Elder statesman and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola (SAN), has appealed to the Federal Government to urgently rehabilitate the Ado-Ijan-Ilumoba-Ikole Road in Ekiti State, describing its condition as deplorable and impassable.
Babalola said the road was critical to the movement of people and goods across several communities in the state and also provided access to key institutions and facilities, including ABUAD and the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport.
In a statement issued in Ado Ekiti on Wednesday and titled, ‘An Appeal to the FG to Revisit the Road Leading to ABUAD’, the elder statesman said the Federal Government needed to take immediate action on the road.
“Something must be done about this road, and the time is now,” he said.
Babalola listed several major institutions and facilities located along the road, including ABUAD, ABUAD Multi-System Hospital, the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti, the Ado Ekiti campus of the National Open University of Nigeria, the Federal Government-owned multi-million-naira silo and the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport.
According to him, the road has suffered years of neglect, leaving it in a condition that has made movement increasingly difficult.
“This all-important road has been neglected for several years, a development which has rendered it impassable,” he said.
Babalola said he had made several representations to the Federal Government and relevant agencies over the years, seeking the rehabilitation of the road, but claimed that his appeals had not yielded the desired result.
He recalled that ABUAD, as part of its corporate social responsibility, spent billions of naira between 2010 and 2019 on the repair and maintenance of the road and the old Ureje Bridge.
He said the university undertook the intervention before the road was subsequently awarded to a local contractor for rehabilitation.
However, Babalola alleged that the contractors engaged for the rehabilitation had worsened the situation instead of improving the road’s condition.
He said the poor state of the road was also affecting staff movement, noting that some lecturers who lived outside the university campus were unable to use their vehicles to commute to work.
“Today, many of our lecturers living outside the campus cannot come to the university with their vehicles, a development which makes them report to work late. It is that bad,” he said.
The ABUAD founder also lamented what he described as the persistent neglect of Ekiti State, saying he had repeatedly appealed to successive Federal and state administrations to improve road infrastructure and accessibility in the state.
He said he had written to several presidents, ministers of works and transport, the leadership of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency and successive governors of Ekiti State over the condition of roads in the state.
Babalola disclosed that on 24 January 2022, he wrote to the then Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN), seeking approval for the university to deploy its resources and engineering expertise to rehabilitate the road and construct a new bridge, with the Federal Government reimbursing the cost.
He expressed disappointment that the request received neither acknowledgement nor a response.
The elder statesman further expressed concern about the condition of the road ahead of a university programme scheduled for October, which he said would attract guests from the United States and Canada.
“Is the deplorable and impassable road what we want to showcase to the international community?” he asked.
Babalola stressed that urgent intervention was necessary, noting that ABUAD attracts students from all 36 states of the federation, the Federal Capital Territory and some foreign countries.
He therefore renewed his appeal to the Federal Government to revisit the road project and take immediate steps to restore the route to a motorable condition.
