• Ibadan residents detest slow pace of construction as deplorable roads still litter city
By Taiwo Oluwadare, Ibadan
Residents of Ibadan, Oyo State, are worried over some roads in the city. This is because it is taking longer time to restore normalcy the roads.
However, Governor Seyi Makinde recently delivered five roads in Ido Local Government, including the reconstructed 9.23km Omi Adio -Ido Road. But residents believed contractors handling some other major roads have not done enough to meet the deadline.
Among the roads are Olorunsogo-Akanran Road, Ona Ara LG; Iyaganku GRA access roads, Ibadan Southwest LG; some access roads in Bodija, Ibadan North LG and some in Oluyole, Egbeda, Akinyele and Lagelu LGs.
Those ong oing but too slow included reconstruction of 37.41km Beere- Olorunsogo-Amuloko-Akanran-Dagbolu Road; dualisation of 5km Challenge-Odo Ona Elewe-Apata Road; reconstruction of 12km Apete-Awotan-Akufo Road and reconstruction of 12km Apete-Awotan-Akufo Road.
In Ona Ara for instance, the road from Olorunsogo along Akanran being dualised has suffered neglect in recent time. A resident, Bola Adegoke on Tuesday described the works on the road as “too slow and far from meeting the standard and the deadline set by government.
“The construction works opposite Bovas trailer park; FF gas in Aba Eku community Ona have left residents to wonder when the roads would be restored for free vehicular movements.”
Another resident, Prince Musliudeen Adekoya recalled that the governor on May 6, 2022, said: “These are some of the projects that we thought, by our third year anniversary, would have been completed. Yes, we are pushing and the contractor is also pushing.
“In terms of quality, we are okay but in terms of the pace, I think they can do better. In three or four months, I believe they should be done with it. The major hold-up on the Ajia-Airport Road was the bridge we visited. They already have concrete over it and are waiting for it to keel. The contractors gave us the end of May but we won’t allow them to rest.”
A community leader in Ona Ara, Fola Aderibigbe, said the road which the Governor said would be ready for completion since year 2022 has dragged till the year 2024 now, with no hope in sight that the project would be completed in this new fiscal year.
He appealed to the governor to either terminate the contract and give it to another contractor or read the riot act to the Ministry of Public Works and the contractor handling the project.
Commissioner for Public Works and Transportation, Professor Dahud Shangodoyin, had earlier said: “The Oyo State Road Maintenance Agency (OYSROMA), will work on roads like U.I junction to Agbowo linking Ojoo–Iwo Road Elxpressway with a spur to Preboye’s world, which is 2.3km; Sango-Eleyele road, which is 10.6km; Zion Plaza, Olusoji Avenue linking Alao Akala Expressway, which is 1.25km; a culvert at Eleyele/Ologuneru Road junction; Eleyele Roundabout, Water Corporation, Eruwa Garage Road, which is 0.63km.
“The total cost of the roads to be fixed by the state agency is N553,604,734.3 with the completion time of three months.
“Also, we considered the brief on the asphaltic improvement/rehabilitation of selected roads in Ibadan. The brief is in two parts – Lot 1 and Lot 2, which have a cumulative of 12 roads. Lot 1, which is 70.45km, consists of 10 roads and the council approved the award to Messrs KOPEC Ltd at a contract sum of N24.8bn for 12 months
“Lot 2 of this road is awarded to RATCON Construction Company. It has 12 roads of 14.30km at a contract sum of N1.88bn for a duration of six months. The summary is that we approved Lot 1 and Lot 2 of 12 roads with a total of 84.75km for Ibadan feeder roads.
“Lot 1 for Ibadan feeder roads has 10 roads on that axis; Oshuntokun – Housing Corporation – Elewure – Awolowo junction and it is 2.99km. The second road on that Lot 1 is Aare junction-Ashi, along Bodija road, which is 3.48km; Bodija-Oju-Irin-Ashi-Basorun with a spur to Ojoo, which is 3.45km; reconstruction of U.I (Preboye junction)-Bodija market- Secretariat road-Beere roundabout dual carriageway, 15.53km; Government House-NTA junction-Ikolaba-JAMB office-Officers Mess-Federal Secretariat-Custom office dual carriageway, 6.13km; Queens Cinema-Dugbe-Sango-Trans Amusement park junction and 11.74km dual carriageway.
“Others are the construction of Molete (under bridge)-Oke Ado-Oke Bola-Queens Cinema-Dugbe dual carriageway, 9.3km; Iyaganku-7th Day Adventist Church-Oke Bola junction-Olubadan stadium junction-Vale College-NUJ PRESS Centre junction with spur to Total filling station-Radio Nigeria-Kobiowu Estate-Akinyemi Junction-Ring Road, 3.85km; dualisation of Mile 10-Ring road-Mobil-Challenge car park, 8.5km; General Gas junction-Kolapo Ishola-Iyana Church with spur to Dizzengorf, 5.48km. The total length of Lot 1 is 70.45km.
“For Lot 2, we have two roads, which are the reconstruction of Bus Stop-Gate-One-Beer-Jabba-Molete (under bridge) dual carriageway, 10.8km and Oke Adu-Ode Aje- Aremo-Orita Aperin, 3.5km. The total length of Lot 2 is 14.3km.”