'6 wks promised, but now 8th wk,' residents to Gov Makinde on Ogbomoso roads

‘6 wks promised, but now 8th wk,’ residents to Gov Makinde on Ogbomoso roads

Ƙhalid ABRAHAM

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Without duress, Oyo state governor Engr Seyi Makinde on September 30, 2025, during a courtesy visit to the palace of the Soun of Ogbomosoland Oba Ghandi Afolabi Olaoye announced gleefully that in six weeks, work would commence on the general rehabilitation of roads in Ogbomoso metropolis.

The governor went ahead to announce the specific roads to fix, twenty two in all, covering the two local governments within the metropolis – Ogbomoso North and South. Expectedly, the pronouncement sparked widespread joy – and the reason for this is not far-fetched, the uncomplimentary state of roads in the town makes driving through them hellish. “You can hardly see a single motorable road in Ogbomoso presently, they are all riddled with potholes and are badly gullied,” a resident, Akindele Salman told ogbomosoinsightonline.com last week. “So, when His Excellency made that promise out of his own volition, not under duress, it was received with joy. We didn’t expect the fulfilment would tarry beyond the 6th week he gave, it is now the 8th week, but l am not losing hope, it might be due to few bottlenecks.”

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2 days after Gov Makinde promised rehabilitation of Ogbomoso inner roads, contractors move in

Governor Makinde is in his 7th year as Chief Executive Officer of the state, inexplicably, execution of infrastructural facilities like internal roads, has been limited to Ibadan, the state capital, where incidentally he hails from. Local governments have been crippled financially and administratively, lacking the wherewithal and power to execute road projects, which was not how it used to be. “Ordinary culverts now, local governments in the state have no capacity to construct, this is because of the notorious joint allocation account being operated with the state government, which solely favours the latter. The consequence is widespread damage of intracity roads across the state, outside the state capital,” a council worker who begged for anonymity told Ogbomoso Insight.

However, a source close to the government assured the project would be executed, saying the contractors – Kopek Construction Ltd and Craneburg Construction Company – have been given a larger percentage of the funds needed. “But people need to understand that the contractors have projects elsewhere and would have to round off, tidy up in those places before moving to Ogbomoso. I can assure the Ogbomoso project would soon commence. In fact, this is the perfect time, the rains are gone.”

Governor Makinde, the Ogbomoso residents say in unison, “Come and fulfil your solicited but unforced promise. We wait for your intervention on our roads.”