Just another heavy downpour will be enough to cut off Foworogi bridge, connecting the people of Ifesowapo and entire Idi Osan, along Muslim Egbeda Tuba Road in Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State, to the city of Ibadan where they and their children work and school during the day.When Community News visited the area last Wenesday to ascertain the extent of damage done by last Monday rain to the bridge which was constructed by the then Western government of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and commission on March 5, 1960, users of the road as well as residents, were seen bemoaning the looming danger awaiting them if benevolent heavens go agog with the rains again.Community News learnt that several futile entreaties had been made to the local government, state government and other leaders of thought in Oyo State to look into the plight of the people and give them a sense of belonging.Today, residents of the area live in great fear, especially when rain is gathering momentum. While there is no guarantee that their children, who left home for school in the morning would return home, parents are in despair on whether they will have access to their homes after the hard day's work. General Chairman of Ifesowapo Landlords and Landladies Association, Reverend Abraham Oluranmi Adegboyega, said 'we have made several attempts to call the attention of the state government, especially at the wake of last year August floods. The present governor, Speaker of Oyo State House of Assembly, Commissioner of Environment and Water Resources, and even two weeks ago, we equally invited them to come and assess the situation as the rains are coming but up till now, none of them has sent any help to us. In this community, we weep and mourn every year as no year goes by without major tragedies being recorded on this spot as a result of excess water taking over the bridge and in the process killing people.'Reverend Adegboyega told Community News that just a few months ago, through contributions from well wishers and each landlord, the association had made some repairs to the tune of about N475,000 only for the last two rains to wash them off thereby creating a more precarious situation for the people. 'We still heard the Commissioner of Environment saying it on television last week that they would soon act and yet as the rains are coming in their torrents, we are afraid of losing our children and parents to impending flood as it happened in 2009 and 2010 when about 47 and 40 people were lost respectively to the overflowing bridge; my brother, we are tired as we have no alternate road,' the reverend gentleman, who was almost in tears, lamented.Community News observed that to arrest the situation, the current small bridge, which has outlived its usefulness, has to give way to a wider and taller bridge that can accommodate the mammoth water that usually converge on the spot during downpour. Despite efforts exerted by members of the community, the rains that came last week Monday made a mess of the self-help effort of the people at having an accessible road. As of the time of visit, some concerned residents were seen using their cars to load rocks and sand to mitigate the raging erosion that is set to sever the bridge any moment from now.'Y ou can see us sand-filling and rock-filling the bridge, at least as our little effort before government comes to our rescue,' a worried Comrade Sangowunmi, who is a Vice Principal in one of the secondary around the area, stated.
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