By Muftau Ogunyemi
Some communities in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State on Monday protested against the unmotorable roads in their areas.
The protesting communities were Graceland Estate, Grace Garden City, God’s Ownland and Bethel Estate, all located in Oba-Ile area.
They appealed to Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu to urgently come to their aid by fixing the roads.
The protesting residents carried various placards with inscriptions such as “We Are communities of Over 3,000 Families. We Need Roads Urgently. Mr. Gov. A Wa Lokan“; “Our Cars Are Crying For Help! Aketi Please, Come to Our Rescue“; Aketi, We Are 4 You. Let US Be Part Of The Giant Strides In Road Networks In Ondo State.“
While addressing newsmen during the peaceful protest, Mr Martins Popoola, Chairman, Graceland Estate, explained that for the past 10 years, the residents had resorted to self-help by contributing money to maintain the roads without any help from the state government.
Popoola, who said that the residents were aware that Akeredolu was improving infrastructure, especially roads across the state, said if the bad roads in their communities were fixed, they had the capacity to decongest and reduce pressure on the road linking the airport.
“We have heard that he has approved the reconstruction of the roads but that there is no funds to back the approval.
“We are begging him to `take money out of no money“, as he has done in other places to please fix the roads.
“We are expanding every day, it is the road that is holding us back, this road is very important to our lives and property. Property values would have doubled if not for the bad roads,“ he said.
Also speaking, Mr Oladele Aliu, Chairman, God’s Ownland, who also expressed appreciation to the governor for his “giant strides“ in the areas of security and infrastructure .
He appealed to the state government to fix the roads in their communities to improve the living standards of the residents.
“Mr Governor has been doing major roads across the state, especially in places such as Ikare-Akoko, Okitipupa, Akure and Owo, among others.
“He has been christened `Mr Talk-And-Do` while in some quarters he is known as `Mr Project`. Now it is our time to be rescued from the bad roads in our communities,” Aliu said.
Mrs Kafayat Musa, another resident, said that the roads had cause her backaches while her sister-in-law had been ill for two weeks due to the bad roads they were plying every day.
Mr Victor Ajimuda and Mrs Awotimehin also lamented the roads that were unmotorable in the communities, saying they were spending much to fix their vehicles weekly.
“We are pleading with Mr Governor to come to our assistance and help us fix these roads because our cars are going bad daily and things are getting ery expensive,” Ajimuda said. (NAN)
