Residents of Ikereku, Adetola, Millennium Estate, Ipetu, Oba Lambe in Ijaye- Ojokoro Local Council Development Area (LCDA) in Lagos on Thursday stormed the State House, Alausa, Ikeja to protest the poor state of Ikereku- Adetola Road, while seeking the attention of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu to commence its construction after years of abandonment.
The residents, who were seen carrying placards with various inscriptions in both English and Vernacular, including: “Governor Sanwo-Olu, have mercy,” “Ikereku-Adetola Temple Road, Oba Lambe, Ipetu also needs attention,” “Sanwo-Olu a ti gbiyanju, apa ti kun wa o,” among others, lamented that in spite of the fact that the said road was listed among 181 roads by the government, nothing had been done on it.
Besides, they complained that commercial activities in the area had long been grounded despite the fact that Ikereku-Adetola is a link road, while it had become difficult to attend to their wives any time they are in labour as taking them to the hospital becomes a big problem because of the poor condition of the road.
Chairman of entire Joint CDAs in the area, Chief Rasak Oluwatoyin Sodipe, while speaking on behalf of the aggrieved residents, lamented the situation the residents had found themselves, even as he said that several letters to the state government and the local government authorities on the issue had not been responded to.
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The 75-year old man, who said he had been living in the area since 1982, disclosed that residents were now at the mercy of robbers and men of the underworld as the police found it difficult to respond to their distress calls using the very bad road as an excuse.
“We are asking the governor (Sanwo-Olu) and the speaker (Obasa) to come to our aid. If our wives are in labour, there is no road to pass. If there is a fire outbreak in the area, there is no way for firefighters to come in.
“If there is a robbery incident, the police would tell us there is no way for them to come in. That’s why we are here to complain and ask for help,” he said.
Treasurer of Progressive CDA and an executive member of the joint CDA, Dr Folorunsho Omitiran, who spoke with newsmen, described the road network as very bad, saying it had been in a state of disrepair for so many years.
“We have written so many letters to the government to ask for assistance on the road also to let the government know that though the road was listed among the 181 roads to be constructed by the past administration nothing had been done.
“We want to draw the attention of the present government to the state of roads in that particular area especially Adetola-Ikereku road believing that if we do this early government will listen and put us in mind and attend to us.
“We believe a new governor is a listening person and that he would attend to us when they want to start work on roads, we voted massively for him during the election.”
Omitiran also hinted that the economy of the people living in the area had been affected as there was no patronage, just as he said that due difficulties transportation system had been grounded as commercial vehicles owners were “no longer ready to ply the roads and even private vehicle owners suffer a lot of hardship.”
“All these are inimical to the welfare of people around the area. When we tell the police to come and patrol our communities they are usually very reluctant because of the bad state of the road and we also suffer frequent armed robbery attack in the area because of the bad roads,” Omitiran said.
Also speaking, another aggrieved resident, Mr. Elkanah, who spoke of the economic value of Ikereku-Adetola Road being a major link road, recalled that the said road was listed for construction among the 181 roads.
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He lamented that while other roads were “being attended to right now, Ikereku/Adetola Road has not been touched.”
“Our fear is that the 2nd Phase may commence and leaving our own out. That is why we are here. This road has been listed and has not been touched,” he said.
Addressing the aggrieved residents, the Director (Political), Office of Civic Engagement, Mr. Kolawole Hundeyin, urged them to exercise some little patience, even as he assured that the affected roads would be attended to very soon like others around it.
Hundeyin, while maintaining that government is a continuum, added: “By the time we have new Exco in place, action would take place in full force.”
This was just as he charged the residents to, in the interim approach their local government chairman for what he called palliative work on the road.
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