A harrowing trip to Eruwa

By Sola Abegunde

Before the late former Governor Lam Adesina connected Eruwa with Ibadan through Eleyele/Ido/Alako/Ilaju, the only motorable access to Ibadan was the Temidire/Idi Ope/Oloke Meji/Olowo/Omi Adio Road.

Those coming from Iganna in Oke Ogun and the three local Governments of Ibarapa who are old enough to have plied the Oloke Meji route will remember the problems we used to face then between Oloke Meji and Olowo village.

The stretch of Road between Oloke Meji, immediately after the Bridge which ran over the Odo Ogun Bridge will recollect the serious hassles travelers were made to go through at the time.

The stretch, immediately after the Bridge, if you’re coming from the Eruwa end belongs to the Ogun state Government while the stretch between Eruwa to Odo Ogun Bridge belongs to Oyo state.

The stretch belonging to Oyo state was always in good shape but the other end of the Road belonging to Ogun state was always a disaster.

Unfortunately, the stretch belonging to Ogun is more than about two thirds of the total stretch of the Road.

I believe that the inability of successive State Governments of Oyo state to get their Ogun state counterpart to commit to the rehabilitation of the Road from their end must have been the driving force behind late Governor Lam Adesina to seek for an alternative route.

I remember how we used to keep an extra wear in our bags and how we used to change our clothes behind the New Garage at Apata in those days.

There is no way you will travel on the stretch of Road between Oloke Meji and Olowo village to Ibadan during the dry season and you won’t be covered by dust from head to toe.

Travelling on the said Road during the raining seasons is no respite either.

That part of the Road is largely muddy and you have to pray that the vehicle you were traveling in didn’t get stuck in the mud.

The respite the Eleyele/Ido/Eruwa Road provided when it was opened is difficult to describe.

Travelling between Ibadan and Ibarapa and some parts of Oke Ogun became stress free and faster.

You can easily travel between Eleyele junction and New Eruwa in less than an hour at moderate speed.

We enjoyed such luxury running across the Governments of Lam Adesina, Ladoja and late Adebayo Alao Akala.

We started having issues on that Road during the first term of late Governor Ajimobi.

However, towards the end of his second term, the Road was awarded and it was done up to some meters after Okolo village in Eruwa, leaving about four or five kilometers to be completed.

By the time Governor Makinde took over in 2019, the Contractor was still on the job.

Sadly, job on the Road was stopped and that was the beginning of what will become a nightmare for the people of Ibarapa Land till today.

As I pen this piece, a trip between Ido and Eruwa is considered as a trip through hell.

It is a stretch of Road which is less than 55 klm.

On a good day, it is a trip which should not take more than 30 minutes at most but one which will take you about two hours to navigate now due to the terrible state of the Road.

Throughout Governor Seyi Makinde’s first term, calls, Appeals and sos messages were sent to the Governor concerning the terrible state of the Road.

Governor Makinde started giving one excuse or the other.

At a point, he said he has caught some thieves who embezzled the money meant for the rehabilitation of the Road and boasted that he was going to collect every last Kobo of Oyo state monies embezzled by the said thieves who stole the money meant for the completion of the rehabilitation.

It is now about five years after Governor Makinde made that revelations and boasted, beating his chest and nothing has happened to the knowledge of the public.

It is after he boasted of catching the thieves that he set up the Oyo state Anti-corruption Agency, OYSACA.

Question is, where are the thieves? Where is the money?

Despite the fact that the Governor has refused or neglected to show the faces of these thieves and or, tell us if he had recovered the alleged embezzled monies ” to the last Kobo”, the Ido/Eruwa Road has continued to suffer neglect.

When the 2023 election was fast approaching and Governor Makinde sensed danger of agitations from Ibarapa, he quickly awarded the Road from Igbole in Igboora to Igangan or is it Iganna? I can not recollect.

He also awarded the New Eruwa junction to Maya market Road, passing through Lanlate.

He awarded the New Eruwa junction end of the Ido/Eruwa Road and gave the contract to a Leader of the People’s Democratic Party, (PDP) in Ibarapa zone.

He equally awarded the same Road from the Ido end and gave to another contractor.

