Residents of Olomore, Iyana-Sanni area of Abeokuta North local government have lamented hardship and dust haze caused by the uncompleted condition of Olomore and Iyana-Sanni Road, in the Abeokuta North Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The residents, in a protest staged their areas today, claimed that the Dapo Abiodun-led administration had neglected and abandoned the road and failed in his campaign promises to the good governance to the people of his state.
The protesting residents, including women and youths, carried placards with different inscriptions indicating the bad state of the road and adjoining streets, calling on the state government to come to their aid in completing the project the present administration started close to two years ago.
The woman leader of the community, Mrs. Adedoyin Balogun, said the gridlock caused by the road had led to the death of many residents, noting that many residents’ fenced houses had been pulled down by the recent heavy downpour of rain.
She said, “This protest is long overdue. Some of our children can no longer go to school during the rainy; the ones that go to school struggle to get there because their school buses/bike men no longer ply the road because of its bad state.
“We are suffering. About three months ago, two of our houses’ fence pulled down by downpour, due to shady job being done by the contractors, those contractors handling the project are not capable and competent enough to do it, the state government should come to our areas and see by themselves, so as to also monitor the project accordingly, especially for proper completion.
“We want the road to be fixed. We want the trucks plying this road to be diverted to another route, if it is passable, they should ply Lafenwa road instead of Olomore/Iyana-Sanni road, because they cause gridlock. We want the roads to be fully repaired before the end of the year, the dust haze has caused us many problems.”
Also, the youth President of the community, Mr. Olusanya Lookman, alleged that the government, despite being notified of the hardship, feigned ignorance of their plights, saying in a recent press briefing by the Commissioner of Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Ade Akinsanya, the question about the road was raised but refused to comment on it.
He added that the residents were determined to voice out their aggression to get a solution, saying they would vote against the ruling party of Prince Dapo Abiodun, (APC), if the government refused or failed to fix the roads.
“We are tired, we have also had a series of meetings with ourselves (communities) but we find it very difficult to get it fixed. So, the elders, women and youths in the community decided to protest. We have decided that if they don’t do the road, we will move down to the state secretariat, Oke-Mosan to register our predicaments ,” Lookman said.
