Stakeholders Begin Repair of Roads in Osun, Oyo, Kwara States

AS Nigerians begin preparations for end of the year festivities which always involve travelling, efforts are being stepped up to address the deplorable state of most roads in Osun, Oyo and Kwara states.Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Works and Transport, Oladepo Amudah told The Guardian that the government was doing its best to repair the bad roads under its control.Amudah who spoke in Osogbo said that the state government just awarded contracts for construction of roads in the state capital to RATCOM, a construction company.'Full scale maintenance work will start at the end of the month. By that time, the rain would have subsided and the contractor will have clean weather to work with,' he added.He decried the deplorable state of Iwo -Osogbo Road, saying 'motorists now have to pass through the old Iwo-Gbagba -Owode Road. Also, we are in the process of getting some notable contractors to bid for the reconstruction of Iwo-Osogbo Road.' According to him, effort is being made, for now, to repair the Iwo-Osogbo Road for the yuletide. 'We want to put just palliative measures in place for now, which will include filling the potholes, but not asphalt before the reconstruction of the road proper.'The Federal Controller of Works for Osun State, Oluwatoyin Obikoya also expressed concern over the bad condition of Gbongan-Iwo-Oyo Road. He said contract for repair of the road had been awarded to KOPEK, a construction company based in Ibadan and work would soon commenced on the road.Obikoya said rehabilitation of Ife-Ondo Road, Ibadan-Ife Road and Ijebu-Igbo Road, among others, by the Federal Government were in progress.He disclosed that Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) was working with the state government to develop the road networks in the state. 'As far as I am concerned, the Federal Government has not forgotten any road, may be work has not yet reach some places with the resources available,' he said.FERMA, he said was already repairing many roads. 'Most of the roads are old. No road is designed to last forever. Twenty -five years is the life span of most roads. But even a road that has outlived its life span can still be rehabilitated,' he explained.According to him the biggest enemy to the roads is climate change. 'There are some challenges such as funding. Long duration of construction of most roads is also part of the problems,' he maintained.In Kwara State the FERMA boss, I.D Ijie said that although funds was a major challenge facing the agency, it is doing its best to maintain the federal roads in the state. ' We just awarded Ilorin 'Offa Road to Zenith Contractor. Between now and December, the road would have been free of potholes,' he said.
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