Residents call for help from lawmaker over bad road in Ogun

The bad road. Photo: Johnson Idowu

Residents of communities along Arigbawo Road in the Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State have asked the lawmaker representing Ogun West Senatorial District, Olamilekan Adeola, to help with the construction of their main link road.

They made this appeal during a community meeting on Sunday, June 21.

The communities said the meeting was in response to a public statement allegedly made by the senator about the road’s construction. They claimed this statement did not match their reality.

Community leaders mentioned that residents raised about N15 million to do some temporary repairs on the road after it became very bad.

At the meeting, the Chairman of the Obafemi-Owode Zonal Community Development Committee, Adeleke Gboyega, said the road serves about 340 communities. He said residents have always taken care of the road and that recent public comments did not reflect their situation.

He noted that the meeting aimed to clarify things among residents who had contributed to the road's upkeep. He said, “The essence of this important meeting was the video that went viral last week. When our incoming governor, His Excellency Senator Solomon Olamilekan, said this road, Arigbawo Road, is the one that he is constructing.

“We know him as a man who does wonders, even before becoming the governor. He has built over 115 roads, and when he mentioned this road, we began to look at ourselves, thinking somebody within us had gone behind our backs to divert this project to another location.

“The community has spent a total sum of N15 million on this road, which we have been maintaining every year. This is only half of the year, yet we have spent this much. We felt we should come together to find out, before meeting the senator, what transpired for him to make this announcement that he is embarking on the construction of this road.”

Adeleke stated that the bad state of the road has affected business activities. He added that fixing the road would help commerce in the area.

He urged the senator to consider reconstructing the road as he had mentioned. Speaking for the traditional chiefs, their spokesperson, Olalekan Oyenekan, said traditional leaders and landlords had worked together to keep the road usable.

He explained that the communities knew the road was not under the senator’s control, but since he mentioned it, they believed he would help them with its reconstruction. Oyenekan said, “We know that our incoming governor may not be able to come here immediately, but we want him to know that the people he may have assigned the road project to have yet to commence work.

“We are appealing to him; we are not fighting him. He should please come to our aid on this road.”

In his speech, the Chairman of Arigbawo CDC, Okeowo Adeshina, said many residents had to move away because of the bad road condition. He noted that Olamilekan’s comment surprised them and offered hope to the communities.

He added that the measures taken by the communities were only temporary fixes that could not last. “The condition of the road has forced some residents to relocate and affected businesses operating along the corridor.

“We believe that once the road is reconstructed, people will return, investments will increase, and commercial activities will pick up again,” he said.

The Chairman of Omu-Aleku Area CDC, Oseni Monsuru, complained that the poor road condition often led to longer travel times for residents. He said, “This road we are talking about is 5.1 kilometres long. It is a state road that links to a federal road. All the communities here have been working together to maintain it.

“What we want is for our incoming governor to let us feel his impact in our community. We hope that by next month, work on the road will commence.”

Efforts to get a response from the senator's spokesperson, Kayode Odunaro, were unsuccessful as he had not replied to enquiries at the time of this report.