Community Leaders in Oyo and Osun states as well as other road users have protested the failure of the federal government to complete the 224-kilometer Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa Highway despite the growing number of deaths recorded on the expressway on daily basis.
Also, they expressed shock, and disbelief as the 2025 budget omits Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa highway project.
Some students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) have narrated their harrowing experience on the road which has been rendered impassable and a nightmare for travellers, especially students of the university.
A tour of the highway by this reporter who spoke with some road users including OAU students, revealed that the road has become death trap with many gullies, valleys and sharp edges enough to split tyres.
The students explained that many of them have managed to escape death, though by a skin breath while travelling on the dual-carriage road.
No fewer than 40 people have died within the last six months in avoidable accidents due to the deplorable state of the road, according to Pa David Akinola, a retired police officer and a resident of Ikire, Osun state.
A commercial driver plying Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa, Mr Bosun Adekanye disclosed that most of his earnings were drained by frequent repairs of the vehicle due to the bad condition of the road.
While appealing to President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to urgently look into the reasons why the project is abandoned, they expressed dismay that the highway which serves as a link between the North and West is left in such a bad condition for many years.
From the Ibadan end of the expressway to Ikire, to Balogun Village, Gbongan, Bisi Akande Trumpet Bridge in Gbongan, there are gullies and potholes to Oduduwa University gate in Ipetumodu, down to Ife-Ilesa corridor of the road, the story remains the same.
Both Senator Sharafadeen Alli, representing Oyo South Senatorial District in the Senate and his counterpart, Senator Lere Oyewumi representing Osun West Senatorial District in the upper chamber of the National Assembly have appealed to the aggrieved people of Oyo and Osun states as well as other road users to exercise patience on the Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa Highway project, assuring that efforts are on to get the project completed as soon as possible.
Senator Oyewumi who hails from Ikire, Osun state assured that all hands are on deck to see that the project is completed.
Senator Alli who expressed confidence that the road will soon be completed, revealed that the Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa Highway project was not captured in the 2025 budget, adding that even though it’s included in the budget, what matters most is the availability of funds.
The lawmaker who spoke with The Nation yesterday explained that lawmakers from Oyo and Osun states have promptly written to the President, seeking a special intervention to ensure that funds were made available for the speedy completion of the highway.
‘So, we are aware of the importance of the road in the Southwest. All of us, we the lawmakers in Oyo and Osun states, we are working on it. And we have written the President, seeking for special intervention to provide funds for the completion of the highway. We know how important the road is, and we are working on it’, the All Progressive Congress ( APC) Senator, representing Oyo South Senatorial District, Senator Sharafadeen Alli assured.
A community leader in Wasinmi, one of the towns along the highway, Chief Dele Daramola in his appeal, called on President Tinubu to use his office to stop the carnage on the Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa highway, saying that the expressway is second after Ibadan-Lagos expressway in the Southwest region, in terms of socio-economic importance.
‘We cannot remember when the project was awarded, it’s over four years now if am not mistaken. The contractor, Kopek Nigeria Limited has done part of the job, but it is just a small portion from Ibadan end. For sometime now, nothing has been done, if you ask the people in charge, they will tell you, the government has not made funds available. That is why the work stopped. We trust that Mr President, Ahmed Bola Tinubu will do something at least to boost commerce and halt daily loss of precious lives on this highway’, Chief Daramola pleaded.
The Federal Controller in charge of the highway, Engr Victor Aina Kolawole pleaded for more time, adding that efforts are being made for the completion of the project.
He reaffirmed that the contractor is still on site , carrying out some palliative works on the road.
Though he admitted that the Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa highway was not included in the 2025 budget, Engr Kolawole reassured that efforts are been made for supplementary budget to get needed funds for the speedy completion of the highway.
