Residents of Ratcon Road in the Ife Gbewasokan community, Oluyole Local Government Area (LGA), Ibadan, have appealed to the state government to urgently tackle the deteriorating condition of their major access road.

Speaking in separate interviews with journalists on Saturday, the community members said the road had been neglected for years.

This, according to them, is in spite of repeated complaints to the authorities, saying the situation has become unbearable with the onset of the rainy season.

They described the 2.7-kilometre stretch as a ‘death trap’ that now connects several densely populated areas, including Odo-Ona Kekere, Aba Opa, Fawe, Apadaba, Aba-Oke, Abe-Koko, Bare and Ratcon.

Chairman of the community, Raji Olalere, said residents had exhausted all avenues to get the government’s attention on the situation.

According to him, residents have tried filling potholes with sandbags, blocks and stones, but the rain has consistently washed them away.

“The landlords that are working in this community are so worried; car owners are so worried; all the road users are also worried.

”We are not happy at all with it. So we want the government to please assist us,” he said.

He noted that the population of the area had made the neglect even more worrisome.

“We have up to 500,000 households in this community. So you can imagine the population. We are only appealing to them to please assist us,” he added.

A former chairman of the community, Mufutau Akintola, on his part, said residents had previously tried to maintain the road themselves but could no longer cope due to its gradient.

“We have been maintaining it all along by ourselves, but because of the gradient we are no longer capable of maintaining it.

“It is now totally impassable. People keep falling off motorcycles,” he lamented.

Isiaka Ajibola, the traditional ruler of the community, who spoke on behalf of traditional rulers in the affected areas, said the population across the communities was not less than 3 million.

He noted that all efforts to draw the government’s attention to the situation had failed and warned that many residents were already relocating because of the bad roads.

A resident, Olatunji Abimbola, while recounting the human and economic toll, said many persons had sustained injuries and, in some cases, this had led to their deaths.

He, however, commended the Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration’s infrastructural development efforts, urging it not to leave them behind in its development agenda.

“Tenants can easily relocate to other areas, but this is difficult for landlords to do. We don’t have any other place to go,” he said.

Bosede Arayi decried the daily struggles, saying people fall off motorcycles every day and that residents with vehicles could no longer make use of them because of the situation.

“It is either the shock absorber today or a stabilizer leak tomorrow. We are not saying anything else, but beg that they should please come to our aid,” she said.

Also speaking, Busayo Adegbola said the economic impact of the bad road had become severe, as it had adversely affected economic activities in the area.

“The situation of this road has affected our economy greatly. I have a shop here. We are not selling anything because nobody is coming in to buy, because of the road.

“Tenants only stay six months to a year, before leaving and social gatherings have dropped considerably, because guests refuse to visit,” she lamented.

Another resident, Afeez Bayewumi, the joint chairman of transportation unions in the community, said commercial riders spent a large portion of their income on repairs.

He also decried frequent accidents that had caused serious bodily injuries to motorcycle operators and residents alike. 

(NAN)