By Olakunle Olafioye
Ado Odo-Ota is Ogun State’s most industrialized Local Government Area. But the commercial hub is gradually becoming a metaphor for neglect, no thanks to the deplorable state of the roads and decaying infrastructure, which dot the length and breadth of the local government area.
Residents and motorists plying major roads within the local government area, penultimate Wednesday, teamed up with the members of the Ogun State chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, to protest the poor state of the roads in the axis.
The protest, which was preceded by a-21 day ultimatum by the NLC, was the third protest to be staged within the local government area in a space of one month.
Residents of Ayetoro, Binukonu, Lafenwa, Egbejoda and Itele-Awori communities all in Ado-Odo Ota had staged a similar protest on October 18, in an attempt to draw the attention of the state government to the plights of the people who reside in these communities.
The protests are responses to years of neglect, which the residents claimed had not only resulted in untold hardship, but has also continued to impact negatively on their livelihood.
The protest by these communities came barely two weeks after the NLC had occupied the Joju/ Sango axis of the Lagos Abeokuta Expressway on October 6, 2021 during which the union handed down a 21-day ultimatum to the state government to fix the roads or face the wrath of the union.
Bordered by Lagos, Ado-Odo/ Ota is regarded as the local government with the highest number of industries, a fact which makes the local government the largest contributor to the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, IGR.
But despite its economic potential, residents say there is little or nothing to show for it.
When Sunday Sun visited some of the communities within the local government area last week, the residents and motorists were unanimous in the demand for the rehabilitation of the roads in and around the local government.
At Ilogbo-Iwoye, a community leader, who identified himself as Alhaji Rasaki Sanyaolu, bemoaned the state of the road which links the community to Ota town, describing it as worrisome and a major bane to the development of the area.
“It is heartbreaking to note that the state government has refused to do anything to ameliorate the suffering of the people living in communities in Ado-Odo Ota Local Government. Right from Ojuore where you connect Ilogbo there is no respite for road users especially during the rainy season. I am sure you have seen the condition of the roads leading to Ilogbo. The horrible state of the road coupled with impatience on the part of some commercial motorcyclists had resulted in several accidents on this road. We are really not happy that the state government has decided to treat us this way,” he lamented.
The story is not different at Itele, a border community with Ipaja-Ayobo LCDA in Lagos, where residents claimed that the neglect which Ogun communities in the area have been subjected to had resulted in hardship for the residents, making many to consider relocating to Ayobo/ Ipaja in Lagos.
An estate agent in the community, Mr Babatunde Oladele told Sunday Sun that the proximity of Itele to Lagos put the community at a vantage position to reap a lot of economic benefit from Lagos. Regrettably, however, he pointed out that the pitiable state of infrastructure particularly the state of the roads in the community has made that elusive.
According to him, “sharing a common boundary with Lagos, ordinarily, ought to be a major advantage because people who cannot afford the prohibitive rents in neighbouring Lagos communities like Ipaja, Ayobo, Egbeda can easily move to Itele, but the poor conditions of the roads in communities around Itele has made it impossible for them to come over. Rather, it is the other way round; those who are already here are the ones relocating to Lagos communities around this area.”
Residents of Egbejoda, Lafenwa and Ayetoro also have similar tales of woes to tell over the poor state of roads in their respective communities.
These communities had teamed up with other neighbouring communities to protest the deplorable state of roads in their respective communities a fortnight ago. The communities had called on the state government during the protest to fix the roads in their respective communities.
A resident of Lafenwa, Mr Raheem Lawal blamed the neglect of major roads in and around Ado-Odo/Ota on bad politics, accusing the governor of playing politics with the wellbeing of those who elected him into office.
“The state governor has no justification for abandoning a local government as veritable as Ado-Odo/Ota. It is obvious from his body language that the governor is only playing politics with the wellbeing of the people of Ado-Odo/ Ota. It is high time he sat up to face his duties and justify the mandate given to him by the good people of the state. There are lots to be done on road infrastructure, but which remain undone. Why not emulate Governors Sanwo-Olu of Lagos who completed his predecessor’s projects?” Lawal asked.
Sunday Sun gathered that the poor state of the roads made many vehicle owners to abandon their vehicles to resort to patronizing commercial motorcyclists otherwise known as Okada riders.
A community leader at Lafenwa, Pastor Paul Akinsola, said that several communities in the area have been rendered unmotorable, thereby leaving the people of the area at the mercy of commercial motorcyclists.
According to him,“a good number of roads in this community are not motorable so our people have been restricted to embrace the option of commuting with commercial motorcycles. In most cases, the motorcyclists have to resort to making detours, which under normal situations, are unnecessary and time wasting, before they get to their destinations.”
Akinsola was also quick to point out that the option of commuting with commercial motorcycles also came at a huge price. According to him, most residents have sad stories to tell about Okada.
“A lot of our people are getting injured not only due to the fault of the riders, who most times have to take dangerous risks, but also largely due to the dangerous shape of the roads. The situation is far worse during wet season,” he said, amid appeal to the government to come to the rescue of the people of the local government.
However, in a reaction to the protest which greeted the government’s failure to hearken the cry of the union, the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, expressed his disappointment over the protest, describing the development as an attempt to paint the state in a colour that does not represent what the state stands for.
The governor’s reaction came while speaking during a virtual meeting with representatives of Ogun East Senatorial District on the 2022 budget, held at the Governor’s Office, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta. According to him, “the attempted demonstration in Sango-Ota today is most unfortunate. Some people take delight in painting our state in a colour that does not represent our state.
“Ota is very important to us. The first set of roads by this administration was in that local government. The most expensive road; that is the Atan-Agbara road is in the Local Government. Ogun and Lagos governments have made attempts to get the Federal Government release the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road to us for reconstruction, but no response. I have called on several occasions to the Federal Government to give attention to the road. That road did not just get bad in the last two years.”
He called on the people to stop playing politics with issue affecting the lives of the people, saying that N75 billion would be needed to rebuild the road, declaring that the state does not have such money.