Robert Awokuse
Members of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Ota Branch, Ogun state have charged the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency rehabilitate major roads in the area.
The legal practitioners who embarked on peaceful protest to express their displeasure over the deplorable state of roads in Adodo-Ota local government area of Ogun state, described the Federal Government as “deceitful and insincere” to its promises to fix the roads.
Roads in the area have long been in disrepair, a situation that has since become worrisome to residents and commuters.
The lawyers carried various placards with inscriptions such as “Federal Government stop killing people via bad roads”, “Nigerian Bar Association Ota Branch say No To Bad Roads”, “Fashola, enough of the deceit”, “Federal Government where are the billions budgeted for our roads”, “Owode/Iyana Ilogbo, Sango/Ijoko Roads are death traps” among others, chanting solidarity songs and calling on the government to do the needful as they marched across some major roads in the area.
Places visited were the palace of the Olota of Ota and the Ota local government secretariat to make known their grievances.
They maintained that if nothing concrete was done by the government within 14 days, they would mobilize all residents in Ota, Ifo, Igbesa, Lambe, Akute and other places being affected for massive protest.
They alleged that many of the funds allocated for rehabilitation of these roads have been diverted, stressing that bad roads in the country cause Nigerians annual losses in terms of vehicle maintenance, with estimate put at N133.8 billion.
“Most of the other roads in the Ota area are terrible,” the Chairman NBA Ota, Isaac Ogbah, told Global Patriot Newspapers (GPNews) during the protest.
“Obasanjo and Oju-Ore areas in particular have become a nightmare, and a source of heart aches/attacks to the Ota people.
“Mention must also be made to the Ogun State Government of the Anglican Road, Ota-Ilogbo Road, Sango-Ijoko Road, Alagbole-Akute-Lambe areas etc. After the destruction of several properties, it is unfortunate that people still find it difficult to access Lagos State through the Ijoko axis of Ogun State.
“Last year May 2018, the Federal Government was reported to have awarded the total re-habilitation of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, to Julius Berger Plc. The contract sum was N22.387 billion.
“Unfortunately, up till this moment, no substantial improvement has occurred on the road. It now takes an average of 3-4 hours to get to Abeokuta from Ota. A Journey that should not be more than 30 minutes normally.
“There have been days that commuters and motorists spent up to six hours at a spot – the Iyana-Ilogbo area. On some other occasions, people have had to trek to their destinations, or slept on the road.
“In the process some have been sexually molested, while some people were robbed of their properties. The most terrible portion of the road is the Iyana-Ilogbo area. But the Itori-Ewekoro-Papa axis is now seriously competing with the Iyana-Ilogbo area. The Papa-Sagamu Road is something else. Sona-Igbala-Joju areas are presently death traps!
“While we do not have the statistics of the number of deaths on these bad roads, we know that everyday, people’s health is being impaired.
Others who spoke to GPNews bashed the Federal Government for its insensitivity to the plight of the people, saying that many of the residents and commuters have been subjected to harrowing experiences.
They noted that some commuters have been victims of robbery and kidnap as a result of the bad roads, which are taken advantage of by criminals.
“As Lawyers in the Ota judicial division/jurisdiction, we can no longer keep quiet. We demand answers within seven (7) days from today. We demand ACTIONS, within fourteen (14) days from today. We demand the commencement of the reasonable fixing of the Roads. We demand that the completion period be made certain and reasonable. If not we will mobilise the entire residents for massive protest,” the legal practitioners declared.
They further called on the Senate and the House Committee on Works to come and inspect the roads in the area as well as probe the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who they said must be held accountable.
