Poor road worsens plight of residents and motorists in Ogun communities

Residents of Aketan, a community on the Magboro Axis in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of ​​Ogun State, complain about the poor condition of a road linking the area and streets adjacent to the Lagos-Ibadan highway.

Our correspondent who visited on Monday observed that the bad road was filled with water, while vehicle owners struggled to avoid potholes in the road.< /p>

Some locals lamented the condition of the road, noting that it was abandoned by successive state administrations for some time.

They added that criss-crossing the road made life difficult for them, as commercial vehicle drivers and motorcyclists raised transport fares to take passengers to inland communities.

One ​​of the locals, Sikiru Basiru, complained that the road was one of the bad roads in the state. He added that the state government had neglected them.

Basiru said: "As you can see this is what we face in Magboro. It is not the only bad road in this part of Ogun State The state government has not reviewed the area, including the local government.''

Another resident, Yewande Isaac, noted that building roads is the duty of any government.

Isaac said, "Help us talk to the government. We are human beings in this area too. Our leaders need to know that we elected them to office and that they need to keep their promises. Building roads is part of how they can give back to society. We do not ask for money or food. The only thing we need them to do is fix this road. »

Furthermore, another resident of the community, Funke Ogunwumi, said the government had abandoned the road.

She said, "Next month will be my second year in Ogun State. This road is not good at all. It does not present the state well although it be a neighboring state to Lagos.I have been to many places in the state and observed that bad roads are general there.Is the state government not always include the projects investments such as road construction and reconstruction in its budget?"

In his comment, a pedestrian, Sola Adeleke, said: "It seems that the government of Ogun State is happy with the condition of the road. If it is happiness , we locals are not happy. This is causing us great pain. Should we talk about the transport fare that professional cyclists charge us?"

Furthermore, another resident, Akin Boboye, noted that what the community needed was a government willing to listen to the suffering of the residents.

He said, "We're the ones working here, so we know what the situation is. The road affects us. There's no need to sugarcoat the issue; our government doesn't care." 'not doing so well.''

In his contribution to the issue, Uthman Muhammed, hoped that the road would be repaired to make life easier for the residents.

A food vendor who spoke on condition of anonymity lamented that motorbike and commercial tricycle riders charge N300 instead of N100 to travel such distances.

But one of the area's commercial motorcyclists, identified only as Kabiru, said cruising the road posed a risk to him as he was spending too much on repairs.

He said the tariff had gone up because of the huge amount of money they were spending on maintaining their motorcycles.

He said, "That's also the problem we face. We spend a lot to fix our motorcycles and that's why we raise the rates."

Another motorcyclist, Olumide Thomas, also said that the amount he spent to repair his motorcycle was more than the rate he charged.

A commercial motorcyclist in the area, Dele Ijaya, explained that cruising the road was stressful even for the passengers as they had to get off the bikes to access the other side of the road due to the mud and water on the road.

Ijaya said, "There is a particular place where passengers have to get off the bike because the place is muddy and full of water. In fact, crossing to the other side will force them to take off their shoes and go barefoot."

Speaking on the development, Alamo Central Community Development Association President Biodun Falusi noted that the CDA coordinates the movement of vehicles on the road.

Falusi, who is also the social secretary of the Magboro area community development committee responsible for vehicle coordination, said the committee was made up of residents who volunteered to facilitate vehicle movements on the road, noting that their efforts have reduced traffic pressure along the route.

He said: "The road is bad and we are doing our best to control the flow of traffic. What we are here to do is we have noticed the way the road is al...