Ondo communities protest against bad road
…Seek Akeredolu’s intervention
By Akintunde Jacobs, Akure
Residents of four communities in the Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State, have protested against the poor condition of their major access road which according to them has impacted negatively on their standard of living.
Scores of residents, who were armed with placards with various inscriptions including, “We are communities of over 3,000 families. “We need road urgently,” “Mr Gov. A wa lokan” “Our cars are crying for help,” “Aketi please, come to our rescue,” “Aketi, we are for you,” “Let us be part of the giant strides in road network in Ondo State,” among others, sought the attention of the Ondo State government in fixing the roads.
The communities were Graceland Estate, Grace Garden City, God’s Ownland and Bethel Estate, all in Oba-Ile, Akure North Local Government Area of the state.
Addressing journalists on Monday, during the peaceful protest, Martins Popoola, Chairman, Graceland Estate, explained that for the past 10 years, the residents had relied on self-help by contributing funds to maintain the roads without any help from the state government.
Popoola, who said that the residents were aware that Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was working on infrastructure, especially roads, across the state, said if the road were fixed, it had the capacity to decongest and reduce pressure on the road linking the airport.
He said, “We have heard that he has approved reconstruction of the roads but there is no fund to back it up. But we are begging him to take money out of no money, as he has done in other places, to please fix the roads.
“We are expanding everyday, it is the road that is holding us back, this road is very important to our lives and property. The property value would have gone double if not for the bad roads.
“We have minimum of 3,000 families in the communities and this roads link from Oba-Ile to SIB, to Airport and even Alagbaka. If it is fixed, it will also improve the socioeconomic life of the state.”
Speaking in the same vein, Oladele Aliu, Chairman, God’s Ownland, appealed to the state government to fix the road for the betterment of the residents in the areas.
“Mr Governor has been doing major roads across the state, especially in places such as Ikare-Akoko, Okitipupa, Akure and Owo, among others.
“So, we are pleading to Governor Akeredolu to come to our assistance and help us fix these roads because our cars are getting spoilt day by day and things are getting expensive,” Aliu said.
