Residents Lament Akute-Ajuwon, Alagbole Deplorable Roads After Several Failed Promises By Ogun Govt

The Ogun State Government’s failed promises to complete the Akute-Ajuwon and Alagbole-Ajuwon roads have led to a situation in which residents have to live in increasingly difficult conditions.

Despite recent work by engineers marking and levelling stretches of the roads, years of disappointments and broken promises have left the residents sceptical of the project’s completion.

It will be recalled that Governor Dapo Abiodun had promised to commence construction on the roads, but all the timelines have expired without being actualised.

On July 8, 2024, against growing public outbursts about the deplorable roads in Ogun State, Abiodun visited Alagbole-Ayaweole-Ajuwon and Akute roads to get a first-hand experience of them.

However, engineers began arriving in the area the first week of August, over a month after the governor addressed the residents concerning the completion of the roads.

Since these promises have remained a mirage, residents in the areas have continued to live in difficult conditions, coupled with the persistent inflation haunting the country.

Oladele Taiwo, a resident, told FIJ on August 7 that since the governor had continued to make and fail to honour his promises, residents had adjusted their mentality and were making prompt decisions to counter their everyday hurdles.

“We are tired of staying indoors for up to six hours when it rains, which is why we’ve been begging Dapo Abiodun to help us. But since this is his second term, he likely won’t do anything. The floods used to carry away schoolchildren, so we told everyone to halt their activities until the rain subsided.”

She also said the Ogun State Ministry of Environment had visited the road more than 10 times in the last three years with measuring tapes, yet nothing positive had been done. In this light, she hoped the government would eventually act on what seemed to have been started.

Emmanuel Oluwasanjo, a motorcyclist living in Alagbole, expressed that life is difficult during rainy periods. During the dry season, he is always involved with patching his tyres almost every week.

“I have to visit the tyre repairer week in and week out to patch my tyres, only for the rocks on the road to puncture my tyres again. Moreover, when the rocks perforate my tyres, my shock absorbers suffer too. This is why, when some engineers came here two weeks ago, I paid them no attention,” Oluwasanjo said.

Another rider, Oluwole Oyedele, who plies his trade along the Ajuwon-Akute-Alagbole axis, informed FIJ that the road’s condition had caused fluctuating bike fares, making his daily income uncertain.

Oyedele said, “If it starts raining now, bike men disappear. If there is no rain, the fare to Akute is N200. But once it rains, I charge N300.”

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Oluwasegun Sanusi

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