Businesses grounded as Saraki’s constituency road, others fail

The residents of the Ero Omo-Kilanko-Biada community in Ilorin South Local Government Area and Mubo Street in the Maraba area,  Ilorin East Local Government Area, all in Kwara State have lamented the deplorable condition of the roads.

They told Arewa PUNCH during a visit to these areas that the pitiable state of the roads has adversely affected their movements from within and outside the communities, thus crippling their socio-economic lifestyle.

Our investigations also showed that among others, a constituency road project undertaken by the former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki in 2017 but which was poorly executed was washed away by the rains three months after its completion.

Digging deeper, it was equally discovered that the state of many roads in the Warah-Osin in Ilorin West Local Government

Area, the Afon-Aboto, Egbejila-Airport roads and several more rural and urban roads are all begging for the state government’s attention.

The residents while making a passionate appeal through a “save our soul” message to the state governor, Mallam AbdulRaman AbdulRazaq, pleaded with the government to come to their rescue.

They disclosed that the government had yet to respond and alleviate their plight even after the series of letters written through the Ministry of Works and Transport.

A resident of the Egbejila community, Bello Salami, informed Arewa PUNCH that they had intimated the government about the worsening condition of the roads which he maintained has made movement of their goods and services a harrowing experience and emergency cases a health-threatening situation.

“We are totally cut off from the rest of the world. The state of the bad roads has made life meaningless to us as we can not interact with our business partners and activate better social contacts,” Bello stated.

He added, “So bad is it for us that dire health emergency situations are usually very life-threatening to the victims and patients, yet the government is refusing to come to the rescue. This is a government we voted into office to better our lives.”

Secretary of Ero Omo Community Development Association, Alhaji Fatai Akorede while narrating the ordeal of the community to Arewa Punch observed, “The road is  impassable as a result of the damage caused by erosion since 2017 and had not been attended to by the state government.”

According to him, “The road was a Constituency project of the former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki in 2017 but was poorly executed and was soon washed away by the rains three months after its completion.”

Akorede pointed out that the community association could not effectively rehabilitate the road and make it passable even after spending over N1m contributed by the members to make it passable. The community association soon got tired as members could no longer meet up with the additional cost of fixing the road.

He explained that the community association spent over N800,000 to buy sand and laterite to fill the pockets of potholes dotting the road to make it passable but the erosion keeps washing it away each time the repair work was done, adding, “We have written letters to the state government through the Ministry of Works but no action has been taken.

“Now, erosion has cut off the road as we can no longer maintain it. We are appealing to the governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, to come to our rescue as many of the residents, especially the vehicle owners can no longer access their homes. We are already cut off from the other parts of Ilorin the state capital,” he lamented.

Speaking in the same vein, a Community leader in Mubo Street, Maraba in Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State, Mr Godwin Banji also decried the state of the road in the community saying, “Mubo road is totally bad. I’m appealing to the government as I always do on the radio that the governor should help us.

“The road is totally bad. It ruins our vehicles. Every month, motorists in the neighbourhood spend about N88,000 each to repair our vehicles, and we equally expended more than that amount to repair that road.

“During the construction of the road, the government did not make provision for either gutter or drainage, the youth corpers’ lodge built in the area is in bad shape and has been abandoned because we couldn’t repair that road anymore. I’m appealing to the government to rehabilitate that road for us,” he pleaded.

He stressed, “Although We don’t pray for emergency, but if there is any emergency, you can never run through that place. I’m appealing to the government to help us reconstruct this road and give us drainages in order to avoid flood.

“I always say this thing on the radio every now and then whenever you hear Godwin from Lajorin, it is me. I say it every day, and I’m appealing to journalists who hear this every day, on the radio to help us. God will help you all.”

Although AbdulRazaq has refused to appoint a Commissioner for the Ministry of Works, the Commissioner he named to oversee the ministry, Mallam Abdulquowee Olododo could not be reached on his phone number for a reaction, when Arewa PUNCH contacted him.

However, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Transport, Alhaji Abdullahi Mohammed Mao, told our correspondent on Tuesday that Governor AbdulRazaq had recently approved the government’s intervention on community roads in the state.

“His Excellency has approved intervention on the rehabilitation of the community roads, and it will start very soon,” the Perm Sec assured us.