RESIDENTS of Alalubosa Lakeside Government Reserved Area (GRA), Iyaganku area, Ibadan South-West Local Government Area of Oyo State, have decried the dearth of infrastructure in the area which include motorable roads, electricity supply, pipe borne water and effective drainage system.When Community News visited the estate, road rehabilitation was ongoing and it was being funded by the residents.According to Biodun Oyenuga, the Chairman, Alalubosa GRA Residents Association, 'basically, it is the duty of the government to provide amenities for a community like this. We believe that when this place was given out by the government, it was a GRA. Therefore, it means that all the roads and infrastructure must have been included in the government work, but we found out that not all the roads were tarred, especially this main avenue. The reason the GRA and the Association of Alalubosa Government Residential Area (AAGRA) brought ourselves together to initiate developmental programme to improve our socio-economic activities within the neighbourhood. Some of the things we are doing now include the road rehabilitation you have just seen. We are also constructing culverts. The current effort is to save these roads from being cut off entirely or become impassable. All of these were funded through the efforts of the association members and developmental levies we contribute monthly.'Oyenuga also added that it had been a herculean task contributing the money because, according to him, some of the members wouldn't want to contribute, believing that it was the responsibility of the government, 'but we believe that as educated as we are, government cannot do everything, that is why we are contributing our own quota.'Mrs Delayo Oriekun, the Financial Secretary of the association said, 'we have about 165 plots of land within the estate and it worths several millions of naira. Unfortunately, the roads are extremely bad. There is no pipe borne water. From what we found out, Water Corporation pipes ended at Jericho. It is either we buy from tankers, dig a well or sink a borehole.There is also no street light, making it difficult to walk around in the night, there is no constant electricity supply, we only have light for four hours every day compared to neighbouring Iyaganku and Jericho areas that enjoy constant electricity supply.'Mrs Oriekun also lamented the non availability of drainage in the estate. 'To ensure that all the drains are done, all residents were advised to construct drain in front of their homes so that we can link them together. We don't feel the presence of local government or state government here in spite of the calibre of personalities that reside here. In this estate, we have heads of government, retired AIG, retired vice chancellors, Supreme Court judges and many professors.'She also added that during the last voting exercise, the whole of the estate didn't have any polling booth. Residents had to go to Jericho, Iyaganku or High Court to vote, 'I voted at Jericho, beside Chief Richard Akinjide's house,' she lamented.Oyenuga, however, appealed to the state government to do something concerning the state of the area, 'we in the estate massively voted for him.
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