By Rebecca Opaluwa
Many residents of Akure, Ikara-Akoko, Owo and other communities in Ondo State are in an optimistic mood. According to them, if the state government can faithfully implement this year’s budget, many of the bad and collapsing roads in the state could be considerably addressed.
Some of the roads to be executed this year, according to the new budget presented to the House of Assembly by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, include turning Ikare township roads into dual carriageways; completion of the dual carriageway of Owo township roads; construction of Oke-Ogba community road, Akure; rehabilitation of Igbara-Oke-Ibuji to Ondo/Ekiti State boundary; rehabilitation of roads in Isarun in Ifedore Local Government Area; dual carriageway of Akure-Iju-Ita-Ogbolu to Ondo/Ekiti State boundary; construction of a fly-over (interchange) at Ore Junction; rehabilitation of selected roads in Odigbo; rehabilitation of selected roads in Okitipupa and the rehabilitation of selected roads in Igbotu and Igbobini, among many others.
For Ondo and Ekiti residents, traversing the Akure-Ado Ekiti Road, which ordinarily should not last more than 45 minutes, has, for years, been a tortuous exercise. The road has completely collapsed, and the journey now takes hours. The federal government has abandoned the road, and criminals have taken over the stretch. Many are waiting with bated breath to see if Akeredolu would make the road a priority this year.
“I pray that the Ondo State governor will do these things that he promised. Although I am in Ekiti, I am interested in his promise to fix the Akure-Iju-Ita Ogbolu Road. That is the road that leads to Ado-Ekiti. It is so bad now. I know people that have been kidnapped on that road before,” said Janet Ojo, a student of the Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti.
Many people in Ondo are also excited about the proposed construction of a new access road to Idanre, the dualisation of Ikare township road and the construction of an overhead bridge in Ore.
Indeed, these projects, when completed, will further open up the state to investors, while also cementing its position as the agricultural hub of the South West.
It was gathered that N15 billion has been set aside in the 2018 fiscal year for the projects.
A political analyst, Dr. Kayode Fafisibe, said the 2018 budget presented by the governor was a masterstroke that would carve his name in the roll-call of leaders who came and impacted positively on the state. He is particularly happy about the construction of a new access road to Idanre. According to him, the town, aside from being a popular tourism destination, is becoming the headquarters of cocoa farming and production in the state.
“The construction of a new road to Idanre is one of the best decisions any government can make. It is a confirmation of the promise by Governor Akeredolu to open up the state to agriculture by constructing access roads to all major towns and villages. This will no doubt boost the economy of the state by making agriculture attractive to young farmers,” Fafisibe said.
Many have also commended the decision to put up a flyover at Ore. Right now, Ore, a popular intersection between the South-West and South-East, is always bogged down by gridlocks, and travellers to the South-East and South-South sometimes spend hours in the traffic. A flyover on the busy highway would eliminate or reduce the traffic, many Ondo residents believe.
A commercial transport operator who plies the Akure-Ondo-Ore-Okitipupa route, said: “The construction of a flyover at Ore is something that sounds good in the ear. It is something that one has been expecting for a long time. That is one facility that can put an end to all these gridlocks that we witness daily on the road.”
Ikare Akoko is generally regarded as the headquarters of Akokoland. Unfortunately, the state of the town’s roads has been anything but edifying. The proposed dualisation of roads in the town is, therefore, a sweet song to the ears of people in the area.
The lawmaker representing Akoko North East and Akoko North West Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Friday Olemija, described the proposed work on the roads in Ikare-Akoko as fulfilling. He noted that the project would further open up Akokoland to development.
He said the people would keep singing the governor’s praise, if the roads were done as promised in the budget.
“This is perhaps the best thing to happen to us. I am so happy that, in our lifetime, the roads in Ikare would be dualised. This is a confirmation of the change mantra of our party and the good and honest intention of our governor to develop Ondo State and leave it better than he met it,” Olemija said.
“These projects, spread across the three senatorial districts of the state, are proof of the governor’s promise to the people not to leave any part of the state untouched in his developmental strides. It is also a distant departure from the past when leaders concentrated projects in particular sections of the state, leaving other parts to suffer.
“That was the trademark of some leaders in the past, they developed their own towns and areas, and neglected other parts of the state. This is a good development, and I think the governor deserves some commendation for this selfless act,” Fafisibe said.
Speaking at the presentation of the budget, Governor Akeredolu informed the lawmakers and the people of the state as a whole that the Appropriation Bill, tagged “Budget of Progress” and totalling N171.268 billion, contained N81.521 billion for recurrent expenditure and N68.096 for capital expenditure.
He lamented that the state’s economy was in a shambles when he assumed office but assured the people that the budget was designed to achieve stability and consolidation, among other strategies, in order to create a solid base for growth and development.
He also recalled that his administration has worked on a number of roads in the state, including the completion of the 2.5 km Jubilee-Ugbe Road, completion of Ogbon-Omo Road, Igbadara Road, Howlet Road and Ajegunle Road in Ifon, while work was ongoing on many other roads.