Osun promises road repairs as communities lament lost investments

The Osun State Government has assured residents of Ejigbo Local Government Area that work will soon begin on the rehabilitation of the Ibadan-Iwo-Ilawo-Ejigbo road, following complaints over the region’s deteriorating road network and missed investment opportunities.

The assurance came after the leadership of the Ejigbo Local Government Development Association expressed concerns about how bad roads had discouraged investors and hindered development in the area.

Speaking on behalf of the group during a press briefing in Ola, a town in Ejigbo, on Thursday, the association’s chairman, Mr Ademola Adeniyi, said, “The major challenge is our road. An indigene of this town wanted to bring an investment to the local government. The investors came, but because of the bad roads, they decided not to stay there. They came through the Ibadan-Iwo-Ilawo-Ejigbo road. The road is terrible and that was what discouraged them. Our priority need now is a good road.

“The lack of good roads is also a factor in the absence of commercial banks in the local government. If we have good roads, investors will come. Our people have to travel to neighbouring towns to transact.”

The Association’s leadership subsequently called on the State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, to come to the aid of the residents and fix all roads in bad condition in the area.

He also rued the absence of commercial banks in the entire local government and blamed the development on the bad condition of the roads.

Reeling out the successes recorded by the association in the last five years under his leadership, he said the group has successfully resolved the issue of poor power supply to the local government area, having transferred the source of supply from the previous Iwo to Osogbo.

The working committee then decided to choose the restructuring of electricity as the first target. Machineries were therefore put in place to relocate our electricity supply from Iwo to Osogbo, and the result has been a stable and better electricity supply to our people,” Adeniyi said.

He mentioned how the association, working with the state government, had facilitated the reopening of Ejigbo General Hospital and called on Adeleke to staff and equip the hospital as promised.

But reacting to the Association’s demands, Osun State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. Kolapo Alimi, during an interview Online stated that the repair of Iwo/Ejigbo road was part of the N159 billion infrastructure plan of the state.

Alimi, in a statement on Friday, further said other roads in the local government will also receive government attention in due course and solicited the continued support of the residents for the Adeleke administration.

He added, “The issue of staffing of the hospital, they should put their mind at rest. The government is already looking into it. Very soon, that one will be a thing of the past. Regarding the issue of road, in the Government’s infrastructure plan, Ejigbo/Iwo road has been captured there.

“It is part of the N159 billion infrastructure plan of the state. Very soon, work will commence on that road. On the other roads mentioned, we are also going to look at them. We can’t do everything at once. They should keep supporting the government. We will not let them down.”