Seeks Tinubu’s urgent intervention

Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Afe Babalola, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to personally visit Ado-Ekiti-ABUAD Road to see the true picture of the deplorable and impassable nature of the road.

He, however, urged the Federal Government to seriously look into the deplorable and impassable roads that have been the lot of the 30-year-old Ekiti State, which came into being on October 1, 1996, with the overall aim of reconstructing all the federal roads leading to the state.

Babalola appealed yesterday in a statement he signed personally and made available to journalists in Ado Ekiti.

He expressed appreciation and gratitude to Senator Babafemi Ojudu for his consistent voice on the need for the Federal Government to seriously look into the deplorable and impassable roads.

The ABUAD founder, while speaking on the nature of the road leading to Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, said that the road, which belongs to the Federal Government, was constructed by the colonial masters over 100 years ago.

“At that time, it was the only link between Lagos-Abeokuta-Ibadan-Ilesa-Ado-Ekiti-Ikare and Lokoja, as there was no Abuja then. Between Ilesa-Ado-Ekiti-Ikare in particular, the road has remained long and winding because it was constructed with hoes and cutlasses, which made it a mere expansion of footpaths. And so, up till now, nobody cares about the road,” he said.

Babalola said that the all-important road has been neglected for several years, a development that has rendered it impassable, adding: “This compelled me to make several representations to the Federal Government and its agencies to fix the road.

“However, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Afe Babalola University spent billions of naira for the repair and maintenance of the road and the old Ureje Bridge between 2010 and 2019 when the road was awarded to a local contractor for repairs.

“I would like to say this for a proper understanding and appreciation of the plight of Ekiti people on the stretch of Ado-Ijan-Ilumoba-Ikole Road. The road is a Federal Government road.

“Despite our collective efforts to see Ekiti State created and nurtured to become the showpiece among the comity of states in Nigeria, regretfully and up till now, Ekiti has not achieved the anticipated patriotic objectives of the founding fathers.

“Thirty years after its creation, Ekiti State remains a land-locked, motorway-locked, railway-locked, industry-locked, power-locked, and airport-locked, a development which adversely affects the economic development in the state.”