Residents of Unity Estate, Halleluyah Area in Osogbo, staged a protest last Monday over the deplorable condition of their road, which they describe as one of the worst in Osun State. They also alleged that the contractor handling the reconstruction, Moshula Nigeria Limited, had disappeared after collecting a significant sum from the state government.

During the protest, residents carried placards urging Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, to address their plight. They accused Moshula Nigeria Limited of abandoning the job and boasting about the contractor’s closeness to the governor.

The community chairman, Sheu Taofeek, called on the state government to compel the contractor to complete the abandoned road project promptly. Taofeek lamented that the project has been ongoing intermittently for the past three years, noting that four other jobs awarded in different communities by the state’s former governor, Gboyega Oyetola, have since been completed.

“The contractor started out slow and with substandard works, but has since abandoned it with the coming of Ademola Adeleke as governor,” Taofeek said. He added, “The contractor is said to be a relation of Governor Ademola Adeleke and has been boasting about this, despite several efforts by the community for them to do the needful.”

Taofeek alleged that when they approached Moshula Nigeria Limited’s Chief Executive Officer, Ademola Omidiran, “he didn’t give a reason for abandoning the job. He never complained about not being paid. He has been appealing and saying he will be returning to the site, only to disappoint and disappear and reports said that he has been fully paid. The project is a two-kilometre road and we have some Ministry of Works and other secretariat staff living within the estate. But they are helpless because the contractor is said to be a relation of Governor Adeleke.”

Reacting to the allegations yesterday, Mr Ademola Omidiran, Managing Director of Moshula Nigeria Limited, denied that his firm had abandoned work on the site. He told The Guardian that work was ongoing on the project and dismissed reports of abandonment.

Omidiran explained that his company only moved its equipment out of the site during the Eid-el-Adha holiday for safety reasons, adding: “We are back after the public holiday to continue work on the road.”

When The Guardian visited the site on Thursday, a grader was spotted working on some road sections.Omidiran stated, “We were awarded the contract during the government of former Governor Gboyega Oyetola. By the time he left, we had done 33 per cent of the job. They mobilised us with 30 per cent of the contract sum, which means we have done more than the mobilisation fee given to our company.

“The project is being carried out based on the release of funds by the government. The current government gave us some money in 2024. Like the first time, we did more than the money given to us and we prepared the certificate for the work done and they just released another money about six weeks ago. Since that time, we have always been on site.”

We don’t and will never abandon any work given to us.” However, Olumide Afolabi, a resident of the community, told our correspondent that the recent protest prompted the contractor to return to the site.