Commuters and motorists on the popular Iwo road in Ibadan, Oyo State, no longer have a nice time plying the route as erosion has washed away the road, almost cutting the expressway into two.
The damaged portion of the road is at Olodo, along Iwo road. The road connects Osun and Oyo states
We visited the place on Saturday and observed that a large section of the road had been washed away by gully erosion, leaving only a tiny section of the road for use.
It was learnt that a downpour in the state on Sunday caused a gully erosion which washed away a considerable part of the road.
A petty trader, who identified herself as Mumina, hoped the government would fix the road as soon as possible because of its importance to the socio-economic life of the two states.
A tricyclist, who gave his name as Kamo, explained that the affected portion of the road had manifested signs of weakness for some years without any corrective measure by the government until recently.
“I ply this route every day. Erosion had been eating the road from the bottom for years. There was a time some sticks were put on the road to warn drivers of the dangers lying there. Recently, a contractor came around and started working there. However, they have not been consistent; they have been epileptic with their activities,” the tricyclist told us.
He could not say if government officials had visited the place for inspection.
“We don’t have a good government. What have they been doing to fix this place? They just sit down in their office as if they don’t know what we are going through,” a woman said to herself while trekking past the narrow strip of the road available for crossing.
ROAD EARLIER AWARDED TO PECULIAR ULTIMATE CONCERNS LTD
In the last weeks of his exit from office as Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola and his Oyo State counterpart, Seyi Makinde, gathered in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, to ceremoniously flag off the reconstruction of the road.
It was then stated that each state would be responsible for the cost of reconstructing the road to the boundary line at Iwo-Lagun area: Osun State would cover the construction cost of its 55-kilometre section from Osogbo to Iwo, while Oyo State would be responsible for reconstructing the 36-kilometre long section on its own side from Ibadan to Lagun, where the two states draw their boundary line.
The two governments jointly awarded the contract to Peculiar Ultimate Concerns Limited, a local engineering company founded by Olanrewaju Adeleke, promising Nigerians that the reconstruction would be completed in 18 months. The total contract sum stood at N23.8 billion.
NEW MARKETPLACE EMERGED
Interestingly, a few days after the road became impassable for vehicles, transporters and petty traders have shifted their base to the both sides of the damaged area.
It is now a beehive of commercial activities. Commercial drivers from Iwo now stop at the Banki Olodo section of the road for passengers to disembark while drivers coming from Academy in Iwo road also stop immediately after Deeper Life bus-stop in the area. Passengers have to cross to the other side to join another vehicle to their respective destinations.
Our reporter observed that all kinds of wares, including women and men wears and foodstuff, were on display, customers checking for commodities they needed.
“I trust my people; they have converted this place to a marketplace. I wished my own shop was closer to this place, I would also have seized the opportunity,” a woman told us.
OSUN ASSEMBLY QUESTIONED THE CONTRACTOR
Osun State House of Assembly had invited the company for questioning over the slow pace of work on the road since October 27, 2022, when the flag-off took place and despite the payment of 30 percent contract sum by the previous government.
An invitation letter, dated July 17 and signed by Laide Lawal, the assembly’s director of information and public relations, on behalf of the speaker, read, “The Speaker, Adewale Egbedun, in furtherance of his constitutional duties, has directed the Managing Director/CEO of Peculiar Concerns Ltd, Mr. Olarenwaju Adeleke, to appear before the Honourable House tomorrow Tuesday, July 18, by 10am.
“He is expected to come along with his team and relevant documents that can assist the assembly in its constitutional oversight function.”
The company’s chief executive officer reportedly told the lawmakers that the project would be delivered in ten months.
Effort to get in touch with the company for comments for this story was not successful at press time. We could not find any publicly-listed lines of inquiries by the company. A source who promised to get Adeleke’s phone contact had not done so before this publication.
While at the place, we observed a stand of balloon lights, a temporary lighting used in construction work areas, and granite on the ground. There was nothing else to suggest the company was actively present at the site.
Aside from the damaged Olodo axis, some other portions of the road from Ibadan to Iwo are not in good shape, making traveling on the interstate road a nightmare.
GOVERNMENT’S REACTION
In a press release dated July 29 and sent out, Dotun Oyelade, Oyo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, assured road users that an alternative passway the government was working on would be ready on Wednesday.
According to the press release, the alternative route would start from Oki junction and terminate at Olodo garage.