Jeleel Olawale
Traditional rulers in Osun West Senatorial District on Wednesday appealed to the State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola to reconstruct the dilapidated Ibadan-Iwo-Osogbo road.
They disclosed that the state of the road has affected commercial activities in the towns that lie on the path of the road as most commercial transporters have opted for other routes.
In a jointly signed communique read by the Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrasheed Adewale Akanbi, the Monarchs said the dilapidated situation of the road called for the urgent attention of the Osun Government.
According to the Monarchs, eight out of the 10 local Governments in Osun West Senatorial District, which included Ayedire, Ede North, Ede South, Egbedore, Ejigbo, Iwo, Ola-Oluwa Local Governments and Osogbo Local Government Area in Osun Central Senatorial District were all affected by the bad state of the road.
They also made reference to an earlier report in June 2022 which indicated that the Oyo and Osun State Governments had concluded arrangements to award contracts for the reconstruction of the Osogbo-Iwo-Ibadan road.
In the report, it was announced by both the Osun State Commissioner for Works, Remi Omowaiye, and his Oyo State counterpart, Kehinde Sangodoyin, that work on the Iwo-Ibadan road will commence in July.
“This same Ibadan/Iwo/Osogbo road cuts across about 10 Local Governments in Oyo State.
“Our Dear Governor Gboyega Oyetola, the main objective of this royal address is to appeal to Your Excellency not to relent in the laudable effort that you started over a year ago, and to please kindly approve the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Osogbo-Iwo road up to the Osun Oyo State boundary.
The newspaper report mentioned above quoted the Osun State Honourable Commissioner for Works, Mr Remi Omowaiye, as saying that, “the reconstruction will aid the movement of agric produce along that corridor. Oyo will construct the 29.2 kilometres stretch that falls within its boundary and Osun will do 55.4km from Dele Yes sir to our boundary with Oyo State.”
“The road is in a serious state of disrepair, full of potholes of various sizes, with parts of the road already being washed away by heavy erosion. Traffic frequency has become so low that motorists groan in pain, pains to their bodies and vehicles.
“So many commercial transporters, especially those plying OSOGBO to IWO and vice versa, have been deprived of their vehicles because they have to keep repairing the vehicles due to the damages being impacted on the vehicles requiring heavy costs to repair each time. So, several of them have had to park the vehicles at home or abandoned them at mechanic workshops.
“This painful state of the road has equally affected commercial activities in this area as so many vehicles have abandoned the road for Osogbo.”