RESIDENTS, ROAD USERS GROAN OVER DEPLORABLE CONDITION OF ROADS IN AKUTE, OGUN STATE

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By Aishat Momoh. O.

Residents and road users have continued to decry the deplorable condition of roads in some areas of Ogun State.

Akute-Ajuwon road is located in Ogun State but it links the state with many popular nieghbourhoods in Lagos State. The community has been affected by bad roads which is dotted with different sizes of potholes and ditches.

The condition of the road according to the residents has become a serious challenge for them as it has forced vehicles to move at snail speed as they try to meander through the myriad of potholes while others have resolved to the use of motorcycles popularly known as Okada.

Speaking with an Okada rider, who pleaded anonymity because he doesn’t want his name to be in print, he confirmed that plying the Alagbole-Akute-Ajuwon road on a daily basis is risky due to the bad road. He said it is even worse during the rainy season while adding that the transporters along the axis are made to pay huge amounts of money to road transport workers unions.

“We the transporters pay a lot of money (charges) to government but you ask yourself, what are they doing with the money,” asked the Okada rider.”

A baker, who identified herself as Ann Ada Opehi, told Hotjist on Tuesday; that many people had lost their lives to the road while others have to swim their way through the mud, adding that her business had experienced a downturn because of the poor state of the road.

“Recently, a woman’s leg was crushed by a Tipper carrying Sand, around the bad portion just by Access Bank, which eventually led to her death.”

“If the road is fixed, the tax will increase and it would even generate more revenue for Ogun State government. We don’t want patched roads. When the roads are not good, no establishments can be set up here.”

Another baker who simply identified herself as Precious, also lamented her ordeal owing to the deteriorating state of the road.

She said, “I’m also a resident of this area and I pity workers, and most especially the students because sometimes we have seen them fall into that ditch everyday.

The transporters plying this roads are complaining, thanks to the Landlords Association who have taken it upon themselves to always patch the road in order to make it motorable.”

“When rain starts falling, you can’t even walk on this road because it is flooded. How can we have customers when there is no good road for them to ply. Most of our customers don’t want to patronize us because they can’t cope with the road”.

“It has really affected our businesses, on a daily basis, we know how much sales we make compared to before. Sometimes, we have to dispose the remaining goods as they cannot be kept till the next day,” she concluded.

Meanwhile, Jimoh Ramon Olaide, who is a resident and also a car dealer, said that the roads have become deteriorated while claiming that it was the Okada Riders’ association that was on that road about three months back in order to clear the drainages for free flow of water, as when it rains, the water level is at par with the ground leading to overflow

“When it rains, the drainages overflow which causes damages to our vehicles and oftentimes causes accidents.

The bad road is from Akute-Ajuwon down to Ajuwon and Lambe, it’s not manageable at all,” he said.

Another resident, Alh. Muritala Baoku, while speaking said that he doesn’t know if efforts have been made by the residents to reach out to the government concerning the state of the road. He added that the road has done more harm than good to their vehicles.

He said, “Today it’s tyre, tomorrow it’s another thing. Even if there’s an effort made, we have not seen them.

“The resident are looking forward to a rapid response of the Ogun State government on repair of the road because it is just like a major road. Those going to Alagbole, Akute, Iju and even Pencinema ply this road and it’s difficult getting to their destinations at an appropriate time.”

They appealed that the government to come to their aid by fixing the roads and make life easier for them.