Commuters, residents agonise over state of Akure/Ado-Ekiti expressway
Ado Ekiti road
Motorists plying Akure/Ado-Ekiti highway have lamented the deplorable state of the road, which they said, now takes between one and two hours, instead of original 35 minutes, to commute between Ado-Ekiti and Akure. According to them, the road has degenerated to gullies.
For over five years, the highway, which is the shortest link between the two state capitals, has now become a nightmare to travellers.
Motorists travelling from Akure to Ikere-Ekiti and Ado-Ekiti, as well as other Ekiti communities, now take a longer route through Igbara-Oke before accessing Ekiti State.
Worried by the state of the road, a community leader in Igoba community, Leye Oladotun, had called for the immediate revocation of the project contract.
Oladotun said: “It is on record that killings, kidnappings, robbery, raping and terrible motor accidents, have become a common occurrence on the said road (Akure–Ado Ekiti).”
Another community leader, Bosun Ogunleye, lamented the attitude of the project contractor, stressing that it has become a huge concern, particularly, to residents and motorists going through agony on a daily basis.
“If a contractor was mobilised 15 months ago and he has not done anything significant for people to see to show that he is ready to work, the best thing to do is to revoke the contract.”
A commercial driver, David Akinkunmi, who plies the road frequently, lamented that business has been dull, as passengers now avoid the road because of criminals.
“Some passengers and motorists have lost their valuables on this road, the potholes have damaged many of our vehicles. This is a busy road that links the two states and it is sad that a journey of 35 minutes from Akure to Ado-Ekiti now lasts for over an hour.
“The distance from Akure to Iju and Ita Ogbolu is so bad to the extent that some motorists spend hours on this road. Some private car owners prefer to take Igbara-Oke to get to Ado Ekiti because of their safety, not minding the time spent.
“Passengers and motorists cannot predict when they will reach their destinations while driving through the road. Some workers, who use the route on a daily basis, have stopped commuting the road daily and now go home at weekends,” he said.
An Ekiti State civil servant, Folashade Ojo, claimed that she used to drive everyday from Akure to Ado-Ekiti for work, but had to stop due to the poor state of the road.
She explained that it is now dangerous to drive from Akure to Ado-Ekiti, stressing that aside from fear of kidnapping, the route has turned into a depressing sight.
MEANWHILE, the Federal Government has assured that the reconstruction of the highway has not been abandoned. The Federal Government through the Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, said the contract awarded to Dantata and Sawoe for the dualisation of the road is being looked into.
According to Adegoroye, once the process is completed, work will resume on the project and it will be fast-tracked.
Adegoroye stated this when a delegation of Ondo State House of Assembly, led by its Speaker, Rt. Hon. Bamidele Oleyelogun, paid him a courtesy visit in his office at the Federal Ministry of Transportation in Abuja.
He said, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who has taken the road as a priority for the government, took the step to look into the contract awarded in 2020 due to the challenges being experienced by the contractor.
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