The people of Ibarapa Land must have fallen for this and they responded by voting for the Governor and other PDP candidates during the gubernatorial and House of Assembly election.

I must say that yours truly was sure that the Governor was not sincere about the rehabilitation of the Ido/ Ibarapa Road within the time frame he promised.

I was sure that whatever was done was just to get the votes for his second term and we warned the electorates to no avail.

I have been vindicated and sadly so. As I pen this piece, not 2 klm of the Road has been done from both ends put together.

The Iseyin/ Ogbomoso Road, the Omi Adio/Ido Road which were flagged off about same time with that of Ido/Eruwa Road have since been completed and commissioned.

I have kept wondering what malice Governor Makinde has with Ibarapa Land, most especially, Eruwa.

The New Eruwa junction/ Maya market Road passing through Lanlate which he awarded towards the end of his first term has been completed.

He equally completed the Igbole/Igangan/ Iganna Road.

You might say that the above completed Roads were a process of necessity to get votes for his second term but at least, they were done.

Unfortunately, the internal Roads within Eruwa have been isolated and also remain in a terrible state of abandonment since 2019.

The Road from New Garage junction in Eruwa passing through the Polytechnic to Oke Ola junction in Eruwa was allegedly awarded to a simbling of the Speaker , Oyo state House of Assembly by only God knows who between the Speaker and the Governor.

The contract was awarded during the first term of Governor Makinde and up till now, nothing concrete was done on the said Road.

In fact, it is a case of the deity which could not better the lots of the people who ply the Road and has chosen to make things worse for them.

The Road in question is less than a kilometer in measurement. Length and width.

The same goes for the Isaba/Alayande junction Road.

Same contractor as with the Polytechnic Road and same ugly fate.

I went to Eruwa on Tuesday the 7th of August and I saw first hand the rate at which the job on the Ido/Eruwa Road is been handled.

It says so much about the sincerity of Governor Makinde to deliver on his promises which he has failed on several times.

My biggest worries however is not the snail speed with which the job is being done on the Ido/Eruwa Road.

My worries are on the terrible state of the Roads in town and more worrisome is the more terrible state of the Roads linking our farms and villages.

Governor Makinde has been touting his resolve to link all zones in Oyo state with the state Capital as one way of promoting Agriculture.

Though, I don’t know how he can conviniently say such things about Ibarapa Land, whose only link Road he has abandoned over the years.

I also do not see how the areas he has linked with the state capital will not be hindered by the poor network of Roads within the Towns, farms and villages where Agric products are cultivated.

Governor Makinde, his appointees and acolytes hate it when you accuse the Governor of being cosmetic in his approach to important issues.

His decision to run the 33 Local Governments in Oyo state down by depriving them of their monthly Allocations for five years running now is a great disservice to whatever he thought he was doing to improve Agriculture input from local farmers.

Most, if not all of the townships Roads and the link Roads to the Farms and villages belong to the Local Governments.

There is no arguments on the fact that the Governor has been depriving the Local Governments funds to work on improving these Roads.

I can say it unequivocally that eighty percent of the farms and villages in Ibarapa East where I live and farm are no longer accessible to vehicles and I’m sure that is the case in all the rural areas in Oyo state.

There is no way this will not affect farm output considerably.

Whatever Governor Makinde gave with the right hand by linking the major Towns and cities with Ibadan in the name of opening up the state for easy transportation of farm products, he took it away with the left hand through his prevention of the Local Governments from attending to the link Roads within the farms and villages in their domains.

If farm products could not get to the towns in the rural areas, how will they get to Ibadan?

With the level and volume of production at the rural levels I don’t know how Oyo state should still be suffering from the shortages of certain Agricultural products if there are accessable link Roads to the farms and villages.

I have said a lot about Governor Makinde’s preference for Agri-business as against Agriculture.

However, it is obvious that individual local farmers are not feeling his Government in the areas of Road network in the rural areas and this is due to the ineffectiveness of the Local Governments over the years.

Let me go and take my Paracetamol. Just came back from Eruwa. I bet, anyone would need it after such a horrible Road experience.

Sola Abegunde writes from Eruwa