Ogun residents cry out for relief as bad roads worsen

The people of Oke-Afa Area Community Development Community in Magboro, Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State, are enduring immense hardship and suffering due to the appalling condition of the roads in their neighborhood.

The Oke-Afa Area Community Development Committee, led by Chairman Shobowale Sunday and Secretary Popoola Kolawole, issued a statement on Friday, urging Governor Dapo Abiodun to fulfill his pledge to the community, made over a year ago.

The statement read, “The people living in Oke-Afa, Ilupeju, Olowofela, Kajola, and Magboro in the Obafemi-Owode local government area of the state have suffered the loss of property, vehicular damage, and dehumanising conditions over the last fifteen years as a result of the deplorable condition and massive flooding of the access road to the community.”

The statement added that despite over 100,000 residents and over 40 CDAs committees, “the area only has a single road that links the entire community to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which is a nightmare, especially during the rainy season.”

“Children are said to be unable to go to school for fear of being drowned, while adults either wade their way through the flood or make use of canoes. The community says it makes an effort annually to make the road motorable, but the self-help can only guarantee grading and partial filling of the portholes, which return to bad condition after a while.”

The community urged the Ogun State government to include the construction of “a standard road into the community from the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to Kajola as well as the construction of a standard bridge across the canal to contain the volume of the flood that is diverted from the expressway and save the residents from the hardship they have been subjected to for years.”