queues on either side as there are no alternative routes for them to take.
Many of the passengers of the trailers were seen disembarking and trekking towards Ibadan/Lagos axis with the hope of joining other vehicles on the other side.
“We are fed up,” one of the Hausa men responded. “We will join another vehicle on the other side we can’t wait again,” he added, as he hurried to keep pace with his colleagues who hastily walked away.
Babatunde Ajala now added, “We pray a good job will be done this time around. And after this or as they do this, they should award the contract for the completion of the new highway (Ibadan – Oyo – Ogbomoso – Ilorin) too, which is less than ten kilometres incidentally also within the Ogbomoso axis. Through that pressure on the old road will reduce and it will have a longer shelf life.”
