Being an ardent reader of this newspapers, I wish to air my view on
this widely read daily newspaper. The problem of bad roads in the
country has become an embarrassing stigma, especially in Ibadan, Oyo
State, the dirties city in Nigeria.
To start with, vehicle owners are in anguish as their vehicles are not
used optimally. Most people, including my parent, prefer the go on
commercial vehicles rather than his own personal car. Most of us leave
from hand to mouth, thereby; there is no room for unnecessary
profligate spending. The very many potholes mean that vehicles keep
breaking down, so that on many of Nigeria's roads, emergency mechanics
have sprung up to assist stranded commuters, sometimes with disastrous
consequences. The road at Olorunshogo area of Ibadan is so bad that
most vehicles using that road invariably retire to a mechanics workshop
at the end of every journey.
However, most workers are being threatened with sack due to lateness,
which is being caused by the delay at Olorunshogo area of Ibadan. The
queue extends to Oremiji and Muslim Areas, both along the arterial
highway. Transporters are hurting and are bewildered that despite their
payment of all road taxes to the Federal Government and to the state
and local governments, little is being done to repair the roads upon
which their livelihood depends.
In addition, commuters are in trouble, whether in the city of Ibadan or
on interstate highways, as bad roads make it impossible to plan a
journey or predict arrival time. These things happening in a country
where there are several agencies, including the Federal Ministry of
Works responsible for the construction and maintenance of roads. Every
state and local government is charged with the responsibility of
construction and maintenance of roads. In Oyo State, I do not think we
have any State agencies, even if we have, I do not think they are
functioning as expected.
Moreover, a country where we have a president, state governors and
local government chairmen, still everyone is putting the blame on one
another. The President will say this or that road is not a Federal
Road. The State Governor will say it is a Federal Road, while the Local
Government Chairman will say so and so road belongs to the state
government. Then, who is deceiving who? Are we not deceiving ourselves?
I believe when one (the masses) is being pushed to the wall, a time
will come, which has almost come in Ibadan, as it is in Niger-Delta
today, when you will decide to turn and face the person or people
pushing you. We need mutiny.
More so, there is the problem of erosion impacting on the road network.
Whole sections of our roads are being washed away by erosion and poorly
planned or non-existent drainage system. There are many streets in
Ibadan that have marred roads. Governor Akala, are these road still
managed by Federal Government? Most buildings are built without proper
planning. Most houses are built without considering road expansion,
which may occur in the nearest future. Nigerian roads are not designed
for expansion. The Lagos-Ibadan expressway, for instance, can do with
further expansion. Corporate organisations should also assist in
managing our roads as part of their social responsibility.
The lack of maintenance of roads in Nigeria has become a public issue
as Nigerians are daily lamenting this failure of leadership. Good roads
are a basic component of good governance. Nigerians are routinely being
put at risk everyday as a result of the failure of the state to provide
adequate amenities for its citizens. All the authorities involved in
road construction and maintenance should buckle down and do something
to remove this blot on Nigeria 's image. Due to bad roads, a lot of
innocent souls have been lost.
The federal government at least on paper has voted huge amount of money
for the rehabilitation of our road network. Previous federal ministers
of Works have assured that contracts had been awarded, but nothing
concrete ever happens on the ground. The state governor, Otunba Adebayo
Alao Akala should look into this and take an urgent step towards
ameliorating the condition. EFCC should be persuaded to look into what
happened to the billions allocated for road works. This matter is
important because our country cannot develop with rickety
infrastructure and will not succeed in attracting direct foreign
investment or tourism when things are this bad. Ibadan is disgracing
the entire nation.
